Everyone makes mistakes. Unfortunately, trainers seem to make a lot of them while striving for their fitness goals. And that always leads to frustrated exercisers. Use these tips to help you avoid common mistakes.
1. Thinking The Longer Your Workout Is, The Better It Will Be
Unfortunately, the human body just doesn’t work like that. If you spend literally hours working out, you aren’t doing your body any favors. Especially if you are just starting out. A training session should last no longer than an hour. Any longer, and all you are doing is forcing your body to turn to its muscle for energy. This is slow down your fitness progress significantly.
2. Not Doing Any Cardio
Even if you just want good looking muscles, regular cardio is a must. It will help burn fat, and make those muscles appear really defined as they develop. But more than that, regular cardio has wonderful health benefits. It can lower your cholesterol, help your respiratory and cardiovascular system, and give you a lot of energy.
3. Doing Too Much Cardio
Unless you want to run a marathon, there is such a thing as doing too much cardio, especially if you are looking to build muscle. Spending an entire hour doing intense cardio will force your body to turn to its muscles for fuel. If you look at the physique of professional long distance runners you will notice that they all have very little muscle mass. Keep your cardio session brief, but at a very high intensity level.
4. Lifting Too Much Weight
Do you want to be weightlifter or do you want to get a nice looking body? If it’s the latter, you really shouldn’t care how much weight you are lifting as much as whether or not you are lifting the right amount of weight for you. Lifting too much weight as a lot of dangers associated with it. At the end of a set, you usually start cheating if you are lifting too much weight. It also carries with it the extra risk of injury, which can slow your progress significantly, not mention hurt a lot.
5. Eating Too Little Protein
Most trainers who try to cut out as much fat from their diet as possible also cut out an essential nutrient for building muscle: protein. Really, most personal trainers shouldn’t be scared of fat. Dietary fat is necessary for a healthy and well-rounded diet. You just have to make sure you know where those fats are coming from.
6. Using a lot of “Gear” while weightlifting
I know, I know. You spent money on those wrist straps and that weightlifting belt so you had better use them, right? Well, not if you really want to get in shape. For a lot of exercises a belt will be nothing but a crutch. It will help support your midsection, which means that you don’t work those areas. What kind of gear you use should be selected under the guidance of a fitness professional.
About the Author:
Chris McCombs is an Orange County fitness trainer. He can be reached through his website at www.socalworkout.com
Thu, 31 Jan 2008 21:20:25 - 100%
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