4 Bad Habits to Break in the Gym!!
4 Bad Habits to Break in the Gym!!
Sooooo many people post on social media or brag to their friends about all the hours and energy they are putting into your workouts. Many of these same people have not gained a pound of muscle or lost an inch from their waist since they started working out.
It’s time for some introspection: You could be wasting precious time at the gym with some nasty habits that are hard to break. It’s important to remember that if bad workout habits are only holding you back, you have to change them in order to get the most out of each second of your workout That’s how you achieve the results you want.
So get off your cell phones, take off the gloves, and try an exercise or routine you have been scared to try and start making some quality progress in the gym!
- Wearing Gloves
I see a lot of newbies to the Gym Junkiez lifestyle wearing gloves while weight training. While gloves do help ease the stress on the forearms and make it easier to grip the weights, they will ultimately lead to weak grip strength and potential wrist pain and/or injury.
Wearing gloves does NOT prevent calluses. The only reason you have not developed calluses is because you have not picked up weight heavy enough to cause friction between your hands and the bar. If you argue this point, that just means you aren’t training hard enough to understand this statement. Do yourself a favor and rid yourself of this gym habit. If you can’t lift your normal training weight without gloves, get going on building your grip strength.
2. Stretching before you begin weight training
Let me clarify. STATIC stretching before weight training is bad. Static stretching elongates the muscle and places in a weakened state. To properly warm up the body for weight training or any workout, start with 5-10 minutes of light cardiovascular work (bike, treadmill, elliptical) and then complete a series of dynamic stretches. I have found that this list of dynamic stretches before any workout will help you perform optimally
Upper Body – 2 rounds; 30 seconds a piece
- Arm Circles
- Walking out Plank
- Lunge with Twist
- Jumping Jacks
Lower Body – 2 rounds; 30 seconds a piece
- Butt kicks
- High Knees
- Leg Kicks
- Jump Squats
3. Cell Phone Usage
How many times have you seen this?
This is one of my biggest pet peeves in the gym. If you are in the gym to lift. LIFT!!! Don’t sit on a bench or machine and surf the web, social media, or just chill while face timing a friend. If you are using your phone to pick a play list, then thats cool!
Gains come from focus and intensity. Sitting around on your phone will cause you to take more than recommended time between sets which lowers your heart rate as well as any chances of burning that tire of fat around your waist.
I wonder how many people would still go to the gym if they banned cell phone usage on the floor?!?
4. Following the Same Routine
Its easy to go to the gym and follow the same routine every session. But you will only stall your progress to being in better condition or achieving a learner physique. Your body is smarter than you are (let that sink in). Constantly sticking to the same routine will get boring, stagnate your results, cause you to lose motivation, put you at risk for an overuse injury .
In order to grow and improve there has to be some type of stress to adapt to. Varying your workouts is the only way to achieve that stress. Subtle changes in weight, number of reps, tempo of reps, or time between sets can be all that is needed to push your body to the next level. The best advice for everyone is to follow a routine for 2-3 weeks. If you are able to get through the workout in less time or feeling less fatigued by the end of it. Change it up! If you are unable to determine when its time to change your routine, hire a personal trainer. They will be able to direct you ,and if they are good, teach you how to properly accomplish this.
Break these habits FAST. The faster you do… the faster you become stronger and in better shape. Thank me later!!!!
Train Smart! Train Hard!
