When you’ve finally found the spur to get your body in shape, you’ll want to steer clear from bad workout habits that may dissolve your motivation, and interfere with your results. While dedication and consistency are key to achieving your dream body, so is a healthy and realistic routine. Regular exercise can give you little to no desired results if done incorrectly and can be counterproductive in some cases. Here are some of the most common signs that your workout habits are ineffective or dangerous.
Over-exercising
One of the most common unhealthy workout habits among newbies to the fitness community is starting off by overworking your muscles to the point of severe fatigue. While this will prevent you from exercising the next day, it can also be dangerous to the health and elasticity of your muscles. Prolonged exercise can cause muscle atrophy in the long run, and you’ll notice being less active as time goes by if you keep this up.
On the other hand, when it comes to strength training, men, especially, tend to lift heavier weights than their bodies can withstand. Surely, challenging yourself in the gym is part of a good routine, but going overboard can cause permanent injuries, especially to joints. If you lift heavy weights while standing to tone your leg muscles, make sure to wear well-fitting knee braces. If you’re unsure how these can affect your routine positively, you can read more here to learn what to expect and what to look for when purchasing joint braces. Listen to your body, and never go beyond what it can endure during strength training.
Working Out On An Empty Stomach
While you should never eat right before going to the gym, you need to always be well-fed a couple of hours before an intense workout. There are some debates on whether you should do fasted cardio, but the majority of nutritionists and experts advise athletes against it.
A nutritious meal before the gym should also include carbs, which will help raise your blood sugar. Working out with low blood sugar can cause headaches, dizziness, and fatigue. There are also glycogen shakes that you can consume an hour or so before going to the gym. This will help keep your muscles in check, too, as low-carb diets can eventually cause loss of muscle mass.
Consistency
It’s best to work out more often, rather than performing longer workout sessions every once in a while. For instance, if you can spare thirty minutes of your time, daily, or a couple of hours every other day, you should always go with the former. When your body rests for a day or two, this can make it more challenging to warm up when you finally get to the gym.
On the other hand, unless you endure an injury, you should always do some form of daily exercise, even if it’s only light cardio. This will help your muscles adapt to regular movement, and eventually, you’ll stop experiencing muscle fatigue, even after the most intense strength workouts.
Taking It Slow
You should never overwork your muscles, but underworking them can give you little to no desirable results. Some individuals may presume that working out for two or three hours at a slow and steady rate is more beneficial than doing a more intense workout for half that time. This has been proven to be a fitness myth, while doing the opposite is much more likely to give you swift and dramatic results.
You need to break a sweat during your workout, and if that means only fifteen to thirty minutes of an intense workout routine, go for it until you can take it up a notch. Your breaks should be as brief as a couple of minutes before you start your next routine, as cooling down for too long will urge your muscles to relax.
Protein Intake
The average sedentary man needs to consume 40 to 50 grams of protein, while women need 35 to 40 grams of protein. On the other hand, if you follow a daily workout routine, you need to consume more than your recommended daily intake. Your meal should include lean proteins as well as healthy sources of carbs. You might also want to supplement your meals with protein shakes before you hit the gym or start working out.
Nothing can be more frustrating than being dedicated to your workout routine, only for that to be met with little to no results. Make sure that you have a variety of workout routines to follow, and never over-exercise more than your body can withstand. While following the wrong routine can make your progress slow, overworking can severely injure your muscles or joints which is one of the most common bad workout habits.
