These are a few of the fundamental Gym Mistakes we make without realizing, which, although don’t matter, do have an impact on us.
Small Workout Mistakes that have a huge Impact..
1. Using Phone during Reps
Have you ever tried working out without your phone? Trust me, this is the best feeling ever.
We have seen people curling with one arm and scrolling with the other. Bro, you are neither benefitting from your workout nor from your dopamine source.
At least once try this and you will yourself feel the difference. You will notice how your workouts are so much better when you are in a focused state. It won’t be easy early on, try to reduce the usage by first using in the rest period only, then after every exercise change, and so on.
It will not have a drastic effect, but will surely save you a ton of time. You will be more focused leading you to work a little faster, hence saving the time that otherwise you could have wasted just roaming the waiting for that one reel to finish.
2. Closing eyes during heavy sets
This is the biggest mistake I see beginners doing the most. This could lead to very fatal injuries especially if you are doing free weights. Closing your eyes shifts your focus which could result in a blackout, making the weight fall on you.
Closing your eyes is perfectly fine if you have a trainer beside you or you are using machines like pec deck, and leg extension as even if you fail to lift in these, the worst thing that can happen is nothing. Imagine the same scenario if you were to close your eyes for the final rep of a bench press or squat (without assistance) and have a momentary blackout.
If you don’t have any support or locking mechanism for the machine, never ever close your eyes.
3. Eating just Before a workout
Ate heavy just before the workout and now you are feeling bloated? This is due to the fact that when your body is supposed to be working out, you don’t want it to be using more energy for digestion.
Giving your body the correct nutrition before working out helps provide you with the energy ( carbs ) and power you need to work out more effectively. But this should come from quick absorbing sources like bananas, and simple sugars like chocolates, yogurt, and fruits. You don’t want to hinder your performance even if you have eaten the best pre-workout food sources out there because of the timing only.
4. Not cleaning sweat
Imagine you are going to the gym for the glow but instead you started experiencing dark circles and acne on your face. How would you feel in this case?
This is mostly because we try to wipe off the sweat with our hands only. Not only this, we then use our phones with sweaty hands carrying the germs from the gym to our sweet home and then thinking why is my face getting destroyed?
This will have an adverse effect on you if you are in a local gym with no AC and no cleanliness.
Next time, remember to have a separate towel to clean sweat only. Having a sanitizer can really help in this kind of scenario.
5. Not stretching after workout
Have you ever felt the pain when you are not able to walk properly after a leg workout?
This could be because of a lack of proper stretching. Read here how Stretching helps in recovery.
This is absolutely necessary to stretch not only to feel good but to prevent soreness and injuries also.
6. Not warming up
Trying to hit your PRs without warming up can backfire very badly. Warming up prepares our bodies for the upcoming battles both mentally and physically.
We see most beginners messing up their muscles trying to show off. It’s perfectly fine to test our PR but not at the expense of an injury that kicks us back 3 months.
Also, remember that the weight that may be a warmup for someone could be your final rep that too with full effort. Thus, select your warm-up weights ACC based on your ability rather than following someone else’s recommendation.
7. Skipping Leg Day / Not visible parts
“The best way to test a bodybuilder is to examine their legs”. This is the funniest mistake we see people making. All of us only want to work on the parts that are the most attractive to others like the biceps and shoulders but a true fitness enthusiast knows the significance of having good legs, triceps, and hamstrings.
Although, these are not visible but have a potent impact on overall strength. Working on this not only builds these physically but plays a major role in assisting us to become mentally tough. It takes more mental than physical power to complete a LEGS workout.
No muscle is useless, All these help in one way or another. Thus, If you want to functionally fit, HIT ALL YOUR MUSCLES.
8. Ego Lifting
Posting your workouts on social media is a great way to motivate us. But the problem arises when we start posting only to flash the weights we are lifting rather than actually benefitting from it.
We constantly compete to lift the most weight, even if it goes to the wrong muscle, in this “More is better” phase. It looks excellent, but using momentum to finish your bicep curls with the heaviest weight possible is not going to benefit you at all.
9. Working out doesn’t mean GYM only
If we want to be functionally fit, it does not matter if we go to the gym or just even walk 10,000 steps. Being fit should not be associated with the gym only. Gymgoers can be less functionally fit than a person who goes running and does bodyweight exercises only.
Who would require us to lift the heaviest weight we could lift for only 1 rep ( deadlift )? or who cares how much I can lift if I get exhausted within 10 sec only?
Exercise has numerous benefits, therefore it should be our first priority. However, it shouldn’t be limited to the gym only. Working out could be from as little as walking to Intense HIIT training.
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