As a newbie into my fitness journey, i must have been one of the most eager and hard-headed individuals. I dove into deep waters, without even learning how to swim first. I disregarded good advice and made every single mistake possible because of that.
Having wasted unnecessary time and energy on doing the wrong things and having to re-program my mistakes later on, i made a list of my top four mistakes to avoid as a beginner.
1. Too much, too soon
You’ve just seen your favorite fitness model post a new shot on Instagram and now your motivation to build your body is higher than ever.
“That’s it, starting Monday, i’m gonna go to the gym 7x a week, work out 2 hours a day and never eat carbs again.”
Unfortunately, motivation is a temporary emotional state that quickly runs out. This motivation usually runs out by the first week and leaves you more discouraged than ever.
Start easy and slow. Find a program that is sustainable for your current fitness level and build up on it.
Remember, change takes time, so rather be patient, take it one step a time and learn to enjoy the process.
2. Believing everything you hear
With the large amounts of information out there, as a beginner, you will most likely become confused and overwhelmed by it.
Between the misinformation on the internet, your local gym bro guru’s and the marketing schemes promising you a 6 pack in 17 minutes, you’re left with a headache and trust issues, not knowing what to believe anymore.
Narrow down your info sources. Find one or two credible sources that are ideally backed up by facts as well as experience and try it out for yourself.
When you’re a newbie, everyone will want to give you advice on what’s the ‘best’ way to get there, be aware of that and narrow down the sources you choose to listen to, to only a few that you absolutely trust.
This will save you from a lot of unnecessary mistakes and provide you with some awesome results.
3. Neglecting nutrition
It’s fantastic that you’ve decided to start exercising and taking a step forward for a better body, but if you want real results, nutrition is a huge component of that and must not be neglected.
I can confidently say that many people are not seeing the results that they would like to because their nutrition is poor.
Invest some time into researching the basics and essentials of nutrition or hire someone who is qualified to do the “dirty” work for you.
Nutrition should always go hand in hand with the type of training that you are doing, depending on your specific goals, often the difference between seeing great results and no results at all.
You are already putting tons of effort training, make the most of it by paying attention to what you feed your body as well.
4. Lifting too heavy (focusing on load)
Working in a gym, i see this more often than i would like, “ego lifting”.
As a beginner, your main focus should be to learn and master exercise execution.
Knowing the correct exercise movement patterns is key to increasing your ability to create muscular tension and achieve results.
Rather than putting emphasis on load, become the student and take the first year of your fitness journey to learn. This will create a solid foundation that you can build upon greatly as you progress and further test your limits.
Heavy lifting is tempting and fun, but without proper knowledge and body awareness, it can do more harm than good.
Heavy loads without precise exercise execution can cause:
- Sub-optimal form – teaching your brain incorrect movement patterns
- Create muscle imbalances
- Possible injuries
Yes, progressive overload is needed for growth, but the key word is “progressive”. Accept where you are and take it one step at a time. By training correctly rather than “ego lifting”, you will see more progress, increase longevity and avoid injuries.
Final Words
By nature, we all want things easy, fast and right now, without putting much work into it if possible.
It’s important to understand that about ourselves and that it’s simply a fear mechanism wired in us for centuries.
Look at your current situation and before you do anything, simply accept where you are.
Great, now that you’ve accepted yourself as you are, you can begin the journey to a new you.
Learn to enjoy the process and do the best that you can as you progress.
We all make mistakes, but many could be avoided by listening to others’ mistakes and applying their lessons.
Knowing what I know now and working in the field as a personal trainer in Toronto, I would’ve saved myself years of essentially wasted time and efforts by hiring a knowledgeable coach or trainer to show me the ropes from that start.
