Submitted by: Michael Higgins
Training mistakes to avoid in your exercise
We all sometimes make mistakes in our fitness training but there are some that you should always try and avoid. Here s realbuzz.com s list of top 10 fitness mistakes to avoid which are essential to read if you re just starting out in exercise training, and good to check out if you ve been training for a while to make sure you re training both properly and safely.
Not regularly changing your fitness regime
Getting stuck in a training rut is probably the most common training error of all. Yes, 20 minutes on the treadmill and three sets of 10 reps with 5kg weights might be fine when you start out but if you fail to increase either the length or intensity of the run, and the weight or number of repetitions that you do, the improvements will plateau out. In fact, one study found that in beginners, aerobic fitness began to plateau in as little as three weeks when the training load was not increased. So, to continue making progress in fitness, you have to keep raising the bar every it gets close enough to touch every six weeks at least, but ideally more often.
Using weights that are too light
If you want to increase the size of your muscles, adopting a low weights, high reps strategy will be a waste of time. Surprised? Well, it s all down to muscle physiology. Muscles consist of long, thin fibres which come in two principal varieties: type 1 fibres, which are highly resistant to fatigue and recruited mainly at low level effort; and thicker, more powerful type 2 fibres, which only kick in when the going gets tough. The fibres within a muscle are always recruited in the same order type 1 first, then type 2. So, if you only ever lift a bottle of Evian (no matter how many times), you will never work the muscle in its entirety, nor engage the type 2 fibres. What will happen, however, is that as the fibres within the muscle grow bigger, they will fill some of the empty space within the muscle sheath (an untrained muscle contains lots of space between fibres). The result? The muscle will become firmer and denser, but not bigger.
Overdoing the refuelling after exercise
Exercise burns lots of calories, and if you intend to get up and do it all again the next day, then you will need to ensure your glycogen stores are replenished post-workout. But given that many of us take up exercise to shed excess fat and don t work out daily, there isn t a pressing need to scoff down two energy bars and a gallon of energy drink after your gym session! In fact, many people consume more calories in the half hour following their workout than they burned during it and then they go home and have dinner, too! So, be sparing with your refuelling.
Exercising on an empty stomach
A few years back, the idea of running on empty (exercising on an empty stomach) was all the rage in weight loss training. But although the science stands up, this strategy will ultimately backfire. If you perform cardiovascular exercise first thing in the morning before you ve eaten, insulin levels are at their lowest, while another hormone, glucagon, is at its peak, explains sports nutritionist Anita Bean. This encourages your body to draw on its fat reserves for fuel. But since fat metabolism is dependent on the availability of carbohydrate, when carb stores are low, fat metabolism is compromised. This makes exercise feel much harder, so you may tire sooner, or slack off and end up burning fewer calories and less body fat overall, explains Bean. Worse still, you could end up losing hard-earned muscle as you start burning protein as well as fat for fuel. So always make sure you ve eaten something before you exercise!
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