There are several types of people working out in the gym. Some come for hard core body building, some for looking good, some come for fat loss/ weight gain and some come just for maintaining their body.In all these categories of people, truly speaking, the meaning of fitness looks lost somewhere.Fitness can't be defined as a lean body or muscular body, but truly speaking fitness is a wider concept than just achieving fat loss or a lean body. Fitness comes from within and is the healthy state of mind & body which can carry on day to day life functions smoothly & can do them in better way than a sedentary person. Now a days fitness is just limited to the physical aspect of it. People think how much ever lean they become, that much closer they get to fitness. And then the plan to get “FIT” starts. Crash dieting, over training, minimal recovery period & so on.Here are some points hamper goal achievement.
THE ALL OR NOTHING APPROACH
THE ALL OR NOTHING APPROACH
Today all who go to the gym, are mostly working people. Life has become so fast that there are too many things to be done and too little time; family, friends, socializing or working hours starting from 9am. Some work till late evening & some till midnight. With this kind of hectic routine, we hardly get time for ourselves & maintaining our health. Not having a full hour to exercise is no reason to skip your workout for that entire day. Research shows that even 10 minutes of exercise can provide important health benefits. So those who give excuses like they don’t get time, can do shortened workouts at regular intervals.
UNBALANCED STRENGTH TRAINING PROGRAMS
We all have health objectives.Some come with medical reasons; some come to take precautionary measures or some just for looking and feeling great. Mainly today in this competitive world its necessary to look good & presentable. We know the one who attracts the sight of the opposite one is always the winner, is always preferred. Because of this reason, most people tend to focus on areas like abdominal or arms more than required, maybe because they have a greater impact on the appearance or it is where they feel strongest. But to achieve a great, strong & perfectly balanced body we need to work upon all the muscles equally. Otherwise the body gets disproportionate, which is worst when it comes to functional day to day life activities. An imbalanced muscular structure can lead to risks of injuries or postural imperfections or even some severe medical problems. The best way is to target all the muscles one by one evenly throughout the week.
BAD FORM
This is one of the greats barrier when it comes to getting results. The worst thing to do is to sacrifice your form in any exercise, just for lifting some extra poundage. All the exercises are designed in such a way that they should give optimal results. Also, we know that lifting the maximum capable poundage in last set of any exercise gives you maximum benefits. The workout is said not done without the so called 'MUSCLE FATIGUE' not achieved at the end of a workout session. This muscular fatigue, which can only be achieved with proper intensity in workout session, giving you an after burn (burning calories even after finishing the workout). But does working out intensely means working out with bad form? Does hitting maximum poundage means compromising on the form? The answer is “NO”. The form can never be compromised for anything. Without the correct form the workload you lift is unproductive. People who swing the weights to lift, people who bend their back while doing bicep curls are at higher risk of injuries rather than that of optimal results after such weight training sessions. “The FORM can not be compromised for anything.”
NOT PROGRESSING WISELY
Our body is based on a three legged stool DAMAGE, RECOVERY, REST. Damage means the amount of muscle break-down you put your body through in any workout session. Recovery means the amount of nutrition and rest you give for recovering after an intense workout session & finally rest which means the amount of time you give for that muscle for preparing itself for another workout. Workout itself is a catabolic (i.e. breaking down muscle) activity in nature. It is the recovery phase which makes it anabolic (i.e. building up muscle) in nature & work positively on our body accompanying with rest. So those who exercise too frequently, for longer duration or too hard are in a risk of '’Over training' the muscle. Fitness enthusiasts who make these common mistakes, are more vulnerable to get injuries . Proper workout regimes, not exceeding 45 min a session along with a best working nutrition plan is desirable in achieving one’s fitness goal & enough amount of rest between two workout sessions is the key for perfectly safe & effective exercise program
favoring optimal results.
NOT ENOUGH VARIETY
Our workout regime is always defined in a session wise plan, which gives us detailed idea of the exercises to be done with the reps & sets. Some people who find a program working on their body too soon love to repeat the same plan for more than the suggested period. Quick results can be the outcome of quick changes in your lifestyle or that of beginning response by your body towards your exercises, which varies with person to person. Mistakenly people take this as their exercise plan which after so long worked on their body perfectly because it suited their body type. But as we stated earlier it's the perfect plan of nutritional requirements, exercises & right amount of rest which keeps boosting optimal results in your body steadily but regularly. Our body is such an intelligent machine which always tries to overcome the stress that we try put it through during a working out, with the help of nutrients we consume & rest. Also 'ADAPTABILITY' is one of the unique fundamentals of body, which means body always adapts to the given activity & its intensity after a certain period of time. This is the reason why we need to keep changing & incrementing our exercise routine often. As our body keeps adapting the given exercises, getting accustomed to the same old plan plateaus the response towards it. Additionally overdoing the same every time you step into the gym brings boredom, burnout &/or injury with it. So all you guys as they say “VARIETY IS THE SPICE OF LIFE”.
NEGLECTING ADJUSTMENTS OF MACHINES TO ONES BODY SIZE
Now a days in all the commercial gyms we see the equipment are designed as such to accommodate a wide range of body types & sizes, but require you to adjust it to your body size. Not doing so take away the real impact of the machine on your muscle. The targeted muscle does not get the intense damage that you are looking for & so goes partially trained. This may prevent you from utilizing your muscular energy at its peak
level, can lead to sluggish contribution in muscular growth; ultimately leading to poor results & increased risk of injuries.You should always seek the assistance of gym personnel whenever needed rather than neglecting it.
FOCUSING ON ANYTHING BUT YOUR WORKOUT
The importance of being 'mindful' of the task at hand can not be overstated.No matter what exercise you do, you should be focusing on it very seriously. Anything in quality matters than that of quantity. This means 30 minutes of quality workout with impressive intensity counts than a lengthy 60 minute dull workout which involves chit chatting, passing time on floor, roaming around machine with phone. Modernization has really affected today's gyms too. There are televisions & audio equipment in cardio zones. They are to be taken as to keep up your interest & not more than that. But climbing on the machines with the reason of watching your favorite program or just to listen your kind of music is not worth truly. This can adversely affect your quality of workout because of the distraction & actually slow you down. “WORKOUT SMART, THAN WORKING OUT LONG”.
NOT PROPERLY COOLING DOWN AFTER YOUR WORKOUT
I have had people coming to me who workout in the gym but always with a complaint of have limited time. They always want me pack as much possible in a limited amount time. These are people who are either working or have some or the other reasons. I keep mentioning to them is the importance of cooling down as the workout session itself. Doing a fewer sets lesser or to skip one exercise is a better option according to me rather than that of completely skipping the cool down phase. It depends on person's goal again, what kind of cool down is required but spending the last 5 minutes is at least necessary. This may include some medium intense cardiovascular exercise or specific muscle stretches. These will not only help in taking away the lactic acid (a chemical byproduct of reactions happening in muscles for energy expenditure) built up in muscles & dilute it but also help in overcoming the soreness caused by resistance training. Having flexible muscles is always better, than stiff ones from injury point of view & it helps in the workouts too in a kind by allowing to move in full range, optimizing strength & contraction speed by allowing better blood flow & ability to remove toxins in efficient way.
POOR GYM ETIQUETTES
This can range from simply being rude lingering on the machine long after you finished doing set or chatting on the phone loudly without having consideration for others working out around you. People get so busy with their personal calls that sometimes they forget that they're working out in public environment and others might want to do a set on that machine.Others who are working out with partners sometimes tend to gather with regular exercise enthusiasts and end up occupying a machine. This shows a sign of bad etiquette towards our own gym. Always try to be considerable towards others exercising around you. People who sweat a lot should carry a hand towel for hygiene reasons. Wiping off your sweat from the machine after using it ensures hygienic equipment conditions on the gym floor. Your skin becomes sensitive at times of working out as pores get open because of sweating; this is the time when your skin is more prone for infections. It's not healthy for these reasons to get on a dirty wet machine. One should always observe cleaning equipment after use, it helps in maintaining hygiene in the gym area.
NOT SETTING UP REALISTIC GOALS
Setting up goals is completely upto the client’s capabilities & the target set. Everybody goes to the gym with specific goals as to lose fat, grow muscular, & so on. But without knowing one’s capacity or his/her imitations in achieving the same one can't really proceed ahead. It completely depends upon one’s body frame, medical conditions, family health history, lifestyle, fat %, eating habits, etc. knowing this will make goal setting specific and realistic. Again, when it comes to certain populations it seems very difficult for them to go ahead with their goals, because either they seem far from being achievable. Moreover people’s limitations and/or medical conditions become obstacles in their way. In such situations to keep one’s motivation & interest going, short term goals can be set, and can be reviewed monthly. This will also help in a way to monitor their results frequently & to keep one interested it in a smaller time frame gap.
