When people go to the gym to workout most of them (not all) run into some problems. 

Here are a few examples.
A girl (let’s call her Jane), walks into her gym and gets on a piece of cardio. She decides she is going to run for 30 minutes and then work with weights for 30 minutes. Jane is on the treadmill for 15 minutes and starts thinking about all of the stuff that she needs to do that day, and realizes she also is starting to get either tired or bored. So Jane wraps up her running at 20 minutes and then goes over to the dumbbells. She starts looking around at what other people are doing and decides to mimic others who are exercising around her. Instead of lifting for 30 minutes she cuts out at 15 minutes, does a few crunches then stretches and leaves.

Here’s another example, (let’s call him Jack) Jack walks into the gym and goes straight to the bench. He starts out with 3-5 sets of bench and between sets Jack sits idol shaking his protein for about 4 straight minutes before his next set. It takes Jack 30 minutes to get through his sets of bench press and then he decides to go to the leg sled/press. Jack stacks on as much weight as possible and spends another 30 minutes there. He finishes with a few sit ups, grabs another protein shake and leaves.

Now I was being sarcastic with my examples but they aren’t too far off from how most people approach their workouts.

The Solution to the First Example is to come out with a plan. I see it all the time, people walk into the gym completely clueless of what they will do for their workout. So they pick exercises at random and wonder why they don’t experience results!!! If you want to truly experience results; pick a goal. I tell clients all the time to go on www.active.com and sign up for something. This will give you a date to be prepared for a physical test. Then educate yourself or hire a professional trainer to get you started on a plan of attack. This plan should be mapped out all the way to the date of your competition.

The Solution to the Second Example is to constantly change your routines. Don’t fall into a routine where you find yourself doing the same exercises on the same days every week. You need to change your workouts every few weeks and really challenge yourself. Don’t take long breaks between sets. If you need to rest; make it an “active rest” by doing jumping jacks, jump rope, burpees, squat thrusts, push ups, crunches, etc. Our bodies are build so much stronger and more durable than many believe, and the more we push ourselves; the stronger and more durable we become!