Every year, millions of people set ambitious fitness goals – to lose weight, build muscle, get stronger or simply feel healthier – only to find themselves losing momentum and giving up within weeks. The cycle is all too familiar: a burst of motivation, a strict new routine, and then frustration when results don’t appear quickly enough. What many fail to realise is that fitness cannot be treated as a short-term project; it has to become a lifestyle. Without that shift in mindset, people keep chasing rapid transformations instead of building sustainable habits – and end up right back where they started.
Chennai-based fitness trainer with 18 years of experience, Raj Ganpath, founder of the Slow Burn Method, co-founder and head coach at Quad Fitness, and author of Simple, Not Easy, is breaking down why so many people struggle to achieve their fitness goals.
In an Instagram video shared on February 23, the fitness trainer explains, “If I can be completely honest with you, most people do not achieve their fitness goals. And we have plenty of data to back this up. In fact, every week we have millions of people setting goals and getting started, but less than half of them actually end up achieving their goals. And this is because of two primary reasons. Now, if you can understand these two reasons and address them, you can become one of those people who actually achieve your goals and not just someone who struggles over and over again.”
1. Not building core lifestyle habits
According to Raj, most people overlook the importance of building strong core lifestyle habits. He points out that these habits form the true foundation of fitness – everything else, from workouts to diet plans, is built on top of them. When that foundation is weak or inconsistent, progress becomes fragile. Over time, the body and mind can become overwhelmed by stress, fatigue, or burnout, making it only a matter of time before motivation dips and results begin to unravel.
The fitness trainer regards the following as the foundational habits of fitness: “Walking regularly, exercising consistently, eating enough protein, eating vegetables regularly, sleeping enough, and controlling the amount of sugar and starchy foods that you’re eating.”
He explains that while these habits may seem simple or even obvious, many of us struggle to practise them consistently. That’s where the real challenge lies. Fitness is not about pushing yourself for a single intense day or short burst of motivation; it’s about building sustainable habits and showing up regularly. According to him, long-term results come from consistency – not occasional effort.
Raj explains, “If you think about someone who exercises intensely every day, they already have a habit of exercising. If you think about someone who walks a lot on a daily basis, they already have a walking habit. If you think about someone who eats a lot of protein regularly, they already have a protein eating habit. So, for those people who have these habits, effort piles on. It compounds and they end up seeing results. For people who don’t, it becomes stressful. It becomes exhausting and eventually they end up giving up.”
2. Impatience
Most people beginning their fitness journey are drawn to quick fixes and dramatic transformations, hoping for instant results. However, Raj stresses that meaningful, lasting change rarely comes from crash diets or sporadic, high-intensity workouts. In reality, progress is often slow, repetitive, and, at times, even a little boring. But that’s precisely the point. If you can stay patient, commit to the basics, and remain consistent with your habits, the results will compound over time – and they will last.
The fitness trainer explains, “Most people are not patient. They expect things to happen within a few weeks and social media makes us believe it can. But the truth is, real life is a lot slower and a lot more boring than social media. So, it’s important to embrace that. So, if you can build the right habits and if you can be patient, you will most definitely see progress because progress takes time. Change takes time. And I’m talking about years. And why does it take years? Because compounding, accumulating is a slow process and the magic happens during the mundane activities in your life.”
Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. It is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.
