There are a variety of interesting things I see people doing at the gym that really serves them no real benefit. I’ve narrowed it down to these TOP 3 mistakes…
3. Steady-State-Cardio
If you are still stuck on the elliptical for the past year with minimal results, its time for a change. High Intensity Interval Training has been shown to be more effective in anaerobic and aerobic capacity as well as burning fat. These exercises are short, explosive bursts of energy followed by a minimal to moderate rest. There are numerous studies out there that state High Intensive Interval Training burns 9 times as many calories as jogging on a treadmill! So if you want maximal fat loss in a 1/3 of the time you’d be on a treadmill, you need to do some interval training!
2. Improper warm up
To many times I have seen people head right to a treadmill, run for 5 minutes and then go bang out some chest and triceps. Or better yet, doing a few warm up arm circles just before they hop on the bench press. My question to them is, how is working on your aerobic capacity a warm up for your anaerobic exercises? And how was swinging your arms around for 10 seconds helpful? It’s not. In this example, if you are training chest, you should be performing a variety of shoulder exercises such as internal/external rotations (as seen in the picture) to warm up the rotator cuff, then do a couple of sets of the exercises you are performing to get the muscle active. That, is the proper way to warm up.
1. Improper Form/Technique
Are you a gym goer that has had some sort of lower back pain or annoying shoulder pain? It is most likely due to improper form or poor technique over a period of time. On any given day I would dare to say that 50% of the people in the gym are not doing exercises correctly. It is very difficult to bite my tongue when I see people doing deadlifts with a rounded back or a lat pull-down with an abdominal crunch thrown in the mix. Proper form is absolutely crucial to your results. It is the difference between increasing muscle protein synthesis and fat burning or potentially injuring yourself. My suggestion to you is to get an experienced trainer even if its just for 2 or 3 sessions just so you can learn how to PROPERLY workout. With proper form you can maximize your results more quickly and efficiently!