Setting yourself a goal and getting yourself to the gym can sometimes seem like the difficult part. Putting on your gym clothes, grabbing your gym bag and getting yourself to the gym may also be another. However, are you really putting in your all, trying out new fitness trends, when you manage to get yourself there? There are so many of us that are making common gym mistakes, and by simply pointing these out, it can be avoided.
How often is it that we are training hard at the gym but not seeing the results that we expect to see? You’ve followed a generic gym plan, which you may have found on the internet or through a personal trainer, but you’re body shape isn’t changing, or you aren’t meeting your goals. It’s at that point where you need to really review the time you spend in the gym, and focus on fixing common gym mistakes you may be making.
Using one piece of cardio equipment In all honesty, most of us, even me, are guilty of this. We get used to one piece of equipment, that we have previously seen results with, and we stick to it. It may not be giving us the same results as it used to, but we are comfortable. In our comfort zone. Not wanting to push ourselves as we are so used to this form of cardio that anything else seems alien to us.
This is a habit that we all really need to get ourselves out of, if we want to see some real results and hit those targets. The machine we want to use is also the one machine that is always in use during busy, peak hours.
If you are set in your ways, and wanting to stick to the one piece of equipment, try to mix it up slightly by adding intervals, or resistance through inclines or levels.
If you aren’t dripping with sweat after your workout, you really haven’t pushed yourself as hard as you can.
Time over effort Over the years the phrase “I went to the gym for (insert crazy amount of hours here)”, and most of the time I’m just sitting there nodding my head thinking, oh good for you. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great if you want to dedicate a lot of time to working on yourself and improving your fitness, but what I would question is the quality of that workout.
Did you spend most of your time doing intervals whereby you were resting for 3 minutes or so? Did you really push yourself during your workout to really get your muscles shaking?
There is a balance that you need to find between putting yourself at risk of injury, and getting a good quality workout in for that day. There’s really no point you putting in hour after hour into one workout session, when you can get the same effects in a 45 minute session.
Failing to plan Time over effort moves me on to my next point. We all know that saying, failing to plan is planning to fail. Don’t set yourself up for failure. If you’re going to get a workout in, have a plan in place for what you want to achieve during your 45 minute session.
It might be that you want to reach a certain distance on the treadmill, or you want to x amount of reps on the arm curler.
What I’ve found, is that when I don’t have a set plan in place for what workouts I’ll do at the gym, I slack more and I don’t push myself. Invest in a heart rate monitor that tracks your heart rate, calories burnt (if that’s your goal) and timing.
Not using weights There’s always the perception that you will bulk up if you do any sort of resistance or weights training. That simply is not the case. If anything, it’s much better to have an element of this type of training after you have finished your cardio workout, as you continue to burn more calories, and your muscles have warmed up.
If you are still conscious about the perception of bulking up when using weights, but are looking to work on toning up, keep your weights low but your repetitions high. You are then less likely to put on muscle, but you are actually shaping the muscle.
Not warming up or cooling down Warming up and cooling down are just as important as the workout itself. This is often the part of the workout that is skipped or forgotten about. If you’re feeling like you’re in an incredible amount of pain the day after your workout, and it isn’t the usual post workout burn, then chances are you haven’t warmed up or cooled down.
It’s a common gym mistake to make, but always try to warm up and get your heart rate going for at least 5 minutes first before starting your workout.
Then cool down by using the vibr plate, or stretching to get your body temperature down and your heart rate back to normal.
Are you guilty of making any of these common gym mistakes? What other common gym mistakes are you aware of?
