Millions of people are setting certain fitness goals to their yearly targets. But they only past the first several weeks, then gave up because of seeing no result.
Perhaps this is because they had some misunderstandings about fitness, which made them go off the right track.
If you are also on the way to your fitness goal but still feel not really confident about your workout knowledge, check out the following concept workout mistakes to avoid that almost every beginner has and see if you are in the right direction.
1. Reducing the size of just one body part
There are different types of gymers. Many people want to lose fat in the whole body, but some people just want to reduce the size of a certain part like the waist, biceps, calves, thighs, etc.
They make a lot of efforts with exercises focusing on those areas. But finally, they still can’t get it and start to blame the exercises they did.
Actually, reducing just one part of the body is nearly impossible unless you are getting liposuction or there is an intervention from plastic surgery.
If you want to lose fat in a certain part, it is compulsory to work out for the whole body. Remember, your genetic makeup decides the amount of fat loss in different body parts.
2. Sweat means fat loss
This concept is totally wrong. A lot of people feel really happy when getting sweaty since they think it would help to reduce the fat.
Some people even spend time in saunas every day for fat loss. They think they don’t need to work out, just look for a way to get sweat, then they can lose weight.
Yes, maybe you can lose some weight that way, but the amount of fat will still remain. The fact is: even when you are getting sweaty, you are not losing any fat.
In fact, you are losing an amount of water. That’s why you should drink a lot of water during your workout.
Fat comes from inside your body, not outside. So you must work out with exercises to burn calories, not just try to reduce fat by the heat.
3. Fat burned with an empty stomach
Some people think that fat would be burned faster when we work out on an empty stomach. For example, we may do some exercises in the morning before breakfast. What happens is that glycogen, a type of carbohydrate in our body, runs out every night.
So when you wake up and start your workout as the first thing to do of the day, the body will turn to fats to gain energy because your body is low on carbs at this time.
Technically, this idea is partly true. Exercising with an empty stomach can target fat first. But in a long term, it will affect the whole process.
Instead of exercising with a hungry feeling, you should have a snack or light meal instead to get a better result.
4. Shakes make you lose weight
It is believed that drinking shakes every day can help to burn fat in your body. In fact, they might work as long as they are made of 100% fruits and natural ingredients, of course, fresh.
If you drink some shakes full of color, protein, sugar, and vitamins, they will make you full and it would take a lot of time for the body to digest them.
If you’d like to have some shakes, you can try nuts and honey instead of getting protein shakes.
5. Big muscles mean strong muscles
When you look at a man with big muscles, you may admire him a lot because you think he would be very strong.
However, big muscles and strong muscles are completely different. Bodybuilders’ muscles are usually very big, but do you know that they might be weaker than those of power athletes or even normal people?
In fact, big muscles and strong muscles have resulted from different workout routines. If you just get exercise to be in good shape, you should have strength training with different weights to develop your muscle fibers.
6. Protein bars can be used as alternative meals
Many people think that they can eat protein bars to provide protein for their body, then they can skip all their meals. But that’s not true.
Technically, protein bars are processed, and they contain more than just protein. That’s why you will feel quite full when having it too much.
Protein bars will make it harder for your body to complete digestion. So, just consider them as supplementary food, not main meals.
7. All calcium comes from dairy
Dairy products are always considered as the main source of calcium, but you can also get calcium from broccoli or sesame seeds, of course, with a big amount.
Calcium plays a really important role in strengthening your bones, teeth, hair, and other parts. Try to be on a good diet to provide enough calcium for yourself.
8. You can’t gain muscles after 40
This is a very popular thought that almost everyone believes. Perhaps after the age of 40, it would be harder to gain muscles compared to people in their 20s. But it’s not impossible.
All you need is a reasonable workout program and a good diet. You can do some tests with a specialist to see which nutrients you are lacking so you can adjust your diet.
9. Men’s and women’s exercises are different
Many women think that they shouldn’t get heavy exercise because they are afraid of gaining too many muscles like men.
However, the fact is: that men and women are all human beings. Both have the same body, just the hormones are different.
Basically, almost all the workouts designed for losing or gaining weight can be applied to both genders. So you had better give up the thought that men and women must have separated workouts.
That’s all!
Have you read through all of the concept workout mistakes to avoid? Do you have any of the same thoughts?
If yes, you should change your mind and start right away with the right program.