Ten Ways to Sabotage Your Workout

So you've decided to start a workout plan. Though it is important to have a fitness routine to improve health, increase strength or help with weight loss, how you start this routine might determine if you stick with it or not. Following are ways to sabotage your workout.

People give up on their fitness routines for a variety of reasons. Perhaps you want results too quickly, it is too difficult or you are not noticing any improvement. Like weight loss, working out takes time to see the results of your efforts.

Sabotage your workout by expecting results too quickly. You will not see results immediately. It may take weeks before you really notice your muscles becoming a little firmer and a little more toned. Sticking with your routine is the best way to see the results you want.

Giving up on your fitness routine because you are not losing weight. Working out may burn calories, but not as much as you might think. You have to consider how many and the type of calories you eat during the day as well. Rewarding yourself with food after a workout will prevent weight loss as well. By balancing the number of calories you take in with the number of calories you burn, a combination of exercise and healthy eating can help in your weight loss efforts.

Consuming too few calories could sabotage your workout. Even if you have added exercise as a way to help with weight loss, you still need to consume enough calories for your body to use while working out. With too many calories you may not lose weight, but with too few calories you will not have enough energy to complete your routine. Workouts will become too tiring and difficult. Be sure you get enough of the right type of calories by eating a healthy and balanced diet.

Daily strength training will not give you the results you want. If you are looking to build a little muscle to help with your strength or burn more calories, you should allow a day of rest between strength-training sessions. Try doing a cardio workout on alternating days. This day of rest from strength training is what allows your muscles to build up.

Focusing on spot training is a surefire way to discourage your workouts. If you are trying to flatten your belly, no amount of crunches will get rid of that layer of fat. When you don't see those rippling muscles start to appear you may want to quit your fitness routine. Fat is lost evenly throughout the entire body. Healthy eating will help you lose weight and a whole body workout will burn more calories than simply spot training.

Working out too hard at first will sabotage your fitness routine. If you push your body too hard at first, you risk injury and may have difficulty keeping up the pace. This also goes along with expecting results too quickly. Start slowly and work your way up. You will slowly want to increase your intensity as your body adjusts.

Sabotage your workout by starting out too slowly. Just as working out too hard at first isn't the way to go, starting out too slowly may make you give up as well. If you stay in your comfort zone, exercising may become boring and you won't see results. The intensity should be just enough to challenge yourself and you can work your way up from there.

The way you stretch can affect your workout routine. It is important to stretch muscles before exercising. You will prevent injury and increase workout stamina. But you should never stretch "cold" muscles. Going for a brisk walk, jogging in place or using a treadmill on an easy setting for a few minutes first will prevent injury by warming up your muscles a but before you stretch.

Sabotage your workout by exercising at a single intensity. If you consistently work out at the same intensity, your body adjusts to the calories needed. You will actually burn less calories as your body tries to maintain its calorie balance. You will see very little in the way of progress and want to give up. Interval training and circuit training are good ways to vary your workout and keep your caloric burn where it needs to be.

Sticking with the same routine over time is a good way to sabotage your fitness routine. Not only will your body adjust to the same fitness routine over time and try to conserve calories, you run the risk of boredom. Being bored with a workout will be more likely to cause you to give it up. When this happens, try something different. For some ideas, read my article How to Stay Motivated in Your Workout.

Ways to sabotage your workout. Everyone is different. You may find that some of these tips don't affect you or you may find other things that do affect your workout that are not listed here. Regardless, it is important to be aware of your body and take things into consideration so you can stick with it and not sabotage your workout.

BEFORE YOU START A FITNESS OR WEIGHT LOSS PROGRAM, SEEK THE ADVICE OF YOUR PHYSICIAN.

SOURCES:

Personal Training

Personal Experience

Jolynne M Hudnell; How to Stay Motivated in Your Workout; Associated Content/Yahoo!