6 + 1 Common Weight Training Sins

1) Training too Much
Your body needs time to recover after you've trained hard. Why is this? Well weight training actually causes minute damage to the cells that make up your muscles, and it's when your body repairs this damage that your muscles become stronger and bigger as your body responds to the new loads you've put it under. But this process takes time, up to 72 hours for many muscle groups, so you need to leave a recovery period between workouts. Plan your training with military precision and give yourself time to recover.

2) Not Working The heart and Lungs
The best way to get great abdominals and more muscle definition is to burn off more sub-coetaneous fat. So why do some many weight trainers concentrate on doing more crunches or high rep low weights type routines? Because that's what people did in the old days and some older books still preach the same stuff. The truth is that 20 minutes hard cardio, cross trainer or rowing machines highly recommended, will burn more calories than an hours hard weight training.

3) Choosing the Wrong Type of Routine
Ask yourself: What are My Personal Goals? If you want to build muscle mass, then do a muscle building routine, heavy weights and low reps. Want to firm up without gaining weight, then use medium weight and more reps. The combinations are endless, but the key is to select a routine that suits your goals and then follow it. Don't just go to the gym and do random stuff, you'll be wasting your time.

4) Not Changing Routine Regularly
This is a very common sin amongst bodybuilders. They find a routine that works and then stick to it religiously for years, increasing weights in small increments and seeing slow progress over many months. In reality it's far better to shock your body every month or so by changing your routine, or simply change the exercise you use for a particular muscle group on a weekly basis. This keeps your routine fresh and makes your body adapt constantly. Using this tip will increase your results exponentially.

5) Going to the Gym 'When I Feel Like It'
Everyone has done this, gone to the gym just when they felt like it. And everyone has experienced the same results from this method, i.e. none, that's because this approach simply doesn't work. Think of your body as a machine, that needs serviced on a regular basis and won't run well unless you do this. Get into the habit of training at highly specific times each and every week and pretty soon you'll just go on autopilot.

6) Not Eating Properly
Training is only one aspect of your training regime, and it's only 50% of the results. The other half is your diet; you really need to consider each and every foodstuff that you consume. It's a clich ' to say 'you are what you eat' but it's true. If you're bodybuilding then you'll need more extra protein, if you're trying to lose weight then you'll need to reduce calorific intake, if you're a marathon runner then you'll need more complex carbs. Consider your diet during the training phase and your results will explode!

7) Not Smiling Enough in the Gym
Smiling releases endorphins right? We all know this and we all know that endorphins are great for helping us train better. So why do so many 'serious' fitness addicts look so miserable? It's because they think that's part of the 'look', well quite frankly it isn't. So long as you take the actual exercise part of your training seriously then going to the gym can be fun. Relax, have a laugh, save that focus for the actual training. This makes going to the gym a fun experience.

The 7 deadly sins of weight training will help you avoid the most common mistakes that most people make when hitting the gym. Train harder, train smarter and see faster results.

Information about the Author:

Hank James has been one of Europe's top professional fitness trainers for over 20 years, visit his website at Home Gym System for more info. Hank James recommends the best home gym systems at: More Home Gyms

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