Mistakes That Will Decrease The Effectiveness Of Your Workouts

There is too much information out there on how to exercise your body. And a lot of this information is based on outdated beliefs.

Unfortunately, some of these misconceptions can sabotage your progress and in extreme cases, leave you with a devastating injury.

So without further delay, here are 5 things you need to avoid in the gym:

1. Squatting with the head down: This may seem like common sense, but you would be surprised at how many people do this. And squatting with your head down places undue stress on your spine, thus increasing the chance for injury.

2. Making abdominal work king: Instead, do all your intense weight lifting first and then do your abdominal work. If you annihilate your abs first thing, your weight lifting will suffer. And if your weight lifting suffers, your results will suffer. Not to mention, having an exhausted core before weight lifting is very dangerous because of instability.

3. Lifting weights after doing cardio: Again, I’m sure you have heard about the dangers of doing this, yet time and again I see people going to aerobics classes and then lifting weights. The problem with this is that you could burn up all your stored carbohydrates when doing cardio and then have nothing left for your weight lifting. And if you are not weightlifting at 100% then your results will be mediocre.

4. Overusing instability gadgets: You see this a lot in commercial gyms. The problem here is that if your main goal is to build strength and/or muscle mass, you shouldn’t be using stability-challenging devices. Instead, stick to basic movements that allow you to produce the maximum amount of force possible.

5. Only performing one set of repetitions: I see way too many people doing this all the time. The main issue here is that if you only perform one set, you cannot maximize the results from your workout. Instead, aim to get at least three to four sets per exercise in each workout.

Ok, hopefully you aren’t making any of these exercise mistakes in your routines and if you are, please stop! And make sure you take action in this information sooner rather than later because later usually never comes.

Writer Katherine Crawford, a fitness expert and recent fat arms sufferer, teaches how to get toned arms. Unearth how to get sexy and toned arms by visiting her website with upper arm exercises for women right now!