For those taking the initiative to improve their quality of life by adopting a healthier lifestyle through physical fitness, let us be the first to congratulate you! Improving your fitness is one of the best investments you can make for yourself. People who exercise tend to reduce the risk for developing chronic diseases, enhancing their quality of life, and improving their overall moods.
Consistent cardiovascular workouts can help reduce hypertension and reduce heart disease while strength training can help improve posture and bone density. With so many advantages, it may seem impossible to determine a disadvantage that draws you away from physical activity.
Surprisingly, working out has the potential to harm you and hinder your achievements when not prioritizing your health, form, and skill during activity. In this article, you’ll learn some suggestions to be cognizant of so that you can stop making these eight common workout mistakes. Read on to learn more!
Skipping Your Warmup or Not Warming Up Correctly
We understand, your time is valuable. You may only have a limited time to complete your desired activity. When you only have 45 minutes to work out, you want to make the most of it!
It can be tempting to skip the 10-minute warmup and ancillary movements; however, skipping warmups means your body won’t properly prepare for the workout.
Dynamic stretching or similar lightweight, high-volume movements are ideal. They prepare your muscles and joints for faster or stronger contractions. Effectively warming up can prevent muscle strains and cramps.
Whether stretching or walking on the treadmill, remember to focus on your movements. You want to actively warm up the muscles and introduce blood flow to your body.
Repeating the Same Workouts and Movements
Many beginners repeat or perform the same workout complex every time. This is a mistake. In order to continue a positive progression, it is important to vary your workout.
One traditional strength-training split is to include breaking days up by muscle groups. For instance, you can focus on lower body muscle groups on Mondays, assign upper body activity on Wednesday, and perform back and core-focused workouts on Fridays.
Another way to break up your day is by intensity! While Mondays and Thursdays are high intensity, consider assigning Tuesdays and Wednesdays to a low-intensity activity, leaving the weekends for rest opportunities.
Splitting the schedule allows your body and muscle groups to effectively recover so that you can perform at the highest ability each and every day, making better progression over the long haul. Repeating the same workout can become monotonous and turn you away from exercising.
Not Being Conscious of Form or Technique
As a beginner, new movements will seem unfamiliar to you. Only with time and practice will movements become secondhand. When you perform movements like bodyweight squats incorrectly, you are exposing yourself to potential injury.
This potential injury risk can become amplified when repeating the incorrect movement over time with significant weight. This cycle causes muscle imbalances and is not ideal for long-term progression. While running, improper form can cause you to become more exhausted.
Solely Relying on Equipment To Get a Good Workout
Imagine the following scenario: you’re traveling on a business trip to another state for a couple days. You want to remain active throughout the trip. You check into your hotel and realize that the fitness center is shut down due to maintenance.
For some, this could throw a wrench in their plans. While equipment helps you get a good workout, it is not the only way.
What’s the good news? You have the vast outdoors at your disposal; it’s up to you to explore it! You can run, walk, jog, or perform a quick HIIT session using a park bench and still break a sweat in the same fashion you would in a gym.
Ignoring What Your Body Is Trying To Communicate
Believe it or not, your body communicates with you about its current state. Your body’s condition is probably the best determinant on whether you are ready to train. When your body is sore or becoming sick, it’s best to take a few days off and rest.
These are signs of overtraining. Your body is letting you know that it is being overworked and needs time off. Knowing when to stop is difficult because our bodies are very resilient; we can train and work even through stress and make progress.
Undertraining and progression over the long-term will be very minimal. That said, the more time you exercise and train, the better you will be at determining if you need rest. If you are getting injured or sick more often, take some time off.
Neglecting the Cool Down
Cooling down is just as important as warming up! A brisk five-minute walk or five-minute stationary bike ride can help your muscles and nervous system come back to baseline. This can reduce cramps, strains, and other potential injuries.
Being Too Specific
Your activity influences your workout. Are you planning to run a marathon? Are you seeking to bench press the most weight? Sure, in these instances, it helps to design and tailor these workouts with specificity in mind.
If your general goal is to make long-term progress for your health and fitness, it would be best to take a “jack-of-all-trades” approach that uses compound movements to drive volume. Compound movements tackle multiple muscles groups, allowing you to make the most out of your energy.
Not Keeping Track of Your Progress
Lastly, one of the mistakes most beginners make is not tracking progress. Many believe that a 30-minute workout isn’t worthy of tracking, especially if you didn’t perform as well as you planned. Not only is this a false way to think, but it encourages negativity within your fitness journey.
What doesn’t get measured does not improve. Tracking your workouts, intensity, and time can all give you the necessary data points to make the most out of your long-term progress.
Furthermore, it can be motivating to see how much stronger and faster you are after a certain number of months. At the end of the day, fitness is a marathon and not a sprint.
While many of us made these eight common workout mistakes at some point during our journey, it’s never too late to make a change! By remaining cognizant of habits, you can proactively switch them for the better. You can workout safely and more efficiently.
Here at Treadmill Planet, we take fitness and the passion for it seriously. We sell high-quality home gym exercise equipment that can guide you to your goals. Feel free to explore our inventory!
