Whatever You Do, Avoid These 5 Mistakes by Dr. Jimmie Flores


Whatever You Do, Avoid These 5 Mistakes by DR. JIMMIE FLORES
Article Posted: 02/27/2012
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Whatever You Do, Avoid These 5 Mistakes

Health,Self Improvement,Advice

You have to see it as much as I do—people wasting time and effort on trivial fitness activities that provide little payoff in the long run while they unknowingly avoid the activities that provide real success with their physique. Granted, it’s probably difficult to know what’s trivial and what’s worth your time with all the misinformation that’s thrown around in the fitness mainstream, but in this article I’ll share a few of the most significant grievances that I see on a day-to-day basis when I go to my school’s gym or the local gym. Mistake #1 – Focusing more on supplements than nutrition and training First of all, we need to look at the name supplement to find the core of this issue. A supplement is exactly what the name implies—a supplement to your daily nutrition. Although I do take supplements, they are not used to cover up a subpar nutrition plan. They should be used to enhance an already-solid plan and to bridge any nutritional gaps that may be overlooked. Take-home lesson: focus on diet first, then training, then supplements. Mistake #2 – Not tracking progress Seeing a statistical representation of your progress can be a great motivating tool in the journey to meet your fitness goals. If your goal is strength, it’s imperative to keep a training log in which you write down your sets, reps, and weights each workout so you know if you’re improving week-to-week. This keeps your on track in the short-run to make sure you’re making steady progress. To keep long-term progress on track, test your 1-rep max in dead lift, squat, bench press, and weighted chin-ups along with your weight every two months and calculate your strength-to-weight ratio in each of these lifts to assess progress. Having a short and long-term system to test yourself is a great way to stay motivated. Mistake #3 – Low-intensity workouts A few days ago at the gym I saw someone doing crunches and reading a book at the same time—this is a prime example of someone wasting their time in the gym. Depending on your goals, the type of training you do will vary; however, it should always be done at a high-intensity to ensure that you get the largest pay-off for the time you invest. Mistake #4 – Focusing too much on isolation exercises Isolation exercises can be solid additions to your weight lifting routine, but they should not be the foundation. Core moves like dead lifts, squats, presses, rows, and pull-ups/chin-ups should create the basis of your workout. After you master the core lifts, isolation exercises can be added if you’d like. Mistake #5 – Focusing more on training than nutrition This is probably the most common fitness problem of all. In an earlier article, I stated that achieving the results you want depends upon roughly 80% nutrition, 20% training. However, most people invest way too much unnecessary effort in their workouts when they could achieve more impressive, faster results through a structured nutrition plan. The thing to remember is this: if your goals are purely aesthetic, you don’t need to spend more than four hours exercising per week. A high-intensity, low volume weight lifting routine is probably all you need to achieve your goals; the rest can be accomplished through proper nutrition. Make sure you’re not making any of these mistakes and you’ll be much closer to achieving your goals. If you have any thoughts on the information in this article, feel free to leave a comment below, and watch out for more NextPhase advice! You can stay connected with my fitness ideas by going here: http://www.nextphasefitness.com/blog/

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