Mistakes at the Gym

Cardiovascular exercise also known as cardio is one of the quickest ways to burn fat and lose inches. Cardio is the exercise that gets the body moving, the heart pumping and the oxygen flowing through the body. Although, low intensity workouts have been proven to burn fat calories, cardio has been shown to continue burning fat calories long after the carbohydrates have been used up and after you have stopped exercising. Therefore cardio increases the body’s metabolism to continue to burn fat long after you finished your workout.
Cardiovascular exercise not only helps you lose weight quickly, but it is beneficial for your heart and lungs, decreases high blood pressure, decreases high cholesterol and reduces ones risk of heart disease, heart attack and stroke. Cardio is one of the most easily recognizable exercises because it causes you to puff and pant, get red in the face, and sweat profusely. That’s not to say that other exercises don’t get results. However, when most people turn to exercise they usually choose some type of cardiovascular fitness over weight training. This is because of its quick results all around and because there are so many cardio exercises and sports to choose from.
Cardio exercise includes anything that gets the heart beating faster, such as running, jogging, stair climbing, bicycling, swimming, aerobics, power walking, and rowing. Although, if you have a gym membership or you prefer to workout in the gym usually 1/3 of the machines are cardio oriented. Some of the machines include treadmills, elliptical, stationary bike, and stair climber.
Like many people who go to the gym, the atmosphere and the machines and even the people can be intimidating. So people stick to the machines they know without altering their routine. This is one of the major mistakes that people make at the gym, they underestimate their ability on a machine. This not only doesn’t help you in your goal to lose weight it actually won’t even help you to maintain where you are at know. There are some common mistakes that people make at the gym and don’t realize it. Do something the next time you go to the gym, take a good look around and see if you spot anyone doing exactly what’s discussed here.
1. Rest your arms on a machine while using it. Many machines especially in the cardio area have hand rails or arm guards. These are typically for catching yourself if you are going to fall or when you are stopping a machine to get off. However, most people will actually hold on while their walking, running, or stair climbing. The problem, you are using the machine to hold your body weight rather than using your weight in your workout to burn additional calories. Yes by using your own body weight it will make the workout harder, but you will work harder therefore burning more calories and losing more weight. Plus the objective of a workout is to make it tough otherwise it isn’t a workout.
2. Don’t adjust the machines to your own height. Most people have no idea the capacity of each machine at the gym. Unfortunately this leaves a lot of room for incorrect usage. I am guilty of this and I have seen it countless of times where a person gets on a machine without adjusting it for proper height, or weight. Not only will this cause you to not get the proper workout from that specific machine but it can cause you to be uncomfortable during the exercise. For example, when people use the stationary bikes they don’t adjust the seat or they adjust the seat too high or too low.
3. Too high intensity or not enough intensity. Most often people overestimate themselves or underestimate themselves. When they get on a machine they set the weight or intensity so high that it is too hard for them and they quit within the first 5 minutes. Remember that exercising is about increasing the intensity over time. If you put it on the maximum from the being there is no doubt that you will quit right away because it is too hard for you.
On the other hand some people will set the intensity too low. Maybe they are going really fast on the bike or the elliptical but the intensity is so low they aren’t getting workout. Or if you are lifting too lightweights you aren’t breaking a sweat. Remember to always start one step above what you are capable of doing. If you know you can run 1 mile, set it for 1.5 or 2 miles. If you know you can life 25 pounds use a 30-pound weight. This is how you burn calories and gain muscle.

It’s a wonder how people who make these kinds of mistakes continue to go to the gym or pay for a gym membership. It is hard to notice any improvements to your weight, or health when the objective of a workout is not even being achieved. Now you know the mistakes remember to avoid them the next time you go to the gym!