Are you making these common “Gym Mistakes”?

I successfully completed my “Gym Instructor” and “Personal Trainer” Certifications in Melbourne, Australia in the beginning of the year 2010. Since then, I have had an opportunity to work with Groups and individuals in both Gyms and outside gym environment. Over these years and working with Clients of different ages, fitness levels, athletes from various disciplines, I have noticed some common Gym mistakes, which often get repeated and may lead to injuries down the track or an adverse impact on one’s long-term health and fitness. Let’s have a look into what these common mistakes are and some of my suggestions/recommendations:

• Not gaining enough Clarity on your Wellness Vision

“Wellness Vision”, what in the World does this mean? Well, if you are hearing this for the first time, you are not alone. A Wellness Vision is not limited to attaining a 6-pack abs, bigger biceps, a size zero figure. Wellness encompasses not only one’s physical health but also, mental, emotional and spiritual health. A Wellness Coach works with a Client to include their top Values, motivators, outcomes, past successes, challenges, support system or supporting environment to articulate the Client’s Wellness Vision. The Client is encouraged to think long term and holistically rather than, “Oh, my best friend’s wedding is coming up in 3 months time and I am exercising to fit into the dress I have in mind”, kind of goals. A Wellness Vision is further broken down into three monthly goals focussing on working on behaviours that will support the goals. Whenever I work with Clients, I encourage them to think in the long term and write down their Wellness Vision, a vision which compels them to move forward. This process may take time but you gain the much needed Clarity in the articulation of your Wellness Vision.

• Not being able to manage your “State of Mind”

Life is unpredictable and often things don’t go as planned and there are setbacks. How you respond to these challenges is very important; as one’s inability to deal with stressors in one area, often affects other areas of one’s life. A example I can remember is of an Australian Corporate PT Client I had who wanted to work on his Strength and become muscular. He had a lot of unwanted fat which he wanted to loose. He told me how in the past he had a company and was planning big things but things didn’t go as per his plans and it affected other areas of his life as well from there. He started binge eating on junk foods, lost the motivation to exercise and in the process became totally out of shape.

World famous motivational Speaker and Coach to World’s Top Political Leaders and Business Leaders, Anthony Robbins or fondly called “Tony Robbins”, talks about the importance of managing one’s State of Mind. He says, “No matter what happens in your life, the meaning will be yours.” So, if you get your focus right and give the situation, an empowering meaning, most likely it will happen that you will come to a resourceful state of mind and then you will be able to come out of the situation.

• Focus on long boring cardio-vascular training on machines

In several Australian gyms, I worked in, I have noticed a considerable proportion of the population spending hours on treadmills, cross-trainers, spin bikes, stair masters. They do one of these machines for 45 minutes or so, then hop to the next one of these available and spend almost equal proportion of time on that one and then to the next one. In total, they spend easily between 2 to 3 hours on these machines. Most people repeating this pattern over 2-3 months, sometimes end up looking pale, sick, weak and skinny. If this kind of transformation was your goal in the first place, “Congratulations!” but if you would like to look toned, muscular, strong from inside and outside and work on a full body overall development with exercises which engage your mind and body, I would invite you to look into exercise equipments/tools like TRX, Kettlebells and learn these under the supervision of a Certified, Skilled & Experienced Instructor. You will benefit hugely by investing your time, money and energy into these tools as they are total Gyms in themselves and more.

• Focusing too much on weight loss and the number on the weighing scale

I remember once we had a group client, who had this weight loss goal and was very eager to see the number go down on the weighing scale. He was very dedicated and would reach for the early morning classes on time, even though his house was very far from the centre. He would very sincerely perform the exercises in the group classes and was very regular. Gradually, we noticed his strength grow, his movements becoming better, his posture improved, his skin getting better and his confidence grow. We discussed these things with him and encouraged him to keep up the good work. But, his mind was focussed too much on seeing his weight drop on the weighing scale. After 1 month, he decided to quit as he was very disappointed with no change in the number on weighing scale and lost the motivation to exercise.

Are you one of those who focus too much on number showing on the weighing scale? Don’t you value the improvement happening gradually in your strength levels, sleeping better, your blood pressure, cholesterol levels, skin getting better, energy levels increasing, being able to do daily tasks with much ease and so much more? Then you must educate yourself regarding the importance of these factors and must invest some time in studying the science of fat loss. If you don’t do this, you can become an easy prey to marketing gimmicks of some players out there, and fall for fat burners, fake supplements or other short-term fixes. These can ruin your health in the short and long term. So, do yourself a favour and invest in some education first.

• Not focusing on laying down a Strong Foundation, ignoring safety guidelines, going “too heavy, too soon”

I often see Clients not spending enough time on “mastering the basics”. In martial arts also, Instructors stress on the importance of “basics”. For example, in fitness environment, before you decide to jump into exercises like Bench Press with dumbbells or barbell, make sure to master the Plank Hold exercise, Push-ups and spend enough time on mastering these under the guidance of a Certified, Skilled and Experience Instructor. Never ignore the safety guidelines while performing these. You might be tempted to go heavy but resist the temptation as it can easily lead to injury. Russians made the Kettlebells in different weight sizes and the jump in weight between 2 kettlebells is always standard 4 kg. For example, we have 4kg, 8kg, 12kg, 16kg, 20kg, 24kg and so on for bell sizes. The idea behind this was that you don’t rush in going too heavy, too soon. You spend enough time in mastering the particular movement with a particular weight. Believe me, it’s very effective and I have experienced it myself when I tried to do Turkish Get-up with the 48 kg without spending enough time on 44 kg first. Always, focus on lifting with correct form or technique as this will pay you rich dividends later. Never compare yourself with others. Focus on small improvements in your own form and practice the movements mindfully. It has a very therapeutic effect on us just like meditation.

This post has already become too long and I believe I have covered some very important principles above which will guide you in your journey. Please leave your comments below.

To get in touch with me for Personal Training, email me at [email protected].