Do You Make These Exercise Mistakes?

Being in the fitness industry for  close to 10 years I have seen the good, bad, and the ugly when it comes to a proper fitness program. Looking around my gym, I notice about 95 percent of people exercising wrong and not maximizing our most valuable asset, time.

I put together a list of the top three mistakes I see when people exercise. There are many more, and perhaps I will point those out in another blog, but three is manageable, so start there first!

1.) Doing too much cardio and not enough strength training! People spend way too much time doing the same cardio program with little results. A good cardio program will kick your butt in 30 minutes, not an hour. It's the quality that counts not the quantity. Work hard and to a pace that stretches your limits. Stick to interval training over steady state. This will not only result in calories burned but it will also help charge your metabolism. Work yourself up to a 7 or 8 on the RPE scale when doing cardio, and do cardio after your strength workout. You'll have to send me an email as it's too long of an explanation for this blog.

2.) A strength training routine is slow, boring and ineffective. Think of your strength training program as a chance to get some cardio in. Way too often I see people going from machine to machine, talking, watching TV, and not getting much done. Don't use the gym as a social hour, use it for productive stress burning time (plus who wants to socialize in sweaty gym shorts?). Again, get that RPE scale up to 7 or 8 and you'll start noticing a difference.

3.) Using machines versus body weight/dumbbells/bands/TRX/Stability balls. Machines are pointless. Unless you're doing rehabilitative exercises, there is very little use of machines. Using body weight exercises along with dumbbells, bands, stability balls, etc. will produce more stabilization in the body. A machine doesn't require the entire body to work. Again, it's about bang for your buck!

In addition to these three, I find that people don't warm up correctly, don't incorporate flexibility into their program, and tend to focus on isolation exercises rather more functional exercises. Hope this helps you to maximize your time and energy spent in the conditioning room.