Becoming healthy is more than just working out. Sure, that is a big part of it, specifically resistance training, but to be successful you must look at it as a whole: lifting, mobility, cardio, nutrition, sleep, and stress management. I've recently learned this and have adapted a lot of my coaching style to meet these client needs. You have to look at this journey from a bird's eye view.
Let's walk through it...
Yesterday was a bad day. You were super stressed out at work, and in a ton of meetings so eating your daily calorie intake took the first hit. You finish up work and get home to your kids (who have destroyed the house) and your partner who is looking for dinner to be made, so you rush around trying to fix all of that... dinner takes a back seat.
You're so stressed out that you struggle to fall asleep. You're in and out of it all night and wake up not fully rested, more tired than yesterday. On top of that, you slept wrong, so you have this weird kink in your trapezius muscle. There's no time to fix that, you just downed your pot of coffee, shoved a bagel in your mouth and you're off to work again. Work was a bit calmer, you ate some food but you struggle with your water intake and end up dehydrated.
Finally, it's time to LIFT!
You get to the gym and Coach has informed you that it's a 'heavy week,' and you will be lifting 85% (8.5/10) of your 1RM. Seems okay, you did 80% last week and crushed it. You step up to the bar, ready to roll, and it doesn't. fucking. move. It's SO heavy. You get thrown off, in your head, upset, exhausted, and leave on a sour note.
Sound familiar? It all works together.
If you don't eat, you don't have fuel for your body.
If you're stressed out, your adrenaline rushes, and cortisol is high.
If you're stressed out, you hold tension in your body, and sleeping is rough.
If you don't sleep, you don't recover.
If you don't recover, your workouts will suffer.
You have to look at these as pieces to the puzzle. The more of these little pieces you can put together, the better your overall picture will be. If you're in the gym and not seeing progress, take a look at all of these other factors and see where you can improve.