If you’ve been exercising for a while, chances are you’ve developed a routine that you enjoy and are no doubt probably very used to that routine. Once you get used to doing exercise in a certain way it can sometimes be difficult to change how you do things. But even seasoned exercisers can fall into bad habits which can hamper their results or lead to injury. So take a close look at your workout with a more critical eye. Here’s some of the most common exercise mistakes you could be making.
1). Failure To Warm Up
Do you turn up at the gym, walk straight past the stretch mats and head over to the chest press and start lifting. Perhaps you’re pressed for time and think it’s best just to skip the warm up and to concentrate on getting the workout done. It’s very common and many people underestimate the importance of a proper warm up. Done properly it will enhance your performance and will prevent injury.
A proper low-intensity cardio warm-up for 5-10 minutes at a gentle pace, will help to gradually increase your heart rate and improve blood circulation to the muscles, ligaments and tendons, helping to prevent injury. There’s also evidence showing that throwing yourself straight into intense exercise from a cold start can have negative effects on the heart too, leading to abnormalities and arrhythmias.
2) Not Sticking With Correct Form
If there is one lesson that we should all stick with, it’s performing each exercise using strict form. This means adhering to proper anatomical movement. Form is absolutely critical to achieving long term success and if as beginners we all learn how to perform an exercise properly, we will see results a great deal faster and stick to good habits.
Unfortunately many of us copy what we see others dong in the gym or we simply develop bad postural habits over time that are then difficult to shake off. Imagine performing 10 deep body weight squats. As you begin you probably adhere to good form, but as your body begins to tire, your body may begin to look for ‘cheats’ to make the exercise easier. If you cannot achieve all 10 squats in strict form, then simply perform less squats and do them properly. When it comes to proper form, less is more. Performing an exercise incorrectly is pointless and whilst it may make you feel that you’ve achieved your target number of reps, if done incorrectly you’re just fooling yourself and will see less results.
If there is one lesson that we should all stick with, it’s performing each exercise using strict form. This means adhering to proper anatomical movement. Form is absolutely critical to achieving long term success and if as beginners we all learn how to perform an exercise properly, we will see results a great deal faster and stick to good habits.
Unfortunately many of us copy what we see others dong in the gym or we simply develop bad postural habits over time that are then difficult to shake off. Imagine performing 10 deep body weight squats. As you begin you probably adhere to good form, but as your body begins to tire, your body may begin to look for ‘cheats’ to make the exercise easier. If you cannot achieve all 10 squats in strict form, then simply perform less squats and do them properly. When it comes to proper form, less is more. Performing an exercise incorrectly is pointless and whilst it may make you feel that you’ve achieved your target number of reps, if done incorrectly you’re just fooling yourself and will see less results.
3) Working At The Wrong Intensity
Many many people in the gym work at a level that is comfortable to them. We call it the comfort zone. Yes, they may sweat just a little but they’re not really pushing themselves and they finish their workout with plenty of energy to spare. It seems that the result of this kind of training is very little. You probably won’t achieve much weight loss, any real increase in strength or fitness and really are just going through the motions. Working at the correct intensity means feeling the burn and knowing when you finish the workout that you really couldn’t do anything more. It’s only through pushing our body that we achieve fat loss, muscle gain or increased cardiovascular fitness.
4) Improper Selection of Weights
Have you seen people in the gym trying so hard to bicep curl a heavy barbell that they start using their lower back or shoulders to try to complete the movement. In fact they use just about every muscle except the one the bicep curl was designed for – the biceps! There is no point trying to pick up a weight that looks impressive if you cannot really lift it. If the weight is so heavy you have to cheat in order to lift it, put the weight down and stick to something lighter. You’ll actually gain far more by using a lighter weight and doing the exercise properly than selecting a weight you cannot handle and fooling yourself that you’re lifting much more than you really are.
5) Performing Resistance Training Too Fast
Perhaps you’ve seen people in the gym bouncing through their chest press as if there was a prize for the quickest finisher. Far from it. Performing weight training movements slowly (under a correctly timed protocol) whilst inhaling and exhaling correctly, is by far the best way to engage the muscles safely and to see results. Performing the movement too quickly will not only detract from your results but can also raise your blood pressure and increase your risk of injury.
6) Skipping The Cool Down
After a tough exercise session do you just want to hit the showers? You may think your workout is done but a sudden and abrupt stop to your workout can lead to muscle soreness due to the lactic acid still in your system. It takes around 5-10 minutes working at a low intensity to enable your heart rate to return to normal.
By following the above exercise recommendations you can start to improve your workout efficiency and reduce your risk of injury, leading to a better workout and improved results.
Author Bio
Diane Rennison is a master personal trainer at MotivatePT where she specialises in functional exercise, teaching and fitness programming. As an experienced fitness lecturer and presenter, Diane oversees the training and development of a national team of certified personal trainers.
Author Bio
Diane Rennison is a master personal trainer at MotivatePT where she specialises in functional exercise, teaching and fitness programming. As an experienced fitness lecturer and presenter, Diane oversees the training and development of a national team of certified personal trainers.
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