Gym Errors – Common Errors You Are Making in the Gym
Gyms can be scary places. When you first step foot into a gym for the first time, it’s easy to find yourself feeling overwhelmed and not knowing where to begin. For some, once you find your feet and get used to what you’re doing, working out at the gym becomes as easy as riding a bike. The problem is that some people are guilty of making a series of costly gym errors which could potentially hinder their progress and put their health and wellness at risk. To ensure this doesn’t apply to you, here are 4 common gym errors and a look at what you can do to put things right.
Listening to incorrect advice – The problem with health and fitness is that seemingly everybody has an opinion on the matter. Having an opinion is perfectly fine, but what isn’t perfectly fine is trying to pass your opinion off as fact. Unfortunately, in gyms all over the globe, there are constantly guys and girls in there, who are themselves misinformed, and who happen to be giving other gym members the wrong advice. They’ll give poor dietary advice like “avoid eating all fats if you want to lose weight” when in fact we know that healthy fats speed up weight loss. Passing on bad training advice however, could prove very serious.
Ignoring compound movements – Whether you want to build muscle, burn fat, increase your strength, or anything else for that matter, when it comes to resistance training you should always make sure you perform some compound movements. Compound movements recruit multiple muscle groups simultaneously and are fantastic for people looking to build muscle, burn fat, and improve their functional strength. Too many people that are new to training will enter a gym and make a beeline for the weight machines. Don’t get us wrong, these machines are very beneficial, but they isolate specific muscle groups and don’t work your core stabilizer muscles. Exercises such as: squats, bench presses, military presses, and deadlifts should all be utilized if you want to make any serious progress.
Doing too much, too soon – Another very common example of gym errors that people often make is attempting to do too much, too soon. They’ll join a gym for the first time, lift some light weights and use a few machines just to get a feel for things and will then find themselves trying to lift weights which are far too heavy, and following workouts with far too much volume that are simply too physically demanding. When you begin training you must remember that it’s a marathon, not a sprint, so ease yourself in gradually and slowly but surely try to improve with each passing session.
Utilizing poor form – Whether lifting weights or performing any other exercise for that matter, one of the most important things you need to do beforehand is familiarize yourself with how the exercise is performed. Study the movements required and practice until your form is perfect. If you can’t perform a specific exercise with perfect form because the weight is too heavy, don’t struggle through and attempt to cheat, instead, lower the weight until you can execute the exercise perfectly. In terms of serious gym errors, poor form while lifting is perhaps one of the worst.