Whether you are new to lifting weights or have been doing it for a while but aren’t getting the desired results, there might be a few things you could improve. We’ve all started somewhere, and we’ve all made mistakes at the start. And with the amount of information and misinformation about fitness available, it’s easy to focus on the wrong things. Below are 14 things to avoid to get the most out of your weight training programme.
1. Doing too much too soon
Starting a weight training programme can be very exciting and you might be extremely motivated at the start. This can potentially lead to training more than you should as a novice. This is relevant even if you trained before but took a substantial break.
If you perform too much volume/intensity for your current level, you might end up sore for days. Furthermore, you simply won’t be able to maintain this routine for long periods of time, won’t see the result you want and might lose motivation. It is important to ask yourself “will I be able to maintain my current training routine for the next year?”.
2. Performing random exercises every session
While adding any kind of physical activity is beneficial to one’s fitness, performing a different workout every time might not get you the result you want. Instead focus on mastering fundamental moves (squats, deadlifts, lunges, hip thrusts, glute bridges, rows, push-ups, pressing movements, etc) while attempting to increase difficulty every session. You can then introduce more challenging variations as you get more advanced.
3. Doing silly exercises/Making things more complicated than they are
There seems to be a tendency of fitness people on social media to perform tricky exercises to showcase their skills. One of the common examples is using a Bosu ball for exercises that don’t require this piece of equipment. The truth is, all of those people have gained their abilities by performing basic but effective exercises.
Performing exercises that are over-complicated is unlikely to give you the results you want and will increase your chance of injury.
4. Not having a structure
If you train 5 times one week and then only 1 day the next week you might want to review your routine. To avoid this, pick 2-3 days per week that would work best. Choose your split, and exercises you will perform that day. Then repeat every week while working towards progress – improving form, mobility, lifting heavier, performing more challenging variations of exercises. Review and adjust when required.
5. Not tracking the weight/reps progress to achieve progressive overload
Tracking your progress is an important tool to keep motivated. Furthermore, it is a great way to ensure you’re working towards achieving progressive overload, in other words, challenging your body more every session. It is also important to change up your routine every 4-6 weeks. Without tracking your sessions it will be harder to remember how long you’ve been doing your current programme.
6. Not challenging yourself enough
While it’s important to know your limits and not try to lift more or perform exercises above your current fitness level, you should still aim at challenging yourself. Whether you are lifting same weight every week, or using too much momentum, or lowering the weight without control – you might simply be going through the motions.
For example, instead of performing push-up on your knees with a bad form for 10 or so reps, perform wall push-ups and focus on achieving a good range of motion and technique. If you do them properly, you might not do as many but you get more benefits for building strength and learning to engage muscles.
7. Chasing the burn/sweat
There seems to be a lot of misconception about the effectiveness of your session in relation to feeling the burn, sweating or experiencing delayed onset muscle soreness. Neither of those is an indication of a good session. This is particularly relevant to a weight training session.
Instead of focusing on those physical “symptoms”, you might experience during or after the session, focus on each rep at hand, building mind-muscle connection, maintaining good technique and ensuring sufficient time under tension (lowering phase).
8. Trying to burn calories
Lifting weights doesn’t burn many calories at all. What it does is help you build muscles. Having more muscles will allow your body to burn more calories at rest.
If weight loss is your goal, complimenting your weight training with medium intensity cardio activity (e.g going for an hour walk/cycle) and being generally active, will help burn more calories per day. However, it is the number of calories you consume per day that will define whether you expend more energy than you consume (weight loss) or consume more energy than you expend (weight gain).
9. Doing too much per session
There is no point to perform a large number of exercises if you are not putting in enough effort per set. Focus on working hard on every rep and you simply won’t have the energy to do 10 different exercises per session. Furthermore, doing these many exercises will require more time. This can be more difficult to maintain and might lead to the loss of motivation.
Often 3-4 exercises can be enough for a successful session. Focus on compound exercises to build strength and add some isolation exercises if you want to target specific muscles.
10. Not performing exercises properly
Apart from not achieving optimal muscle growth, performing exercises with poor form might lead to aches and injuries in the future. This can especially be relevant if you follow the previous tips and actually seek progressive overload and lift heavier.
If you, for example, struggle with your squat, don’t rush into adding more weight but work on your technique. And you can still make this exercise more challenging without adding extra weight, e.g. paused or eccentric squats.
11. Doing cardio before weight session
Cardio is an important part of fitness routines. However, if your goals are to build muscles, performing cardio on the same day and especially right before lifting weights is far from ideal. It is best to perform cardio on your rest days and focus on medium intensity steady-state cardio.
Performing, long-lasting or high-intensity cardio sessions frequently might interfere with your muscles building efforts.
12. Being too focused on aesthetics
When you just start your weight training you are likely to see results fairly fast. However, the more experienced you get the harder it gets to build muscles. Furthermore, it will depend significantly on your diet and recovery.
Therefore, focusing on aesthetics can be a losing game and can be de-motivating. It is much better to focus on the progress in your performance. For instance, lifting heavier, improving form, performing more challenging exercises.
13. Wearing suboptimal footwear
When it comes to any free weight exercise (especially lower body) you want to make sure you have as much stability as possible. Your foot is your foundation but it can be challenging to fully use while wearing certain training shoes. Wearing trainers with an elevated heel (as in the photo below) and soft padding will have your food shift all over the place which will affect what’s happening in your knees and hips.
Aim for footwear that allows your foot to maintain its natural position, that is flat and has enough space for you to spread your toes. If you train at home, its best to perform exercises barefoot.
14. Blindly following someone’s fitness programme
A well-made fitness routine you find online might be a good place to start to get familiar with how a weight training programme work. However, blindly following the exercises suggested to you might not be the best idea. For example, depending on your bone structure, some variations of squat/deadlift might be more suitable for you than others.
A standard online programme can’t take these unique differences into account. It also can’t take into account your mobility, past injuries, etc. Therefore, it is very important to listen to your body while following a pre-made programme. This will help you learn what works and what doesn’t, and enable you to choose better-suited exercises.
Taking into account the issues mentioned in this post can be a step towards making the best out of your weight training. However, it is important to remember that without an appropriate diet for your goals, as well as adequate recovery you might not be seeing optimal results.