The
Top 10 Bonehead Workout Mistakes
By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS
“Common workout
mistakes” has always been a very popular topic in fitness
publications. But no matter how many times this subject is re-hashed,
you almost always hear about the same half a dozen or so mistakes,
including poor form, overtraining, going too heavy, not stretching,
not warming up, yadda, yadda yadda. Ironically, you seldom hear
about the biggest mistakes of all. I call these humongous bloopers
“bonehead mistakes” because once you start to analyze
and think about them, they’re really just common sense and
they all seem so obvious… except of course to the person
doing it… who is often quite oblivious until someone else
points it out to them... then the light goes on and it's like...
"Doh!"
Before I begin the
countdown, (in no particular order), there’s one more gripe
I have about the treatment this subject has been given in the
past: Most of the attention has been put on the mistakes, but
very little on the solutions. It’s all too easy to point
fingers and say, “Don’t do that” and “Shame
on you, dummy” but only 1% of your time should be spent on
problems. 99% should be spent on solutions. So in that spirit,
after I bring each mistake to your attention, I’ll give you
a solution-oriented training tip to help you avoid boneheadedness
and join the elite group who “kick butt” in the gym
at every workout…
Bonehead
workout mistake #1: "Winging it"
“Winging it”
means having no written goals or plans, no training journal and
no way of “keeping score.” It’s when you just show
up at the gym day after day and do whatever strikes your fancy,
whatever machine happens to be available, or whatever you’ve
become habitually accustomed to doing. Winging it is when you
don’t know where you are, where you’re going or how
you’re going to get there - but you start your journey anyway
– no compass, no roadmap. It’s been said that “Action
without planning is the biggest cause of failure,” and I
believe that statement is 100% accurate.
Kick butt workout
tip #1: Develop a strategic plan
Successful people never
“wing it,” they always have a plan. Strategic planning
is a never ending process and includes: Assessment (where am I
now?), goal setting (where do I want to go?), creating a plan
or strategy (How will I get where I want to go?), executing the
plan (what action steps must I take daily to reach my goal?),
and measuring results (how will I know if I’m moving towards
my goal and how will I know when I’ve reached it?). Boneheads
“wing it.” Butt–kickers have a master plan and
goals for every workout.
- - - - -
Bonehead workout mistake #2: Repeating the same
workouts… without progressive overload
In one respect, repeating
the same workouts is important – it’s called “continuity.”
Continuity means that to experience an adaptive response (more
muscle, more strength, less fat and all that other good stuff),
you must a repeat a certain modality or exercise consistently
over a long enough period of time to allow the adaptive response
to occur and to reap the full benefits (rather than changing exercises
at every workout). That type of repetition is good. The bonehead
mistake is when you do the same exercises, same reps, same weight,
same everything, week after week, without ever challenging yourself
to do more than you’ve done before. If your muscles could
talk they would say, “Yawn…. Did that, done that, been
there… we’re just going to stay exactly the way we are…
no need to get bigger or stronger today.”
Kick butt workout
tip #2: Strive to beat your previous workouts
Muscle growth and strength
increases occur when you place demands on your body above and
beyond what it has experienced in the past. Your body responds
to this progressive overload by getting stronger in order to handle
this type of demand in the future. Your objective at almost every
workout is to set goals to beat what you did during the previous
one. If you can’t add more weight, it could be as simple
as one more rep with the same weight or the same sets/reps/weight
in less time. It could also mean one more minute of cardio, one
level higher on a stairclimber, or half a percent steeper incline
on the treadmill. Continuous and never-ending improvement is the
name of the game.
- - - - -
Bonehead workout mistake #3: Starving yourself
A calorie deficit is
the only way to lose body fat. However, the caloric deficit must
be kept small. When calories are cut too much, or held too low
for too long, your body thinks you are starving and sets into
motion a series of metabolic and hormonal events, which ultimately
result in muscle loss, slow metabolism and plateaus. Your body
is like a power plant or furnace and when you don’t feed
the fire, your metabolic flame dwindles to a flicker, producing
less heat and less energy. That’s why not eating enough is
one of the biggest mistakes of all.
Kick butt workout
tip #3: Eat more, burn more
Did it ever occur to
you that if you exercise more you can eat more and that this is
a more effective fat loss strategy than eating less and exercising
less? To lose body fat, you must create a calorie deficit. A deficit
can be created by exercising more, eating less, or ideally, with
a combination of both. The best combination of all is a small
decrease in calories accompanied by a large increase in activity.
Think about it: Decreasing calories slows your metabolism. Increasing
calories increases your metabolism. Exercise increases your metabolism.
Therefore, eat more,
exercise more = double increase in metabolism. Eat less, don’t
exercise = double decrease in metabolism. This is the entire premise
of my Burn
the Fat, Feed The Muscle System and that’s why the program
is so powerful and has helped tens of thousands of people lose
fat without depriving themselves. Yes, starving is for boneheads.
- - - - -
Bonehead workout mistake #4: Skipping scheduled
workouts
A great body doesn’t
happen overnight. Successful body transformation is the cumulative
result of dozens or even hundreds of successful workouts. Each
workout brings you one small step closer to your goal. Each workout
missed takes you one small step backwards. Most people underestimate
the cumulative effect of each small step. They figure that “It
just doesn’t matter… it’s only one workout.”
If you don’t think that one little workout matters, then
think about the humble termite; they’re such itty bitty little
creatures and they take such itty bitty little bites, yet when
enough little bites are taken, an entire building can come crumbling
down.
Kick butt workout
tip #4: Be disciplined and consistent
Not only do you slip
backwards physically when you skip even one scheduled workout,
perhaps more devastating is the effect on your mind and character.
Every time you successfully complete a scheduled workout, you
build your discipline and self esteem. When your self esteem increases,
it makes you feel good and that stimulates a positive self-reinforcing
cycle of even more discipline, confidence and action. Everything
you do helps or hurts. Every workout counts. Treat your word as
law. When you say you’re going to work out... WORK OUT!
- - - - -
Bonehead workout mistake #5: Focusing on strengths,
favorite exercises and favorite body parts, neglecting weaknesses
Most people have a
favorite body part or exercise. But playing favorites in your
training can lead to big problems. An unbalanced, asymmetrical
physique is one of them, but having a great upper body with toothpick
legs is the least of your worries. Strengthening and stretching
some muscle groups but not others is a great way to cause poor
posture, muscular imbalance, dysfunction, strains, pulls, tears
or ruptures.
Kick butt workout
tip #5: Train for functional balance and aesthetic balance
Non-boneheads train
every muscle group for symmetrical, visually pleasing development.
However, “balance” is more than cosmetic. Everyone –
athletes, bodybuilders, and recreational exercisers – must
also train for functional balance to prevent injury and maintain
optimal function and range of movement in every joint and muscle
group. Every plane of movement and angle of movement must be trained.
Flexors must be balanced with extensors. Front to back movements
must be balanced with rotational and side to side movements. Prime
movers, antagonists and stabilizers must all be strengthened.
Always stretch, strengthen and build to the point of total body
balance.
- - - - -
Bonehead workout mistake #6: Using mostly machines
and single joint/isolation exercises
So you joined the gym
and you hit “the circuit”… you know, that section
in the gym with all those fancy, chrome-plated, “technologically
advanced” weight stack-pulley, hydraulic or computerized
machines all lined up in neat rows… far, far away from the
barbells and squat racks (which you never touch), and which is
designed to give you an “easy, safe, injury-free, effective
full-body workout.” The machines may be easy, but most machines
aren’t as safe or effective as they’re made out to be.
Kick butt workout
tip #6: Use mostly free weights and compound, multi joint exercises
For lower body, squat
and lunge variations are tops. For upper body, barbell and dumbbell
presses, chin ups and rows are king. These and similar “BIG”
exercises stimulate more muscle fiber, stir up more fat burning
and muscle building hormones, and have more carry-over to real
world and sporting activities than machines. Although weight stack
machines are safe with respect to the fact that you can’t
drop a barbell on your head, they’re ultimately NOT as safe
as free weights because they don’t develop the stabilizing
muscles and functional strength that protect you from injury.
A few machines and isolation exercises mixed into a balancedr
program is fine, especially if you have bodybuilding goals, but
focusing on compound and free weight exercises gives you far more
bang for your buck than any machine ever created.
- - - - -
Bonehead workout mistake #7: No mental preparation
This mistake goes hand
in hand with mistake number one (winging it). You see, preparation
is more than setting goals, writing out plans, and scheduling
workouts. Preparation is also mental, yet most people haven’t
the slightest idea just how powerful the mind is or how to harness
its power. Psychologists and “brain scientists” have
proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that the subconscious mind cannot
tell the difference between an experience that is real and one
that is imagined. Failure to take advantage of this discovery
is a mistake of enormous magnitude.
Kick butt workout
tip #7: Use visualization and mental rehearsal daily
Arnold Schwarzenneger,
Jack Nicklaus, Andre Agassi and countless other sports legends
have written and spoken extensively about their regular use of
mental imagery. Those who succeeded, but claimed not to use such
techniques as “visualization” were surely using it unconsciously
or in a non-formalized manner. I would suggest you consciously
and deliberately use this technique in the following manner: Twice
a day, once in the morning and once at night, get relaxed, close
your eyes and form mental images of yourself having the body you’ve
always wanted, completing perfect workouts with motivation and
enthusiasm and reaching all your goals. These images will penetrate
your subconscious mind and literally program your brain to activate
your body for total success.
- - - - -
Bonehead workout mistake #8: Not eating immediately
after training
Not eating anything
after your workout (or waiting 2-3 hours to eat), because (a)
you don’t feel like eating, (b) you don’t have anything
to eat with you, (c) you heard that you get leaner if you don’t
eat after your workout… is one of the most boneheaded things
you can ever do!
Kick butt workout
tip #8: Eat protein AND carbs (not just carbs) immediately after
your workout
Much research has been
done on the topic of post workout nutrition in recent years and
the scientific literature is almost unanimous in its findings:
At one time carbohydrates were emphasized after a workout. Other
people insisted that protein is more important. The truth is,
the optimal post workout meal includes quickly digesting protein
and carbohydrates and is consumed immediately after training during
the period known as the “post-workout window of opportunity.”
Although the ideal amount and type of protein and carbs is still
debated, the studies have shown that proper post workout nutrition
increases protein synthesis, suppresses cortisol, replenishes
glycogen, and enhances recovery.
- - - - -
Bonehead workout mistake #9: Comparing yourself
to others
Always trying to one-up
the next guy is bonehead behavior. Comparing yourself to others
is a great way to lower your self esteem and stay perpetually
frustrated, unhappy and dissatisfied!
Kick butt workout
tip #9: Compare yourself to nobody but yourself
Legendary UCLA basketball
coach John Wooden always advised his players, “Never try
to be better than someone else; but never cease trying to be the
best you can be. That is under your control. The other isn’t.”
So why not focus on competing with yourself? Compare yourself
to yourself. Improve yourself. Work on progress and forward movement.
Become better than you used to be. Ultimately, competitive sports
are most valuable to the degree you use them to better yourself,
not to beat others.
- - - - -
Bonehead workout mistake #10: Making excuses
Many people, when they
don’t get the result they want, or when things don’t
go the way they expect, insist it’s not their fault. When
they don’t lose any body fat, it’s their genetics or
"The diet just doesn’t work!” When they fall off
the wagon, it’s their friends and family’s fault –
“They just don’t support me… they even tempt me
with junk food and eat in front of me.” When they miss workouts,
it’s their boss’s fault – “I just don’t
have time with so much work being piled on me at the office.”
No matter what the situation, the boneheads never even consider
that the problem is staring right back at them in the mirror –
someone or something outside of them is always responsible.
Kick butt workout
tip #10: Accept total, 100% responsibility for all your results
– good or bad
When you win, you don’t
attribute it to luck or give someone else the credit for it. You
proudly say, “I created it… I did it… that was
me!” However, if you want to take the credit for your wins,
you must also take credit for your losses and say, “Yep,
I created it… I did it… that was me!” Boneheads
want to take credit for their successes but not accept responsibility
for their failures. Ultimately, that turns them into nothing but
big losers. Winners and successful people became successful because
they learned three magic words: I AM RESPONSIBLE. Once you claim
responsibility for every result in your life – the good and
the bad - the feeling of empowerment and liberation that comes
over you is beyond description. For the first time in your life,
you realize that YOU are in control. From that moment on –
and not a second sooner – you become the creator of circumstance
rather than a victim of it.
- - - - -
Well, that’s all
ten of em'. Let me wrap up with what is perhaps the biggest mistake
of all, and that is: Not learning from your mistakes. Mistakes
are okay. The only people who don’t make any are the timid,
wimpy people who don’t even attempt anything. If you realize
you’ve been making a lot of these mistakes, don’t beat
yourself up. As long as you learn from them and then stop making
them, you’re off the hook! But if you keep repeating these
mistakes over and over again, then it’s official: You’re
a bonehead!
If you enjoyed this
article and you're interested in learning how to quickly and easily
lose fat permanently - without drugs, supplements or fad diets
- AND without making any bonehead mistakes - click here to visit
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the Fat, Feed The Muscle
About
the Author:
 |
Tom Venuto is a lifetime natural
bodybuilder, an NSCA-certified personal trainer (CPT), certified
strength & conditioning specialist (CSCS), and author
of the #1 best-selling e-book, "Burn
the Fat, Feed The Muscle.” Tom has written hundreds
of articles and has been featured in print magazines such
as IRONMAN, Australian IRONMAN, Natural Bodybuilding, Muscular
Development, Exercise for Men and Men’s Exercise, as
well as on hundreds of websites worldwide. For information
on Tom's Fat Loss program, click
here.
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