Common Weightlifting Mistakes to Avoid

When you recently hit the gym, there’s a good chance that you might be making a few mistakes. It’s easy to make these common weightlifting mistakes without knowing. This is especially true when you are exercising alone and without a trainer as a beginner.

It is imperative that you follow the proper form and choose appropriate weights.  Otherwise, you might be setting yourself up for injury and hindering your weightlifting progress. This guide will run you down on beginners’ most common and basic weightlifting mistakes and how you can avoid them.  

1. Overtraining

One of the most common mistakes newbies make is training too much by working out for very long and performing exercises with tons of weights. However, when it comes to weight training, “less is more.” This is because your body needs to rest since the muscles grow during this time and not when you are training. How long your muscles grow depends on your diet and how much sleep you get at night.

To ensure this does not happen, make sure that you are not taking up advanced exercises until you have more experience. Give your muscles a break every now and then and even during exercises. Make sure to keep the movements slow so that you have more control.

2. Incorrect Forms

It is extremely crucial that you follow proper form when doing strength exercises to benefit from them. Moreover, you will be less likely to come across an injury and target the right muscles when you have the correct form.

Therefore, you should carefully follow the correct form and movements for each exercise. Here are some tips you should keep in mind with each exercise:

• When you are standing, focus on your head’s alignment
• Engage your abdomen throughout
• Don’t lock your knees and keep them slightly bent
• Keep your back straight or maintain proper posture depending on what the exercise requires
• If you still are not unsure about what form to follow, seek guidance from a trained professional  

3. Using Wrong Weights

While weight training requires you to challenge yourself by lifting weights, you should know that when you need to use your entire body to hoist the weights up, then it means that they are too heavy. As a result, you might cause a strain in your back, knees, or neck. With heavyweights, you might be restricting your range of motion, preventing you from extending and contracting your muscles.

It is best to follow more reps and sets of the same exercise with proper form and appropriate weights. However, if your ultimate goal is to gain strength, then you might benefit from greater weights than reps.   

4. Cheating

Cheating occurs when you use a weight that is too heavy to lift, but you sacrifice your form and continue to do it. This is quite common with beginners who are motivated to achieve their goals as soon as possible. However, it is best to go slow and steady when weightlifting. This will prevent you from getting any injury or causing harm to your muscles and progress.

The best thing to do is to first focus on your form with little to no weight. Once you have full control over the movement, then you can bump up the weights. You have control over the movements when you can perform the same movement and form with the weights.

5. Lifting Weights Too Early

Similarly, beginners in the weightlifting world often get eager and confident and start off lifting weights too early on in their journey. Those starting out with weightlifting might not do well initially with heavyweights, which might damage your muscles and cause an injury. This is why you should play it safe and take it as slow as possible.

6. Following a Professional Body Builder and Athlete’s Routine

A common misconception that newbies have is that they should follow the same diet plan and work out the routine of professional bodybuilders and athletes in order to get the same type of built. However, that is completely false. Bodybuilders and professional athletes have been training for years, which is why their diet and workout would likely be quite advanced.

You should, therefore, find a routine that exactly fits your goals, BMI, muscle mass, and more.

7. Starving Yourself

Unfortunately, tons of people believe that starving yourself is the best way to lose weight. Dieting does not mean that you cannot eat food and stay hungry all the time. In fact, starving yourself will only make you lose muscle mass and not fat, which is quite unhealthy.

Instead, you should split your food into five to six meals in one day, which will keep your metabolism working constantly and not make you hungry. At the same time, you should consume the right amount of calories based on your specific BMI.

8. Relying on Supplements

When you are not following a proper diet, relying on supplements will get you nowhere. As the name suggests, supplements are designed to supplement your diet. In fact, most of the time, supplements don’t even work. This is why you should do plentiful research and educate yourself on whether certain supplements will work or not. This might save you money and time in the future.

9. Neglecting Carbohydrates and Fats

Whether you are looking to lose weight or gain strength, carbs and fats should not be neglected. This is because carbs are the main source of fuel that should be considered since they provide you with the right amount of energy and glucose. Similarly, fats are essential in maintaining good health. However, you should be getting fats from the right sources, including nuts and olive oil.

10. Skipping Cool Down and Stretches

After you complete a workout, your muscles are tensed, making them more prone to injuries. This is why stretches are an essential part of workouts after you are done lifting weights. Hence, you should stretch after every workout, focusing on the same muscle group that you exercised.

Final Words

Make sure you avoid making these common weightlifting mistakes by beginners. Remember that nothing happens overnight. Hence you should not get discouraged and stay patient and persistent throughout your weightlifting journey!

DID YOU KNOW?

Music can help to distract you from the fatigue and pain you may be feeling during your workout. Instead of focusing on how tired you are, you can let the music transport you to another place. Second, music can help to increase your motivation and focus. When you’re feeling low on energy, a pump-up song can give you the boost you need to keep going. And finally, music can provide a much-needed sense of rhythm and tempo. This can be especially helpful when you’re doing repetitive exercises like running or cycling. So next time you hit the gym, don’t forget to bring along your tunes!