1.You spend a lot of time on the machines
If you are the typical gym rat, probably your workout resembles more a competition, how many machines you could use in an hour and a half. You go from one machine to another, lying, sitting,standing! It sounds like a lot in words, but in reality it is more a waste of time, than an efficient workout.
Think about it! When was the last time, that in your daily activities you had the need to sit on a chair, extending your legs, pushing 100lbs? When was the last time you were lying on the ground pushing a 100lbs platform? I guess never! Then, why are you wasting your time working out like this?
You spend your whole day sitting in a chair, and then go to the gym and sit some mor eon the machines? Doesn’t sound exciting to me! Instead, take some time to work on functional movements! Movements that resemble your daily activities. Which are these movements? Some of them are as follows:
-Squats– every time you sit in a chair or you stand up from a chair, your movement resembles a squat!
-Deadlift– every time you lean down to grab something and then pick it up, you resemble a deadlift!
-Push press– every time you are trying to lift a box of old books, on the highest shelf, you are doing a movement, resembling a push press!
-Farmer’s walk– every time, you are carrying a bag, you resemble the movement of a farmer’s walk!
-Rowing with a dumbbell– every time, you are trying to turn on an electric mower, you are doing a movement resembling rowing with a dumbbell!
There are endless examples- pull ups, push ups, cleans and so on.
2. You are always doing the same thing in the gym
Some time ago, I was shocked, when a friend of fine, said that for the past 11 years, he has been on the same workout routine??? Are there really people like that? How is it possible to do the exact same thing for 11 years, expecting to get different results?
As you know, your body tends to adapt to physical activities! In order to improve, you have to put it under an unexpected stress- by changing the exercises, the sets, the reps, the intensity, the weights!
Let’s think about it that way! If, from the time you used to be 11, you kept on doing the same thing, thinking the same way, where would you be now? Would you have the job you have now, the relationships you have now, or the personality you have now? I doubt it! Then, why do you expect it out of your workouts?
3. The more, the better
Do you think that the more you workout, the faster you are gonna achieve your goals? If your answer is positive, you are deadly wrong! I do not know how much you are familiar with the law of diminishing return, but if I transform it and refer it to working out, it would be something like that- If you increase the time you spend working out, you could derive some positives up to a particular moment! After that moment, though, increasing the time of your workouts, will only interfere with your progress and could even lead to negative consequences!
After 45 minutes of intense workout, some hormonal changes take place in your body. The levels of cortisol ( the stress hormone) rise! With cortisol rising, the same happens with the levels of your blood sugar. In response to the higher blood sugar levels, your body secretes more insulin, and more insulin, equals more stored fat! Thus, even though you are chasing your goal to lose weight, you are only harming yourself!
What kind of mistakes have you done in your workouts? What did you learn from them?
