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5 Exercise Mistakes

By Eric Bonilla

Republish: EasyPublish™
Published: 18Jul2009
Word count: 827
Viewed: 201 time(s)

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The fact that you're exercising is great! Not many people do it, so you're way ahead of the game. However, you might not be getting the results you want even though you're at the gym a couple of times a week, doing your suggested cardio and, overall, working hard.

Despite being devoted to your new exercise regime, you might not be seeing results simply because you're exercising wrong. Just because you're active, doesn't mean you're exercising correctly. Those that are new to having a fitness regime or are back on track after having had a sabbatical from exercising might not even be aware that they are actually exercising wrong.

Here are 5 Exercising mistakes that happen most often. 1. Sticking to the same strength training routine: If you do the same routine over and over, your muscles will simply adapt and you'll hit a plateau in your fitness plan since each exercise stimulates only a limited number of muscle fibers. Challenging your muscles from a variety of angles by adding or alternating moves periodically, significantly works more muscle fibers so that you develop more tone and strength. For each muscle group, learn an additional 2 or 3 exercises, trying new angles and equipment. For example, if you usually do the dumbbell chest press on a flat bench, try it at an incline. If you normally use the chest-press machine, try the dumbbell chest press or the bench press with a barbell. Expand your repertoire enough so that you can change your entire routine every 6-8 weeks.

2. Performing reps too quickly If you hurry through your repetitions when strength training, you'll be using momentum instead of muscle power, which won't give you the results you want. By going too fast through each of your reps, you won't get the same stimulus for muscle building, and you won't burn as many calories. You'll also be more susceptible to training injuries such as torn muscles or connective tissue. To avoid going to fast, take 6 seconds to perform each repetition: 2 seconds to lift the weight and 4 seconds to lower it. (Since you have gravity to help you lower the weight, you need to slow down even more on this phase in order to give your muscles a sufficient challenge.)

3. Exercising too hard, too often For some reason, people think that non-stop exercising will lead to faster and better results. However, your body needs to rest, and if you go too hard, too often while exercising, your body won't be able to adjust itself in order for you to see the results you want. If you don't rest enough between hard cardio or strength workouts, you'll stop making progress and may even lose some of the fitness you've gained. You're also likely to burn out on exercise. To keep your muscles fresh and your motivation high, alternate shorter, tougher cardio workouts (for instance, 20 minutes) with longer, easier days (40-60 minutes). Don't go all-out more than twice a week. Keep in mind that the more intensely you train, the more time your body needs to recover. It's a good idea to do a couple of tough workouts and take 1 day completely off each week. For strength-training, take at least 1 day off between sessions that work the same muscle group.

4. Getting too comfortable with cardio Becoming comfortable with your cardio will hinder results. Sticking with the same aerobic workout can sabotage your results as much as pushing too hard. To truly boost your fitness (which enables you to burn more calories with less effort), you need to venture outside your comfort zone a couple of times a week, to the point where you're somewhat winded and can feel your heart pounding. Instead of zoning out or doing moderate-intensity cardio all the time, mix in some high-intensity intervals twice a week. For instance, after warming up for 10 minutes on the treadmill, increase the speed or incline for 30 seconds to 1 minute, then recover with 1-3 minutes of easy-to-moderate exercise. Keep alternating for 10-20 minutes, then cool down.

5. Lifting the wrong amount of weight This is a tricky one. Many trainers don't like to give their female clients too much weight when strength training since women usually want to tone and not bulk up. However, if using too light of weight, you won't see results. For the most significant strength building, perform 4-6 repetitions per set; for more moderate strength building, perform 8-12 repetitions per set, choosing weights heavy enough that you struggle through your final few reps, but not so heavy that your form falls apart. If you get to your final rep and feel that you could perform another one, increase the weight by 5-10 percent. You may find that when you've considerably increased the amount of weight you're using, you'll drop to fewer reps, which is fine, as long as your targeted muscles are fatigued by the final rep. Lifting to fatigue (which is what many guys do to bulk up) will not leave you with monstrous muscles.

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