Top Mistakes to Avoid When Exercising For Real Results This Summer

When you put in the time and effort to exercise you want the maximum results. But for many people the results do not match their expectations, so they get discouraged and quit exercising all together. The reason that many people are not getting their desired results when exercising is because they are making crucial mistakes that negate much of their hard work and effort. Here are top exercise mistakes to avoid, enabling you to get the maximum benefit from your workouts.

Taking on Too Much

Once you have decided that you want to get into shape, many people go all-out and do too much too soon. This sets the stage for an orthopedic injury. Remember that every workout plan needs to begin at your personal fitness level and build slowly from there. Don’t set a plan to jog 3 miles until you are able to walk those same three miles briskly and without pain or being out of breath. Remember to always warm up and cool down as well. Failure to gradually increase and decrease your heart rate can lead to injury.

Spot Reduction Exercises

Losing weight in one area of your body is impossible, it means that weight loss can never be isolated to a particular area. Localized strengthening and toning exercises will only help to firm your muscles and will have no effect on the fat reduction of the target area. As shown by many fitness specialists, “spot reduction” is an ineffective method of “burning fat.” Therefore, exercisers are strongly recommended to adopt a better alternative method of a well-rounded full-body weight reduction program.

Any Type of Exercise is Good for Solving Your Problems

Some exercises are more effective than others. There are situations when only a combination of exercises with a certain amount of each, can provide you with the results you expect. On top of that, repeating the same exercise all the time can have a consequence of not only losing balance in the antagonist muscles and in the joints involved in training, but also stopping progress or even regressing. Mix it up a bit and you’ll probably stick to your training longer because of a lack of boredom. And be smart about how you exercise. Don’t rush injuries just to play in your beer league opener.

You Overcrunch Your Abs

If you’re doing more than three sets of 15, you’re wasting your time. “Extra crunches aren’t going to cinch your waistline,” says Michele Olson, PhD, a professor of exercise science at Auburn University in Montgomery, Alabama, and a fitness advisory board member. “You’re working the rectus abdominus, which is only one of four muscles in the abdominal wall. But it’s the other three deeper muscles [internal obliques, external obliques, transverse abdominis] that give you a leaner look by helping you with your posture.”

Doing the Same Thing Each Time

Mentally, you’ll get bored in doing the same routine over and over again. Doing the same movement patterns consistently will result in reduced calories burned and muscle building. As a result, you should choose to shock your system and switch up your gym process. Because our bodies are smart, they become very efficient at utilizing the least energy amount possible to perform the same movement. Typically, your body has a six-to-eight week learning curve. So if you are resistant to change, make your cycles every two to three months for your best result return.

You Stretch Before Cardio and then Start Cardio at a High Speed

We aren’t against stretching, but stretching the wrong way and at the wrong time can lead to muscle injury or long-term soreness. Always start with a 7-10 minutes up-tempo warm up, and then stretch for a couple of minutes before upping your speeds. This will help in giving a gradual elevation to your heart rate and will avoid burnout.