Stupid Mistakes to Avoid in the Gym
In this article, I want to address my experience in training and talk about beginner’s mistakes in the gym I have committed since I started (over 20 years ago) until today. In case you want to contribute your grain of sand adding some, you can do it by the comments of this article.
The typical thought that more training is better. This is not so for this reason:
The body has cycles of stimulation, recovery, and super-compensation, the 3 must be produced to progress if we only stimulate and do not give time to recover there will be no super-compensation (improvement).
Each person has a tolerable training limit and if you are looking to train a lot you will surely lower the intensity and quality of the series so that in the end will be series of dubious quality or “junk series” that will probably do you more harm than good.
A lot of people know it’s relevant, but they take it as “well, it’s not very important” and the truth is that it can make a big difference in your progress in training in the short, medium and long term. You don’t need to wear expensive footwear or the latest model of the brands.
But it’s smart to train with shoes that don’t have cushioning (typical of running) and use, for example, indoor soccer shoes. Thanks to such treads, contact with the ground will be closer and more stable, so performance and safety will improve, especially in composite and complex exercises.
Another mistake I made, and I personally think it was quite a drag on my progress, is wearing gloves in the gym and also the padding for squats, etc. What you try to “cure” in the end ends up being “expensive” as you move more weight becomes unfeasible: It slips, it destabilizes, it wears easily… And it ends up becoming more dangerous.
Obviously, there can always be exceptions: For example, a person who works a lot with his hands on an aesthetic level will have to sacrifice some part of the training in order to avoid “damaging” them visually.
Internet routines have their place, the problem comes with beginners, when they do not control anything related to the gym, most focus on finding routines of popular characters: Authors, WWE fighters, famous bodybuilders … and the problem is that usually the scheme of these routines is the least optimal for them. When searching online for routines, the best way is to find some beginners bodyweight exercises. Your own body is the ultimate weight you need. A simple bodyweight workout and you will feel completely wasted. It is that good.
Giving too much importance to sports supplementation is a very typical mistake too, even though they have their place in your route to a better body. The truth is that there is a lot of marketing around that and you have to be careful when visualizing certain things and advertisements on it. Many supplements are useless, but some are good to improve your endurance and pain enduring ability. The most important thing about choosing supplements is picking great bran. Because they’re a market for many low-cost pills, that could be poorly manufactured.
It’s very common when someone goes a little deeper into training, the sciences of training… Wanting to find the perfect routine, according to science, etc. Wanting to plan a training routine or a perfect diet is practically impossible. If you don’t want to hire a professional, in order to know if someone works you will have to try it and to adapt it to you, follow it up and individualize it. It is undeniable that science and popularization help a lot when it comes to training, but nothing is going to be better than putting it into practice long enough to see how well it works for you and if you are always looking for the best training to gain muscle mass, strength, etc … In the end, you won’t do anything for a long time, because you will always be changing trying to improve it.
The typical diets of old school bodybuilders… By the way, I never fell into a very strict diet. From the first moment, I was informed about the flexible diet. But, I tried to make a clean flexible diet, eating everything very “healthy or realfood” counting macros in detail and millimetric calories. After all, this becomes quite unsustainable and totally unnecessary, especially if you move a little during the day and train hard. Having to eat completely clean ends up being something that makes no difference and is not necessary.
I think it’s logical, but to go to the other extreme, to square macros and mark “anything goes” will be much worse. It’s all about simply looking for balance.
I’ve never been able to compare myself to anyone, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have my stage of buying myself from someone who was moving faster than me in the gym. You see people who supposedly eat worse than you, train badly, etc.. And he’s still doing better than you, or so you think.
Buying with someone is silly, everyone has a completely different life and different genetics. As if that weren’t enough, human beings tend to always look worse than others and see the bad side of things (in all areas of life).
There is something that, if you can improve and change, where you are in control: In improving your version. It’s about accepting and improving yourself, that it’s useful to see what others are, it’s something that you can’t change. Motivate yourself with your change and you will see that with this approach many perspectives change.
Being frustrated by slow progress in the gym or progressing very slowly in the gym is very common and happens to a lot of people, also happened to me. There are many factors that influence progress, and no matter how much you plan things can vary, life is not something linear.
It is very important to have patience, especially in this “discipline” or in the change of habits, in being very good at some sport, etc… Progress, especially at a natural level, is very slow. Learn to enjoy the path and each small advance you give. If in the end, you are doing things moderately well, you are going to improve, that is practically a sure thing.
If, for example, you are at a stage in your life where you like training and enjoy training. Don’t think about what others will say, whether Friday night or in the afternoon you will train instead of partying, because “you’ll look bad” when it’s really what you want to do and enjoy it. I always say that for me, it doesn’t make sense to go to extremes, take the Tupper everywhere, etc. But if it’s what you want to do and you do it because you like it, don’t let anyone stop you.
If I thought too much about what others will say, both inside and outside of “fitness life” I wouldn’t be doing this and other articles, nor videos in yt, etc. You have to look for your happiness.
