3 common training mistakes and how to avoid them

Like anything in life, it’s completely unavoidable that you’ll make mistakes or fail to hit your target at some point.

No one hits it out of the park every time. But that doesn’t mean you stop trying.

At some point you’ll mess up, but being smart and informed is the best way to minimise unnecessary mistakes.

Here are the three most common mistakes that we often see people make with their training endeavours.

1. No structure or plan
Working in and around commercial gyms for decades, I have seen countless people showing up day in day out for months and years at a time with no results to show for their consistency. Watching them slog it out, grunting, groaning and sweating the house down but not following a guided principle, method or program. Haphazardly swinging a few kettlebells, running on the treadmill and doing spin classes might get the heart rate up, but after the 6 to 12 week mark there won’t be any improvements.

Your body adapts to the stress (exercise) after several weeks and without a change in the mode of stress (reps, sets, frequency, tempo, volume, intensity). Having structure and a periodized plan will ensure you don’t keep spinning your wheels.

2. Training to eat
“I’m going to smash it today because i ate really bad on the weekend” is a common thought process that you can undo bad eating with a few training sessions. Not only is it ineffective but it can develop into disordered eating patterns that can be detrimental to your overall health. Eating to train and nourish is the only way for long term sustained results.

3.Bad form
To understand what is wrong, we must understand what is right. All too often people want to jump into the deep end with advanced exercises or heavy weights before they’re ready or even know how to execute it properly.

Although each individual is different, there are certain biomechanical principles that cannot be ignored. Bad technique leads to developing inefficiency, muscle imbalances, injury and pain. Lifting too heavy and when fatigued can quickly undo the benefits. If you can’t do the movement without weight, you have no right to start adding barbells and dumbbells to it. Crawl before you walk!

Mistakes are part of training and improvement in general and we take our hat off to anyone who is making those mistakes in the direction of their goals.

In the world of Netflix and Deliveroo, the lack of action and laziness are the biggest mistakes you can make. You won’t wake up in 10 years time and say to yourself “Gee I wish I watched a little bit more TV and ate more ice cream.”

So, take action, don’t be lazy and don’t make the mistake of waiting for yet another year to end without making YOU a priority. If you’re looking for a sign, THIS IS IT!

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