|
Author: Karen Cohen Article source: http://www.holisticjunction.com/. Used with author's permission.
Already dedicated exercisers make small but costly mistakes regularly
in their workouts, and one tiny change can have a huge impact on their
results. Time is valuable, and for each precious moment invested you
want to ensure the best possible return. If your body is not yet as lean or
toned as you would like, it is likely that you are committing some key
training mistakes. These errors can sabotage the efforts of even veteran
exercisers. By learning about the most common fitness faux pas and
their fixes, you will mistake-proof your exercise and see tremendous
payoffs. Six of the biggest fitness faux pas are…
Faux Pas #1 Skipping Over Your Warm-up
The Facts… Warming up prepares the body to work efficiently: longer,
stronger and more safely. Skipping your warm-up may cause you to
fatigue early, keeping you from realizing your full potential. Perhaps
more importantly, warming up drastically decreases your chance of
injury. The time spent in a warm up is much less than the time required
to heal a muscle strain or joint injury.
Smart Fix… Invest 5-10 minutes in performing a toned-down
version of your fitness activity or perhaps instead something like walking
or cycling at an easy pace. Some gentle range-of-motion exercises are
always encouraged. Save the deep stretching for after your workout.
Faux Pas #2 Racing Through Your Reps
The Facts… Racing through your repetitions when strength training
uses momentum instead of muscle power. You just won't get the same
stimulus for muscle building, and you won't burn nearly as many
calories. You also make yourself more susceptible to training injuries
such as torn muscles or connective tissue.
Smart Fix… Take a full six seconds to perform each repetition;
2 seconds to lift the weight and 4 seconds to lower it. Slowing down your
performance speed is the single most significant change you can make
to get better results from your strength training.
Faux Pas #3 Getting Married to Your Strength Routine
The Facts… Doing the same routine again and again will cause your
muscles to simply adapt. Without realizing it you are heading toward a
plateau because each exercise stimulates only a limited number of
muscle fibers. However, if you challenge your muscles from a variety of
angles by adding or alternating moves periodically, you will recruit
significantly more fibers into play and develop more tone and strength.
Smart Fix… For each muscle group, learn an additional 2 or 3
exercises, trying new angles and equipment. Expand your repertoire
enough so that you can easily change your entire routine every 6-8
weeks. If you can't get instruction from a trainer, there are plenty of
quality books, magazines and videos available.
Faux Pas #4 Exercising Too Intensely, Too Often
The Facts… 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 have gained. You are also very likely to burn out on exercise.
Smart Fix… To keep your motivation high and your muscles
fresh, alternate shorter, tougher cardio workouts (20 minutes, for
example) with longer, easier ones (40-60 minutes). Don't go all-out
more than twice a week. The more intensely you train, the more time
your body needs to recover. Take a day off completely after a couple of
tough workouts and make sure that you take at least one day off
between strength training sessions that work the same muscle group.
Faux Pas #5 Lifting the Wrong Amount of Weight
The Facts… If you lift weights that are too light, you won't see
improvements in tone, strength, or bone density. If you lift weights that
are too heavy, you will compromise proper form, increasing your injury
risk and diminishing your overall workout. You'll be forced to recruit
additional muscles to help with the work, thereby cheating the muscles
of a good workout. Unfortunately, a very common example of this is
using the entire body to complete a biceps curl.
Smart Fix… For moderate strength building, perform 8-12
repetitions per set, for maximum strength building, perform 4-6
repetitions per set. The key is to choose weights heavy enough that you
struggle through the final few reps, but not so heavy that you lose your
form. If you get to your final rep and feel that you could perform another
one, slightly increase the weight (5-10%). It's fine to drop a few reps as
the weights increase. Just remember to fatigue the muscle by the final
rep.
Faux Pas #6 Gliding Through Your Cardio Workout
The Facts… Getting complacent about your cardio workout can
sabotage results as badly as pushing too hard. To truly boost your
fitness levels, you need to venture beyond your comfort zone a couple of
times during the week. This turbo-boost will actually enable you to burn
more calories with even less
Smart Fix… Instead of zoning out or doing moderate-intensity
cardio all the time, mix in some high-intensity intervals twice a week.
This is a great area to add variety, have fun and play. Make a game of
mixing your intensities over a six-week interval.
Take the time to analyze your workout routines and assess whether you
are investing your time and energy for the absolute greatest results.
Error-proof your exercise for a better workout and a much better body.
Realize your body's full potential by using your mind to workout smart.
Copyright 2005. Karen B. Cohen All Rights Reserved Karen B. Cohen is a performance and wellness coach as well as a
personal fitness trainer, master yoga instructor (RYT500), and moving
meditation teacher. Living in a college town in rural Virginia, she is
available for seminars, workshops and individual coaching
internationally. Karen can be reached through her latest project
http://www.RockbridgeMag.com
Groundbreaking Work
Groundbreaking work sometimes comes when one feels least like writing.
Network Performance Management - The 6 Pillars Of Network Management System
Here's a general overview of 6 core areas of network management.
Isnt It Time to Give Yourself Permission?
Remember back in school days when you needed a permission slip to do almost anything outside of the classroom? Things like simply being able to visit the washr...
Summertime and New Romance
In the months of summer we are more available to meet the opposite sex as we are spending more time outdoors attending events, traveling and enjoying the summer...
How Good Is Your Health?
When was the last time you really thought about your health? Last week last month or maybe never it is something we must consider.
Home Equity Loans Online
Seeking for a home equity loan online can be much more convenient than calling around and talking to multiple brokers.
The ‘Stand-Out’ Principle
Think for a moment about all the people you know that Stand Out from their peers. Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky and Tiger Woods may come to mind. Singers like M...
The Bright Side of Loneliness
Recently a romantic relationship came to an end and I found myself alone again. The minutes, the hours now felt empty. For three weeks I sat beside a silent pho...
Problem Solving the Problem Solving Meeting
The most common and best reason for a meeting though is to solve a problem. A meeting is a great place to do this - you get a variety of people with a variety ...
Camp Out at Fort Wilderness
The Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground continues its tradition of being one of Disney World's best kept secrets. The only campground at the Walt Disney World...
Using Film Speed Effectively (Black & White Film Thoughts)
It's hard to find sometimes but it's making a resurgence, black and white film. If you've never used this film now is the time to try it out. Here are some tips...
Urinary Tract Infections Helped with Cranberry Juice
Cranberry Juice is very rich in Antioxidants and Nutrients which can help to prevent degenerative illnesses and diseases, particularly those associated with the...
Fashion Vs. Function : Dont Let Your Dog Freeze This Winter!
These days, dog clothes have become popular items among dog owners, but are they really necessary or completely frivolous? The answer depends on several factors...
Eyelid Plastic Surgery
Blepharoplasty, commonly known as eyelid surgery, is a cosmetic procedure that removes excess fat, skin and muscle from the area around the eyes. As people age,...
Swinging Lifestyle! A Way of Life, a Style of Living
What is the swinging lifestyle? By definition, the lifestyle is the act of sharing yourself and or your partner sexually with other people. In actuality, the ...
Picking The Right Keywords For A PPC Campaign
Running a pay-per-click advertising campaign can be very expensive if picking the wrong keywords. This article gives quick introduction of how to work around ex...
Five Really Tough Dieting Tips
The misleading claims of the diet gurus and their "easy" and "quick" promises are scorned in favor of an acceptance that dieting is never quick nor easy. 5 toug...
How to Become an Auction Genius: A Radio Interview with The Queen of EBay
More and more people are making a full time living buying and selling on eBay. But few are getting maximum profits out of their eBay business, according to Syd...
Dog Obediance Tips...
Training your dog can be time consuming and frustrating at times, but it's well worth it. Here are several tips that should help things go much smoother and fas...
Family Management Tip #3: Getting Ready for the New School Year
As you're getting ready for the new school year, here's a question to ask yourself: are you really planning to achieve the most important goals of your life? A...
People - You Cant Make Them What Theyre Not
The successful manager concentrates on developing the strengths of his team members - not trying to correct their weaknesses. Sometimes you have to manage aroun...
Whats Stopping You From Getting Publicity?
You WANT publicity.
The Brutally Honest Approach to Network Marketing
This article tells the classic failure story of the average network marketer and gives the best advice for developing a truly successfuly network marketing busi...
8 Tips for Designing a Great Website
Square buttons, round buttons, flashy buttons … will they match my shoes, my handbag or my tie? Are you stuck in a maze of buttons, headings, bullets, sub-headi...
|
Print this page