ravadongon

WEEK SIXTEEN :: What Are The Top 3 Mistakes People Make When They Start Working Out?

By ravadongon

Everyone makes mistakes. It’s important that you pick these mistakes up as fast as possible and come up with solutions, instead of repeating them and expecting different results. The problem is most people are afraid of change. They’re afraid to get out of their comfort zone. This is an important thing to do in not just bodybuilding but also life. Anyway back to the topic, here are what I believe to be the top 3 mistakes when they start working out along with the ways people can correct these mistakes:

Mistake – No Strategic Plan In The Gym

This is easily the numero uno problemo with people new to lifting. These people turn up at the either any day they feel like or every day, and pretty much do whatever strikes their fancy, on whatever equipment available or simply do whatever exercises they have become comfortable with.

Correction – Have A Strategic Plan (DUH!)

It is a well known fact that successful people always have a plan. The process of planning includes assessment (where am I now?), goal setting (where do I want to go?), creating a plan or strategy (How will I get where I want to go?), executing the plan (what action steps must I take daily to reach my goal?), and measuring results (how will I know if I’m moving towards my goal and how will I know when I’ve reached it?). This can be done without any trouble by simply keeping your own journal, stating your measurements, fitness goals, everything you eat and all the work in the gym you do (including weights, sets and reps, and even comments on how you think the session went). You can even try starting one on the forums (http://forum.bodybuilding.com), which can help provide motivation so you can reach those goals.

Also learn to research, and use all available resources to you whether it be the internet or some recommended books. Always be looking to improve your strategies. http://www.bodybuilding.com is a great database of information as are the forums (http://forum.bodybuilding.com) where you can ask questions pertaining to things your having trouble with picking up or matters you are not sure about.

Mistake – Bad Eating Habits

Another big mistake new ‘gym-goers’ make. These people seem to think that by just working out in the gym they will gain muscle or lose body fat rapidly. They don’t pay attention to the things they eat, as they think it’s all magic in effect and their dream body will be achieved without any real change needed in their diets.

Correction – Make Yourself A Diet and Make Yourself Stick To It!

It doesn’t matter whether you are trying to put on the pounds (muscle), or are trying to remove the beer gut (fat), diet is the key to all success in the bodybuilding world. It’s important that you watch what types of food you eat, avoid all bad fats (saturated and trans fatty acid) and simple carbohydrates (excluding post workout, where simple sugars are good to have), eat foods rich in protein, complex carbohydrates and good sources of fat (e.g. monounsaturated fats, fish/flax seed oils, olive oil). And make sure you count your calories. If you are trying to get rid off bodyfat (cutting) make sure you are consuming 500 calories less than you burn during the day, and when you are trying to put on muscle (bulking) make sure you are consuming 500 calories more than you burn during the day.

Supplements will also help if you use them wisely and have a well structured diet to accompany them. Good supplements include: Whey Protein (for use post workout – bulking or cutting), Creatine (for use when bulking), Multivitamin (for overall health), EFAs (for overall health). All can be purchased from http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/index.html at good prices.

So make, sure you stick to good eating habits and I’m sure you’ll be amazed how much more gains you will produce compared to before.

Mistake - Focusing on Strengths, Favorite Exercises and body parts and Neglecting Weaknesses

This is by far the most noticeable mistake observed by more experienced lifters that new novice ‘gymmies.’ The type of people who make this mistake are those who you see training chest and biceps everyday. They’ll start the show with countless sets of flat bench, and then finally hit every variation of the bicep curl you can imagine, barbell, dumbbell, hammer curls, standing, sitting, incline… Then they’ll repeat the whole process the following day.

Correction – Training for Functional and Aesthetic Balance (Not Negelecting The Weaknesses)

All exercisers must train all groups of muscles for functional balance to prevent injury, maintain optimal function and range of movement in every joint and muscle group. Every plane of movement and angle of movement must be taken care of. Flexors must be balanced with extensors. Both push and pull type exercises must be included and balanced.

Compound exercises should make up the large majority of your exercises, while few isolation movements should be included. Prime movers, antagonists and stabilizers must all be strengthened. Weaknesses should be looked upon and steps should be immediately taken in order to bring these up to par.

My Experience

Mistakes I Made

For 4 months I wasted my time training. I didn’t eat properly, the exercises I actually did do in the gym were mostly on machinery and a large percentage were islolation, and all I was interested in was improving my favourite bodyparts, biceps and abs. I was not interested in improving my weaker bodyparts however I enlisted the help of a free trainer who showed me some equipment and wrote me up a quick and quite shabby program. For those 4 months I saw very little results and a lot of work for nothing.


How I Corrected Them

In July last year I had a break from school, so I decided it might be worth my while going on some websites and learning a bit more about some exercises I saw people doing in the gym, that I hadn’t been doing yet. I did a search on google and the first result that came up was at http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.htm. I had a good browse around the website and looked at some more exercises I had been doing and realized I was doing them wrong. At this point I realized I was probably doing a lot wrong so I continued looking through the databases looking at articles which went through the basics. I found it hard to accept the fact I was doing so much wrong, and it took some time for me to accept this and be able to change. When I went back to the gym I continued to do the same things I was doing before. I refused to accept some of the concepts people proposed on the forums, which I look back on being very good and valid advice. However, after a while I started to realize that maybe I should listen to what these people on the forums are telling me and do such and such, because these people have most likely been through what I was going through at that time and are really going out of there way to help me. So I took all advice on board and gradually made small changes. I improved my eating habits. I changed my split eventually, and included more compound exercises then before and made sure I learnt the proper form on good mass-building exercises that I hadn’t done before e.g. Deadlifts, Bent Over Rows, Lateral Raises. Slowly but surely I improved in all these facets and I reaped the benefits. I put on 20kg with very little fat gains in the space of 18 weeks, and added a good 2.5” to my arms and 5” to my legs.


Moral

The moral of the story is learn from your mistakes. The quicker you do it the better. Take advice from knowledgeable people, use all free sources of information wisely and well. Research methods in which you can improve the way you train, read up on topics that may help you do this, and I’m sure at the end of the day you will be a lot more pleased and satisfied with yourself and your own hard work for it.