[ Editor's Note:  Fitness author Jon Benson shared this letter with me and gave me permission to share it with you. ]

If I had to pick out the number one reason most people fail to achieve good results in the gym, guess what it would be?

Over-training. Exercising too much.

Sounds counter-intuitive, but trust me: It’s quite real.

Folks write to me all the time and say…

“Jon, I don’t get it. I cannot lose bodyfat and I’m running six days a week for an hour and training in the gym five days a week for 45 minutes!”

My answer back is usually:

“You are training 4x more than me, and I’m a fitness pro!”

Look, do you take 21 aspirin for a headache, thinking the more you take the faster your pain will go away?

No?

So why apply the same logic to fitness? Only a certain amount is required. Beyond that, you are spinning your wheels.

When I wrote 7 Minute Muscle (available here:  http://www.jonbensonfitness.com/go/7mm/) I exposed all the lies about training too long and why this is not the best way to achieve the results you want. Check it out if you want the facts.

One more thing:  75% of your progress will come in the kitchen, not in the gym or on the treadmill.

As for me, I would much rather eat smart and train less than train all the time and be forced to eat 6-8 times a day just to recover from it all.

That makes no sense to me at all.

You?

http://www.jonbensonfitness.com/go//7mm  <— Less Is More!