When you’re starting a workout regimen, there are many things that you need to take into account, such as your heart rate, the number of calories you burn, and the fatigue you experience during each workout. Similarly, you also need to ensure that you don’t make any mistakes that can prevent you from losing weight or put you at risk of injuring your body.
Many beginners make a wide array of workout mistakes, such as over-exerting their bodies, doing the wrong exercises, and setting unrealistic expectations. These mistakes only hinder your weight loss process and prevent you from attaining your fitness goals. The best way to make sure that you don’t make any such mistakes is to become aware of them.
So, let’s take a look at 18 common mistakes that people tend to make when working out:
1. A Poor Posture
Whether it’s because of the intensity of their workout or the fatigue they are experiencing, many individuals slouch on cardio machines, such as elliptical, stairmaster, or treadmill. When your back is rounded like that, your spine doesn’t get enough support. This posture also stresses your lower back. It’s why you need to correct your posture and keep your spine erect during these workouts.
2. A Death Grip
Another cardio workout mistake is to grip the handles on the cardio machines too tightly. It enables you to exert less energy and leads to slouching. Plus, it prevents you from moving your arms. If you keep your grip loose, you will be able to move your arms during your workout. It will boost your heart rate and help you burn more calories.
3. Reading During the Workout
If you are in the habit of reading during your workout, your attention will likely be divided. If you read to help keep your posture straight, then try to stop every 2 to 3 minutes and take a high-intensity interval of 2 to 4 minutes. During this interval, increase the difficulty level of your workout and focus on your breathing and form. After the designated time, lower the difficulty level, catch your breath and let your heart rate decrease for the next 2 minutes before repeating the high-intensity interval.
1. Focusing Solely on Cardio
People have this common misconception that cardio is the only way to lose weight and stay fit. However, exercising isn’t only about losing weight. If you want to stay fit, you will have to incorporate various workouts and different ways to lose weight into your routine. After all, each workout has its own benefits. For instance, cardio helps build endurance, burns calories, and keeps your heart healthy. Meanwhile, strength training boosts your metabolism, burns more calories when your body is at rest, and keeps your muscles active. This is why you must try different workouts rather than focusing solely on cardio.
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2. Walking While Carrying Weights
Walking while carrying weights might seem like the perfect way to mix cardio with strength training, but it’s a bad idea. It can add unnecessary stress to your shins, quads, and ankles and hurt your stride. If you’re using a treadmill for walking, try to incorporate circuit training into your routine instead. For instance, do 5minutes of strength training followed by 5 minutes of treadmill, and then repeat the process.
3. Rushing Through Your Reps
Rushing through your reps is another major mistake that you shouldn’t be making. If you lift weights too quickly, you can injure your joint and suffer from high blood pressure. When using free-weights or machines, exhale as your lift the weight for two counts, hold for one count, and then inhale as you return to the starting point for three to four counts. It will help you maintain a steady heart rate.
4. Not Adjusting the Machines Appropriately
You can avoid many workout injuries if you simply adjust the machines to your specific height and size before using them. If you lift more than your body can handle, you will only strain yourself. Here are some common risky techniques individuals use during strength training and ways you can fix them:
Behind the HeadLat Pull-Downs
This is a difficult technique that you should try if your shoulder joints are exceptionally mobile and if you can keep your spine straight while attempting this move. If you do it wrong, you can tear your rotator cuff, impinge your shoulder, and injure your cervical vertebrae if the bar crashes into the back of your neck.
A safer alternative to this move is to lean back a little, use a grip that goes beyond your shoulders, and bring the bar down to the top of your chest. This move will pull your shoulder blades down and make them come together. You must stabilize your body by contracting your abs. For this method to work, don’t use momentum to swing the bar up and down.
Upright Row
The upright row is when you lift a barbell, free-weights, or a weighted cable bar up under your chin. This move can compress the nerves in your shoulder and can injury to the area. Instead of attempting this technique, try to work your shoulders with a lateral or front shoulder raise. Do this by lifting weights out to the side or front of your body. You will have to keep your arms straight with a slight bend in them.
Smith Machine Squats
The bar on this machine can force your body into vulnerable, injury-causing positions. Moreover, when attempting this exercise, people tend to position their feet further in front of them, which increases the risk of injury. When using this machine for squats, you can lose balance and put excessive stress on your lower back, hamstrings, and knees. Instead of using the smith machine, do regular squats. If you add weights to the workout to make it more intense, increase your heart rate and burn more calories, try to maintain proper form. Stand straight and keep your feet as far apart as the width of your shoulders. Keep your back straight and gently lower your body to a sitting position. Maintain your weight over your heels and ensure that your knees aren’t extending beyond your toes. When your knees attain a 90-degree bend, hold the position for a split second and then return to your standing position
1. Forgetting to Stretch
People tend to focus so much on different ways to lose weight that they forget about other aspects of staying fit. One of these aspects is stretching post your workout. It helps you loosen your tight muscles and maintain your flexibility. Don’t stretch before a workout, as that is when your muscles are cold, and any wrong move can cause you to pull or tear them. There are also some stretch training exercises that will help you lose weight, such as pilates and
2. Bouncing
Refrain from bouncing during stretching as it can lead you to pull a muscle. Make sure to perform static stretches. This means that there should be no movement at the joints. The purpose of stretching is to lengthen the muscle without causing any pain.
3. Doing Boring Workouts
If you find yourself dragging your feet to head to the gym or sighing at the mere thought of working out, you need to create an interesting workout routine for yourself. Try to incorporate fun activities in your routine that might make you look forward to working out. Exercise shouldn’t feel like a chore that you have to reluctantly perform. It should make you feel happy, excited, and content. Maybe try doing something fun like taking a hike with a friend, walking with a loved one, or playing competitive sports.
1. Doing the Same Routine Every Day
If you perform the same workout regimen every day, you won’t be able to reap the benefits of working out. This is because your body gets used to routine exercises. If you work the same muscles with the same intensity day in and day out, a point will come when your heart rate won’t increase as much as it should from an intense workout, and you won’t burn enough calories. To prevent this from happening, switch up your routine every two weeks. Try new and exciting exercises and workout challenges to keep your muscles working hard and burning more fat. Doing this will also prevent you from getting bored with your workout.
2. Expecting Huge, Immediate Results
Some people have unrealistic expectations about working out. They believe that with a little exercise, they will be able to lose weight. However, you need to be physically active at least 45 minutes to an hour every day to prevent unhealthy weight gain. This is why you must not keep unrealistic expectations from your weight loss journey. Instead, focus on how you can achieve your fitness and weight loss targets in a realistic way.
3. Doing Intense Weekend Workouts
Another common workout mistake is when people invest their time in an intense weekend workout. Pushing your body to the edge for two days a week will only lead you to burnout and put you at risk of injury. It won’t help you achieve your fitness goals either. What’s more is that you will be exhausted as you head into the new week. Instead of becoming a weekend fitness warrior, make sure to incorporate exercise into your weekday life and save the weekends for resting your body.
4. Taking Up Too Much Too Soon
When you start working out, it’s hard not to get carried away and do too much too quickly. However, taking up the most intense and difficult workouts right off the bat will put your body at risk for intense soreness, minor and serious injuries, and burnout. If you’re unsure about your workout regimen, try to seek help from a fitness trainer to learn the proper techniques that are ideal for your level.
5. Not Warming Up Before Working Out
As tempting as it might be to save your time and skip warming up to start working out right away, your body needs to warm up. When you take out the time to warm up, it prepares your nervous system for the workout, helps you to maintain your stamina, and prevents irregular heartbeats. Warm your body up with light exercises, such as walking lunges, for 10 to 15 minutes before starting an intense workout. When your body breaks into a light sweat, it means that you’ve warmed up sufficiently.
6. Not Cooling Down After Working Out
Another common mistake is to rest right after an intense workout. You need to allow your heart rate to steadily come down by exercising at a slower pace for 5 to 10 minutes. Cooling down like this will help decrease the amount of lactic acid in your system, which will help cut down the post-workout soreness.
1. Not Drinking Enough Water
If you’re thirsty during your workout, it means that you’re already dehydrated. You need to drink plenty of water before, during, and after your workout. The water will help your muscles contract. Skimping on the water will only lead to muscle spasms and body aches. Regular drinking water will be enough to get you through your workout. However, if you’re performing high-intensity workouts, you might benefit from sports drinks as they will replenish your body with potassium and electrolytes.
2. Wearing Inappropriate Shoes
Wearing the wrong size or type of shoe or even an old, worn-out show can undermine your workout and hamper your weight loss journey. It’s because wearing the wrong shoes will lead to increased pounding on your joints, which might lead to injuries, such as plantar fasciitis and tendonitis. This is why you must select a shoe that is appropriate for your chosen workout. It should also meet your specific foot requirements, such as size, support, cushioning, etc. Try to shop for well-made workout shoes at stores that specialize in athletic shoes and replace your shoes when they show any signs of wear.
The Bottom Line
A person makes many mistakes when they start working out, such as not monitoring their heart rate, maintaining a bad posture during vigorous exercises, and sticking to the same routine. The workout mistakes mentioned above are some of the common ones that people tend to make when exercising. Now that you are aware of them all, figure out if you’re making any of these mistakes and remedy them to achieve your fitness goals quickly.
Good luck!
