Workout Mistakes You Should Avoid!

There are many unhealthy and counterproductive habits and behaviours in sport. Many people unwittingly engage in these mistakes on a daily basis. There are workout mistakes you should avoid if you want to succeed with your workouts. These are mistakes that anyone can make, especially when starting out at the gym.

This article explains the top 10 workout mistakes you should avoid so as to get your desired results.

Top 10 Workout Mistakes You Should Avoid

1. Taking on too little challenge:

When weight training, be sure to choose a weight that is challenging enough so that you really focus on completing the last 8-12 reps! Don’t fool yourself! Be sure to track and complete all weight training sessions for best results. Also remember the old saying, “No pain, no gain”, exercise can cause pain. Take yourself to the next level by learning how to improve your pain tolerance. Keeping a workout log and tracking your progress is a great way to stay motivated. Whether you’re raising the bar for cardio or weight training, you might want to set some personal goals for yourself—only you know your limits and how much you can handle. Compete with yourself; you might be surprised how your body responds!

2. Performing cardio incorrectly:

Cardio is a delicate balance – if you don’t do enough, you’ll cheat yourself, but if you do too much, you’ll overload yourself. The most important thing to remember is that you want to spend less than 25 minutes and no more than 45 minutes to develop your cardio potential. This 25 to 45 minute “magic zone” is a fat burning zone where you can’t go wrong. If you do more, you enter a training plateau phase where your training stalls, your body hits a wall and your progress slows/stops. Make sure you’re doing cardio at 65-75% of your target heart rate and focus on keeping your heart rate in that range so you don’t accidentally burn the muscle you’ve gained.

3. Hiring the wrong coach:

Don’t hire the wrong coach, even if it’s Mr. Olympia at some point in her life. Coaches aim to lead by example in health and wellness. Don’t get me wrong, they don’t have to be in perfect competition 365 days a year, but if they’re not in good shape, how can you expect them to help change your physique? Be selective! Find a personal trainer who isn’t just a coach, but more like a trainer who will hold you accountable for your actions not only in the gym, but where the actual work counts. Remember that your time in the gym is only 20% of your work!

4. Relying on a gym buddy during your workouts:

How many times have you tried to work out with a friend at the gym, only to get up and mindlessly chatter or chat while they’re wearing a suit? Or worse, your training partner cancels at the last minute!

Don’t rely on anyone but yourself to train. Training buddies can be very unreliable at times, and when other things come up, they can be just as selfless as you. Encourage yourself! Think of your rehearsal as an important business meeting where you can’t be late, get sick, or miss the most important person in the world: YOU!

5. Extreme exercise:

If you exercise too much, your appetite will increase, and you will start eating like a 250 pound football player. Instead, exercise enough to shed fat without reaching a plateau. Likewise, if you exercise too much, your body “locks up” and won’t let you burn the fat it needs because it goes into a “shock” state where it clings to fat.

6. Losing weight by “running”:

To achieve and maintain smooth, sexy muscle tone, focus more on weight training to build it. Don’t “eat” your muscles with too much cardio. Don’t run or try any other low-impact cardio. Trust me, your muscle mass and joints will thank me! Professionals tend not to “run” because they are known to “eat” the muscles you’ve worked so hard to build. Don’t do yourself a disservice and beat your progress by running. It takes a lot of energy and has no real benefits other than the cardiovascular system. You can get cardiovascular benefits with other low-impact versions like the elliptical, Nordic track, Air Stepper, and Stair Master.

7. Lack of sleep:

Not getting enough sleep will only slow you down from reaching your fitness goals! In general, a night or two of insomnia or lack of sleep will not greatly affect performance, but if you get used to it, it can cause subtle changes in hormonal levels, especially those related to stress, in the muscles. Recovery and mood. Sleep deprivation has been linked to increased stress in some studies! We don’t need more in life! Pay attention to how you feel and make sure your beauty sleep!

8. Trusting the scale to monitor your progress:

Muscle weighs more than fat, did you know? It’s not fair to base your weight loss on a number on a locker room scale or anything else. Women’s weight can also fluctuate up to 10 pounds, especially during menstruation. Sometimes seeing the same number on the scale for weeks can be discouraging, so it’s best not to look at it. Instead, rely on callipers to measure body fat and clothing fit.

9. Not planning ahead:

Here’s the scenario – after a long day at the office, you can barely make it to your car. What are the chances you’ll go home, change, and hit the gym? Not thin at all!

To prevent this from happening, always keep a packed gym bag in the back of your car/suitcase for an impromptu workout at the local park/gym. You should also first understand the body part you are training so that you can prepare yourself mentally. If you can’t go to the gym, designate a special area in your home as your personal training area where you can store some exercise tools/equipment. This should be a dedicated exercise area – I recommend using a TV, stereo or a window with natural sunlight to remind you of this!

10. Not making time to rest and recover:

It is important to balance training with rest and recovery. It is this shift of adaptation and healing that will lead you to a higher level of well-being. Remember, the more intensity and effort you put into your training, the more important your planned recovery is. There is a limit to how much stress the body can withstand before it breaks down and becomes injured. Doing too much too quickly can injure or damage the muscles but doing too little or too slowly will result in no improvement. You need to know about two types of recovery:

Short-term recovery:

Short-term recovery is active recovery that occurs in the hours after exercise. Active recovery refers to low-intensity exercise during the relaxation phase after heavy exercise and immediately after training for a few days. Another important task for immediate post-exercise recovery is the restoration of energy and fluid stores lost during exercise. Eating after exercise is important to aid recovery. This is when your soft tissues (muscles, tendons, ligaments) are repaired, and the chemicals produced by cellular activity during exercise are removed from your system. It is recommended to drink a protein shake after a hard workout.

Long-term recovery:

Long-term recovery refers to in-season training program improvements. This is usually the case for athletes and coaches with well-planned training programs that include recovery days and/or weeks in their annual training program.

For this reason, athletes and coaches change their training programs throughout the year (adaptations can include increased training sessions, as well as changes in intensity, time, distance, and all other training variables).

Now that you know the workout mistakes you should avoid, be nice enough to let your frends know too by sharing this article.

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