It’s sad to see how deep the gap is between what people think they know about fitness and what they actually know. There’s so much misinformation being passed around, it’s painful. Some of these fitness myths are decades old, even centuries. And many of those myths are the reason why most people can’t seem to get consistent gains at the gym. Let’s take a look at some of the bad fitness exercise habits that people make that end up killing their results.
Top 7 Bad Fitness Exercise Habits That Are Hurting Your Muscle Gain
bad nutrition
The number one reason why people don’t see gains in the gym is not the amount of weight they lift or the number of reps they do. It’s what they do in between their workout, especially what they put in their body. Nutrition is the most important part of muscle retention, and you need to feed those heavily damaged muscles if you don’t want them to break down. The most important nutrient for muscle building is, you guessed it, protein. Protein is much more complex than many people might imagine. Different types of protein get absorbed by the body differently and should be used differently.
Take the differences between whey protein and casein protein, two of the most common types of protein on the market. Whey protein is absorbed way faster by the body, which makes it ideal for post-workout session shakes. Casein, on the other hand, is absorbed slowly by the body. This means that it could make for a great overnight shake. There are even differences in the same types of protein. You have whey isolate, concentrate, and hydrolyzate. Then you have whey protein products like those from Ingredient Optimized. If you want more information on whey protein, you can learn everything you need from their website. They speak on whey protein structure in detail and explain the difference between the popular types of whey, whey protein structure, and their patented-pending formula.
Restrictive Diet
Another mistake people make is banishing foods from their diets. A lot of people who train are terrified of sugar. Little do they know that a bag of gummy bears could be exactly what their body needs right after a workout. And if you think we’re crazy, we suggest you speak with a few powerlifters and bodybuilders and they’ll tell you the same. That’s because they know a thing or two about the human body.
Your muscles use what is called glycogen when you workout, and there’s only one way to replenish these reserves, and it’s with sugar. And the simpler the sugar, the better, so this means that you are free to have some white carbs that you want after a tough workout session. So, before you assume that things like fat are all bad all the time, learn a bit more about nutrition. What you take before, during, and after your workouts will make a huge difference.
Not Enough Rest Days
The worst fitness exercise habit people make when going to the gym is overtraining. They try to grind it out every day thinking that they’re going to make gains, but they start getting weaker and weaker. They then start thinking that there might be something wrong with them. In reality, rest is just as important as the work you put in at the gym. Strength training produces tiny little tears in your muscle tissue. And it’s the healing process that results in more strength and mass. This means that you will need to let the muscle heal before you put any more pressure on it or it will break down.
Take the time to rest between workout sessions. This means alternating the muscles you work on and give each part at least two days to rest. You should also listen to your body. If a muscle still feels sore, then you should wait until it doesn’t. If you try to push it, you might start to lose power. It’s also very important that you get enough sleep. This is when your body’s healing process is at its strongest, and lack of sleep could lead to you plateauing or losing mass and strength over time.
You Don’t Go Hard Enough
At the other end of the spectrum, you have people who don’t train enough or don’t go hard enough when they are at the gym. There are only two ways to gain mass and strength in the gym. You can either go with very heavy weights with low reps or moderately heavy weights with high reps. If it feels too easy, you are wasting your time.
If you can do more than 12 – 15 reps with any weight with no problem, you’re probably not lifting enough. If you go heavy with low reps, you will mainly develop strength. While you will develop mass if you go for moderately heavy weights for high reps, so think about this when building a workout schedule.
You Rush Through Your Workout
One thing you shouldn’t do, however, is rush your sets. You need to leave enough time between sets for your muscles to recover. If you don’t, you won’t be able to lift as much or for as long. There has been a trend recently towards super-fast sets because of the whole CrossFit trend, but there’s a reason why CrossFitters don’t develop as much mass as bodybuilders who spend hours at the squat rack. High intensity interval training (HIIT) can be a good addition to your workout but you shouldn’t use it as your main training method. If you want optimal muscle gain results and performance, try to aim for one-minute breaks between sets at the very least. There’s also nothing stopping you from going much longer. The most important part is listening to your body.
You Have Bad Life Habits: bad exercise habits
Many factors could end up affecting your gains without you realizing it. Two of them are cigarettes and alcohol. Cigarettes will affect your performance and your hormone levels. The same can be said about alcohol. Too much alcohol will destroy your gains in many ways. First of all, alcoholic drinks tend to be very calorie-dense, and it’s worse if we start speaking about mixed drinks. Some people may not be aware of this, but a bottle of beer can contain about as many calories as a can of Coke. Now you know where the dreaded beer belly comes from.
Another way that alcohol may be affecting your progress is because of its effect on testosterone. Research has shown that long-term alcohol abuse can significantly lower your testosterone levels. Testosterone is essential for building mass and strength. In addition, alcohol increases the risk of you building fat around your abdomen and will not only hide that six-pack but lower testosterone as well. So, we suggest you look at another way to spend your evenings after work if you want to get results in the long term.
You’re Doing Your Lifts Wrong: bad exercise habits
A common bad fitness exercise habit is poor execution of your lifts. You might think that you’re killing it on the deadlift or that you got a great chest workout, but, in reality, you may have done yourself more harm than good. If you are lifting too much weight or with bad form you may be doing more harm than good. Some people think that because they’re sore they accomplished something, but that pain might be an injury.
Before you begin on a new workout routine or exercise, take the time to learn the proper form. If you can’t find a trainer or someone who knows what they’re doing. Try to read as many articles as possible and look at as many videos from different sources as you can. Don’t be afraid to ask other people who seem to have experience for help at the gym either. These are some of the most common reasons why people can’t get consistent gains at the gym. Make sure that you look at what you may be doing wrong and correct your bad eating and fitness exercise habits immediately if you want to see results.
