Big Weight Training Mistakes
If You Really Want To Be Fit, You Need To Stop Making These 4 Training Mistakes
Hindsight is 20/20. We can all learn from our mistakes — especially when it comes to working out.
Guys get “forced” out of the weight training game by the time they reach their forties for many reasons. But the most tragic one is when mistakes they made when they’re younger haunt them in the form of nagging injuries. While you can’t turn back time, avoiding a few mistakes in your younger years can make a world of difference.
1. Being Pushy
Guys love to train what they see in the mirror: pecs, shoulders and arms. So, not surprisingly, guys love to do presses: Bench presses, shoulder presses, incline presses, etc. These are all great exercises – to a certain extent.
RELATED: Best Back Strengthening Exercises
Dedicating too much of your training time to pressing can cause the shoulders and pecs to become too tight, leading to a hunched over, rounded-shoulder look — not mention shoulder and neck pain. Sitting at a desk all day only contributes to this condition.
The Fix: Start Pulling
For every press exercise you do, make sure you do at least one form of a pull (especially rowing-based movements like the dumbbell row, seated row, and, my favorite, seated row to neck).
Do More Dumbbell Work
Dumbbell variations of the popular pressing exercises are more forgiving on tight pecs and shoulders, as they allow for a less restrictive movement plane and a greater range of motion.
RELATED: Dumbbell Exercises To Build Strength And Size
Reinforce Proper Scapula Action With Wall Slides
Desk jockeys and meatheads alike will love this drill because it can be done anywhere, anytime.
I ask my clients to do a set of 8-10 of these while resting between sets of presses, and I often get them to do a quick set while working – one set after every hour spent at a desk. It works wonders and just feels good.
2. Having Workout ADD
I used to design a “really cool” workout routine, follow it for a few days, and then see a guy doing something even “cooler” and hop onto his plan like a Labrador chasing a squirrel. We used to call it “muscle confusion”, and it’s one of the dumbest things you can do.
You build muscle through weight training by adapting and coaxing your body to do more reps or lift heavier weights in a systematic fashion.
But if you’re constantly changing the stimulus – the exercises, the training split, etc. – you never get an opportunity to get good at a specific exercise. Every workout delivers the same results you get on the first day of a new program, namely just the dopamine rush of doing something different. And that’s it.
The Fix: Commit To A Routine
Pick a workout routine and stick to it for at least four to six workouts. Focus on doing a little more with every workout — another rep, a bit more weight, another set. Look at the exercises as skills you need to hone.
Don’t get me wrong, you should still change things up – just not randomly, and not for every workout.
RELATED: Workout Plan To Build 10 Pounds Of Muscle
3. Training Through Pain
Every old meathead has a war story. It typically involves a one-rep max bench press (or squat or deadlift), something going “doink,” and a surgery followed by months of rehab.
But there are also those aches and pains that tend to creep up on you. It begins as a mild irritation that “goes away once you get warmed up”, but eventually turns into a jacked-up knee, elbow, neck, lower back and shoulder.
The Fix: Learn The Difference Between Soreness And Pain
Muscular soreness that you feel a day or two after weight training is called DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness). Discomfort aside, it’s typically a good thing.
Think of how your thighs and hamstrings feel two days after a training session with plenty of lunges and squats. In layman’s terms, it means you did something your muscles weren’t expecting. And, odds are, if you repeat that same workout in three to five days (as you should – see point number two), that next-day soreness won’t be nearly as severe. It means you are adapting.
Pain, on the other hand, is an entirely different matter. Aching joints and acute, instant pain — like when your shoulder or elbow suddenly “barks” during an exercise — should never be fought through. That should always mean stop.
No exercise is sacred. You literally have hundreds of exercise options per muscle group. Even a slight variation can help, like switching from triceps extensions with an EZ bar to triceps extensions with dumbbells to spare sore elbows.
4. Never Taking A Break
Trainers sometimes praise their clients for never missing a session. While I agree that consistency both in the gym and the kitchen is the biggest driver to building a better body, you need to take your foot off the gas at some point in order to get bigger and stronger. And a couple of rest days a week aren’t enough to truly recover.
Guys who train consistently should take one full week off every 12 weeks. This helps both with recovering from minor aches and pains and recharging your batteries.
Motivation is a huge part of this game and it can start to wane. A week of no training at all can sure make you miss the gym– and prevent you from flaming out and fading away.
If I were able to go back in time to my 20s, there are about two dozen things I would do differently to improve my training outcomes today. Sadly, that’s not how life works, so the best I can do is try to pass along what I have learned.
A little common sense when you’re young can be the difference between breaking tackles and scoring touchdowns in your 40s — or just being another fan watching from the sidelines.
Bryan Krahn, CSCS, is a personal trainer, online coach, and fitness writer. He helps ordinary guys get what they really want from their fitness programs — to build muscle, lose fat, and feel great. He blogs about muscle, manhood, and lifestyle at bryankrahn.com . You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
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