Are you making these training mistakes in the gym?
One of the things I struggle with as a coach is when I go to the gym to train myself I can't help but look at how others train. I see good form, bad, weak people, strong people, guys clutching their shoulders and other people who are close to ruining their lower back. Here are a few mistakes I see folks make ALL the time and so I thought it might help you people out if I pointed them out. Let's go!
1. NOT DOING FULL RANGE OF MOTION
Doing a full range of motion makes you more able to build muscle (get toned or henched). Makes your body more injury proof (Less likely to pull your back lifting your kid or whilst doing the gardening). Makes your lifting have a better carryover to real life (make carrying your kids or furniture easier). Makes you build a more natural lifting pattern. The downside? You have to drop the weight. Big deal! No one really cares how much you lift trust me. They're too busy caught up taking selfies and posting it on the gram. Face palm.
Pull ups are a classic exercise where people don’t train the full range of motion. Lots of people don’t go all the way to the bottom like this woman is above.
2. NOT FOCUSING ON COMPOUND LIFTS?
Compound? WTF? It's fancy way of saying lifts that are multi joint and use many muscles. I'm talking bout squats, hip hinge movements, rows, presses not bicep curls and kickbacks. Isolation exercises like tricep push downs have there place. But they are not your main focus. You want to aim to get stronger in the compound lifts as these burn more calories (fat loss), they carryover to real life and sports. Also they are easier to progressively overload (get stronger over time) Qué bueno!
A squat is a compound lift as it’s a multi joint exercise.
3. USING WEIGHTS YOU CANNOT HANDLE
It's usually men that do this as they often feel they have to 'prove' themselves physically. It's a big mistake. It often leads to injury. Furthermore it's not about a number people. It's easy to keep pushing up the weight while doing bad form BUT it will eventually bite you in the butt. Usually with an injury. And that means you can't train and if it's really bad you won’t even be able do daily the things you need to do in your life. That's really wack if that happens!
4. NOT LEARNING GOOD FORM
If you want to play 'Under the bridge' by the Chillies on guitar you first have to learn easier songs like 'Mull of Kintyre'. First song I ever learned to strum btw. It's very similar in exercise. You have to learn the basic technique before you go onto the harder stuff. Also most people would hire a guitar instructor at the beginning if they wanted to learn guitar correct?
It's the same for fitness. If you hire a decent coach in the space of a few sessions they can teach you the basic lifts. It might cost you a few bills at first but it will be worth it in the long haul.
Lots of people make this training mistake. They have poor technique on push ups. This guy is doing them right though!
There you have it. Are you making these training mistakes in the gym? If you’re interested in me being your coach feel free to email me bvoytraining@gmail.com and we can see if you’re a good fit.
Peace
Ed