People in Western societies continue to get fatter and more overweight. Researchers believe that this is due to the fact that modern people lead a less active lifestyle and eat more. Fitness experts now encourage people to exercise at least 30 minutes every day to keep the weight off. With such a strong message, it’s no surprise that gym memberships are on the rise and more and more people are starting to exercise regularly.
However, beginners tend to make mistakes when they first enter a gym. Here are some tips to prevent them from happening to you.
1. Not exercising. Believe it or not, many beginners when they go to the gym are actually lazy with their workouts. Whether it’s leaning on weight machines for long periods of time between sets or doing a light jog on the treadmill when they could actually run, they just aren’t getting what they could be from their time in the gym.
2. Read or watch TV on the cardio machine. The fact is, if you can read a magazine or watch TV while you exercise, you probably aren’t trying hard enough.
3. Do only cardio. Research has shown that people who do cardio and weights lose more fat than those who do cardio alone. Strength training adds lean muscle to your body that burns more than fat.
4. Do your reps quickly. When lifting weights, if you do it too fast you will lose form and not exercise the muscle properly. Lifting weights slowly and smoothly reduces the chance of injury and actually fatigues your muscles more than going fast.
5. Adding too much weight, too fast. People think that it is the size or weight of the actual weights that makes you gain muscle. The reality is that it is muscle fatigue that stimulates growth. If the weight is too heavy, your form will break and you are more likely to injure yourself. Focus on getting your muscles in good shape and you’ll stay injury-free and probably build more muscle than if you lifted weights that were too heavy for you.
