5 Common workout mistakes you might be making

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Without knowing it, a lot of people are making some of the biggest workout mistakes.

Everybody wants to be his own personal trainer. You feel like nobody knows your body better than you do, so who better to figure out how to make it bigger, stronger, and leaner? The problem is that you are your own worst enemy, and your own ego, imagination, and preconceived notions of what it takes to change your body can hold back your progress. But eventually, we all want to take the reins of our own training, so if you’re going to do so, or already have, at least know the pitfalls to avoid.

Doing Way Too Much

This is easily the most prevalent and destructive problem among beginners and experts. Sometimes you just can’t imagine doing fewer than five sets for an exercise, when in reality two or three is usually enough.

Through magazines, other media, and pop culture, we’re led to believe that if we want bigger arms, we need to do four different types of curls as a bodybuilder would do, using drop sets, taking each set to failure with a five-second negative, or some other advanced technique.

The truth is, thankfully, building muscle is not that complicated. Doing more work than necessary can lead to overtraining and injury, not to mention time-consuming workouts. As with medicine, you want to find the minimum effective dose that nets results. Train hard and you’ll see that you don’t need to train for too long.

Doing Too Much Of One Thing, Not Enough Of The Other

Whenever we set a goal, we tend to gear our training toward only that one thing, and forget about all the other little things that aren’t a priority. The only trouble is that those “little things” count.

Remember this line, which in the fitness world is akin to the golden rule: “Whatever you do on one side of a joint, you need to do an equal amount on the other side.” While a certain amount of imbalanced training is helpful for bringing up a lagging muscle group, most of the time, including when you’re a beginner, you’ll make faster progress when you keep things even.

If you’re going to do 20 sets for chest on chest day, do at least that many for back on back day.

Balance is especially important for chest training because of the action the shoulders take. Pressing motions draw the arms in front of the body, lengthening the muscles on the back of the shoulders and tightening the front delts and pecs. Without rowing movements to counteract this motion, over time, you’ll develop a tight chest and rounded shoulders, setting you up for shoulder injury in addition to bad posture.

Ignoring The Little Things

This is an extension of the last tip but warrants its own entry. While all you may want out of training is a big chest, ripped abs, or a stronger bench press, you have to pay attention to the small details that make them possible.

Every workout, no matter what kind, needs to begin with a warmup. Part of that warmup should include foam rolling and stretching to promote blood flow and loosen tight muscle groups.

You should also work stretches and exercises that specifically target muscle imbalances into your training from time to time. Get used to the idea that not every exercise you do will be glamorous, fun, or immediately evident as a step that brings you closer to your goal.

A good program strikes a balance between what you want to do—so you’ll stay motivated to train and enjoy the process—and what you need to do, so you can keep training pain-free years into the future.

Not Understanding Anatomy

Another misconception that bodybuilding culture has injected into mainstream thinking is that the body is just a collection of disparate parts. Many people think that if they squat on Monday they can still do a full back workout on Tuesday, complete with back extensions or, incredibly, even deadlifts. As if the lower back isn’t getting enough work from squatting.

This kind of thinking shows a lack of understanding of how these exercises work, and while your training doesn’t need to be ultra-scientific to be effective, it does have to respect some rules.

Rule #1: Never train shoulders the day after a chest session

Rule #2: Limit your direct lower-back training to days you squat and/or deadlift.

Rule #3: Don’t superset exercises that demand a lot of your grip, such as rows and chinups.

Rule #4: Unless you’re dead-set on body-part training, consider breaking up your workouts according to movement patterns.

Second Guessing Yourself And Getting Bored

Hopefully, this article hasn’t thrown you into a panic, making you second-guess everything you do in the gym. Because more important than doing things correctly is that you actually do something consistently.

Thanks to the Internet, there’s more fitness information available today—right now—than there ever has been in history. With that much to look at, it’s no wonder you’re confused about what to do. The solution is to pick one thing and block the rest out of your mind, at least for a few months. You’ll never make progress if you doubt what you’re doing or continually hop aboard the latest trend.