Fitness & Wellness News Your Source for Fitness News, Wellness News, Health News, and Nutrition News!
by Michelle Sutton-Kerchner
Stop making these common fitness mistakes. Let your workout soar …
1. Don’t Skip Your Warm-Up/Cooldown
Ditching the intro and conclusion of your workout can seem like an easy time-saver. Although the negative effects may not be immediate, they are long-term. A short few years from now, your joints and organs (including your heart) may scold you for this shortcut with painful paybacks.
Better ways to shorten your workout: reduce reps, perform exercises that multitask different muscle groups, or schedule cardio and strength training at separate times.
2. Don’t Sacrifice Form
Anything worth doing is worth doing well. Poorly executed exercises are a waste of time. You do not maximize results when the correct muscles are not engaged with good posture and form. More importantly, poor form can cause injuries and post-workout soreness. Tension is absorbed in the wrong areas, allowing strains to develop as muscle compensations are made.
How to monitor form: Use a mirror or ask a trainer to monitor you, especially when learning new exercises. Practice proper posture, even when not exercising. Keep your shoulders back, chin up, spine straight, and core engaged. (Think: abs of steel!)
3. Keep Quiet
Your workout is not the time for an extensive catch-up with friends. If you can talk through training, especially during cardio work, evaluate your routine. A fitness-effective heart rate limits your ability to say more than a few words at a time. Focus on your movement. Save the latest office gossip or family drama for a leisure-paced walk.
Also, try to keep the grunting and cursing to a quiet hush. True, research proves expletives can be motivating during a sweat session. However, it is not worth the disgusted stares of your neighboring exercisers. Save your inner-drill sergeant for when you’re alone.
Too chatty: Increase your exercise intensity. You will be forced to save all your breaths for your workout.
4. Avoid Nothing; Do Something
Often, people take an all-or-nothing approach to fitness. Make fitness a lifestyle. Integrate exercises throughout your day. If you’re too busy for a full workout, do mini-workouts. Five minutes can increase energy level and reinforce your fitness commitment.
The anything-goes approach: Do 50 jumping jacks, incorporate hourly chair stretches, focus on your breath for three minutes. These quick exercises reinforce your ongoing commitment to a healthy lifestyle, as well as provide their own benefits.
5. Don’t Lift Too Heavy or Light
During your free personal training reevaluation, ask which weight is correct for your fitness/strength level. Professional insight helps maximize your use of free weights and equipment without risking injury. Lifting too light can delay results. Lifting too heavy can lead to injury or quitting all together—both big setbacks. Let’s not go by the scary rule, “no pain, no gain.”
A general gauge: Use weight that allows you to perform about 12 repetitions, with the final four becoming more difficult. Reevaluate your weights and reps every six weeks. (Conveniently, this syncs with your free personal training reevaluation and new programming.)
6. Keep It Balanced
A good workout includes all elements of fitness: cardio, strength, flexibility, and balance. Tackle each area, dedicating some sessions to aerobic activity and others to strengthening. It is acceptable to combine the elements, as done in circuit training, but not ideal for every workout. Spend time specifically increasing your aerobic capacity. Devote other workouts to strength training.
Exercisers tend to repeat the past. If you grew up a football player, you may still pump iron. A runner may hit the treadmill. Those who did aerobics will head for Group Fitness classes. The body and mind thrive on variety. Sculpt yourself stronger with a well-rounded fitness program.
Balancing Acts: Alternate weight training days with a Group Fitness class or cycling. Weights target specific muscle groups, help strengthen bones, and increase metabolism. Allow muscle tissues to rebuild and repair with cardio-focused workouts on days between. Hit the Aquatics center for a refreshing water workout. Try Pilates and Yoga to increase balance, flexibility, and that coveted inner-peace.
Image Credits
No cursing: pixabay.com/en/shield-prohibitory-note-ban-sign-1286293
Desk stretch: pixabay.com/en/adult-break-business-caucasian-2398561
Weights: pixabay.com/en/dumbbells-weights-weight-lifting-1634750
