The 10 Biggest Workout Mistakes

As a Personal Trainer and exercise enthusiast, I repeatedly see these 10 common workout mistakes. These misguided, ineffective steps not only sabotage your workout, but also may also lead to injury or other health concerns. Please continue to educate yourself in proper form, nutrition, and workout design to maximize your workout potential.

1. Neglecting a Proper Warm-Up and Cool Down: Too often, people are in a rush to get their workout over with and the first phases they eliminate are the warm-up and cool down. A proper warm-up consisting of dynamic exercises or lower resistance sets, allows you to psychologically focus, get blood flowing to your extremities, and prepare your heart for increases in intensity. A suggested cool-down of 5-10 minutes of static stretching, prevents blood from pooling, your heart rate to safely decrease, increases in flexibility, and helps prevent soreness.

2. Poor Form: Individuals of all experience levels jeopardize their own safety and limit their strength building capabilities by employing improper lifting and movement techniques. Seek professional or experienced guidance to assist you and focus on form first, then increase resistance as necessary.

3. Not Including Multi-Joint Exercises: Sure, you strength train, but are you the type that just sits on the curl machine and pumps out 20 low-resistance reps on the curl machine? Multi-exercise joints such as various squats, deadlifts, pull-ups, presses, and combinations of movements (curl and press, curl-press-front squat, deadlift and row, Romanian-deadlift and high pull) stimulate our body's largest muscles. Multi-joint exercises increase the release of strength-building hormones and activate our "fat-burning" fast-twitch muscle fibers, while strengthening and shaping our core.

4. Inadequate Rest and Recovery: I will be the first to admit I have been guilty of this sin and have paid the price, in the form of a period of a nagging case of plantar fascitis. To reap the benefits of your exercise efforts, you must allow your body ample time to rest, recover, and repair. Strength train each muscle group 2-3 times each week MAX with at least a day of rest in between. When starting an exercise program, start slowly and establish a healthy foundational base of flexibility, range of motion, and proper form, then progress slowly.

5. Treadmill-Addiction Syndrome: No, this is not a scientific term, but in every gym exists at least one individual who chains their wrists to a treadmill for what seems like an eternity at the same pace day after day. Incorporate interval training (fast/slow periods), strength training (to gain muscle, not lose it as a source of energy), different modes of cardio, and enjoy the outdoors once in awhile, too.

6. Ineffective or Unsafe Exercise Choices: Leg Extension Machines, many Chest Fly Machines, Smith Stations, Hip Abductor/Adductor Machines, and Abdominal Crunch Machines are oftentimes detrimental and jeopardize our joint and muscle integrity. Safer alternatives are resistance bands, free weights, barbells, and full range of motion body weight machines (Assisted Dips/Pull-Ups).

7. Lack of Diversity: How many times do you go to the same gym and see the same out-of-shape individual do the same uninspired machine workout day after day? Make your workouts more enjoyable and learn more exercises to prevent plateaus and maximize your results. Change your stance, grip, the equipment, resistance, exercise sequence, set grouping, and utilize the experience of your gym's staff or online resources to jumpstart your strength gains.

8. Ignoring Strength Training: Strength training is essential for all ages and genders to maximize metabolism, gain muscle, and prevent the natural loss of muscle and bone density resulting from aging. Remember! Muscle burns calories at a far faster rate than fat, even while resting.

9. Ignoring Progression: If you find yourself in a workout "rut," it is likely due to your body's boredom with your lack of exercise progression. New exercises, angles of movement, instability, and manipulating the rest, duration, sets, reps, total volume, and intensity of your workout will recruit new muscle fibers to meet the challenge, leading to strength gains and minimize plateaus.

10. Nutrition: For better or worse, nutrition has the greatest influence on one's body composition. Eating an exclusive processed-food diet high in sugars, trans-fats, and empty calories can ultimately derail the most diligent exercise regimens and pose imminent health risks. Maximize your workouts by maintaining proper hydration and building your around natural phytonutrient-rich vegetables (leafy-green vegetables, generally bright colored), low-starch antioxidant fruits (berries, cherries, apples, pears, grapefruit), and a healthy natural fats and protein (fish, nuts, avocados, flaxseed, olive oil, cottage cheese, and moderate lean meat intake). Most importantly, look at food as primarily a source fuel, not as an emotional or impulsive means to an end!

I hope I have helped you in your quest for a fitter, healthier you! I encourage you to please ask any other questions you may have to achieve your ultimate fitness goals.