Top 10 Fitness Errors
In some form or another, most fitness goals incorporate weight loss or fat reduction. Losing and controlling our fat content is usually part of the plan, whether we desire to shed a few pounds, change a clothing size, or develop muscle mass.
It's just as vital to know what actions to take to achieve your fitness objectives as it is to know what not to do. Avoid making the following top 10 fitness blunders to ensure your success:
- 1. Failing to Plan is a big no-no.
"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail," as the saying goes. Working out without a pre-planned workout routine is akin to going on a journey without directions; you'll almost certainly get lost. Commit sure you don't make this typical blunder. Enlist the help of a certified personal trainer to create an effective resistance and aerobic training program. Purchase one of the many fitness programming books available and educate yourself on the fundamentals.
- 2. Evaluate yourself in comparison to others.
Grunting exercisers muscling their way through workouts are a common sight in any gym. In the meantime, the group exercise studio is packed with twirling, panting, leaping students who appear to be auditioning for a music video rather than taking an aerobics session. Don't even consider striving to be like them. At the very least, you'll become disappointed because you won't be able to keep up; at the very worst, you'll be injured.
Maintain a reasonable level of expectation. Expecting to bench 300 pounds in the first month is a recipe for disaster. It's preferable to build strength gradually over time. Similarly, expecting to lose 100 pounds of body fat in three months on a new diet is unrealistic. Set attainable goals to keep you motivated, and focus on yourself rather than others during the process.
- 3. Insufficient exercise.
Contrary to popular belief, three or four exercise sessions per week are insufficient to get significant improvements. Weight loss and changes in body composition are the consequence of a combination of lifestyle choices, not just gym workouts. There are 168 hours in a week; expecting to lose weight by only engaging in physical activity for 1% of that time is absurd.
This doesn't mean you have to spend every day tethered to a barbell, but you should be active in some way every day. Increase lower-level activity by walking or biking to work, choosing the parking place furthest away from the grocery store's door, or getting out and playing with your kids, in addition to workouts. The goal is to be active and move your body daily.
- 4. Excessive exercise.
However, don't become so consumed with exercising that it takes over your life. Overtraining is just as bad as doing nothing at all when it comes to accomplishing fitness goals.
Overuse injuries, insomnia, weariness, extended recuperation from sessions, and general apathy in exercise are all common indicators of overtraining. Rest and rehabilitation are essential for making progress and avoiding burnout.
- 5. Don't stray from your training program.
Nothing is more tedious than repeating the same routine. You will not only become bored, but your muscles will adapt and stop responding. Change up the exercises you do, the order in which you do them, the number of sets and reps you complete, and the weights you use. Otherwise, progress will come to a halt. Every workout should be unique in some sense.
- 6. Weight loss by starvation.
The typical American diet consists of a quick (often missed) breakfast, a hurried lunch, and a large dinner feast. Unfortunately, because it slows the metabolism, this is the poorest eating plan for weight loss. When the body isn't nourished regularly, it goes into a starvation mode that evolved and clings on to fat reserves for survival.
Repeated episodes of dieting and calorie restriction have been shown to have a deleterious impact on thyroid hormone production. Five or six smaller meals spread out over 2.5 to 3 hours make it easier for the body to digest throughout the day and boost metabolism over time. It may seem paradoxical, but you must eat to burn fat. Instead of limiting the number of meals, portion sizes should be carefully monitored.
- 7. Underestimating the amount of alcohol consumed.
Alcohol use must be reduced, if not eliminated, in the same way, that portion sizes must be controlled. Alcohol not only has calories but it is digested more like fat than carbohydrates. Alcohol, unlike fat or carbohydrates, has no nutritional value. Drinking a glass of wine or a martini may make you feel wonderful, but it does nothing to help you lose weight or gain muscle. Those "liquid meals" with empty calories add up far too quickly.
- 8. Continually relying on quick food.
Eric Schlosser's New York Times bestseller Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal provides a compelling explanation of how the multi-billion dollar fast food industry links to the current obesity epidemic in the United States. It's considerably easier to grab a burger/fry/shake combo or a deluxe pizza on the way home from work than it is to spend time planning and cooking meals.
The difficulty with eating out frequently is that, no matter how attentive we believe we are, we have no idea what's in most of the food we're served. Even when fast-food restaurants try to offer "healthier" options, mass-produced meals are made with less-than-ideal ingredients and are often high in fat. The only way we can be certain of what we're eating is to cook it ourselves. Consuming less processed food isn't always easy if we're accustomed to it, but it's a major lifestyle choice that must be altered. Is it just a coincidence that we refer to it as "junk food"?
9. Weight exercise is avoided.
Increasing the body's metabolism to increase calorie expenditure throughout the day is a significant concern for weight loss. As previously indicated, one approach to accomplish this is to ensure that the proper number of meals are ingested. Another option is to enhance your muscle mass percentage. The more the caloric expenditure necessary, the more muscle we have on our frames. Increased muscular mass necessitates weight training.
Beginning fitness enthusiasts sometimes believe that fat loss requires hours and hours of high-intensity aerobic activity. The reality is quite different. Aerobic exercise helps to burn fat, but it does little to boost overall metabolic rate when compared to muscle building from a regular resistance training program. It's critical to be concerned about gaining muscle mass if you want to lose weight.
- 10. Trying to find an "easy way out."
We all want something for nothing, whether it's winning the jackpot or having the perfect figure. One peek at late-night infomercials reveals a plethora of false promises of weight loss through the use of a pill, a smoothie, or the purchase of some innovative new piece of equipment. In recent years, even medical groups have hopped on board, offering us the body of our dreams through a range of surgical operations.
Calories in vs. calories out are the most basic notion in weight management, yet it's not easy. Results will only come from dedication, hard work, and healthy lifestyle modifications. Forget about fast remedies. They aren't real. "If it came in a bottle, we'd all have a gorgeous body," Cher stated in a fitness commercial in the 1980s.
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