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12 Common
Mistakes Made In The Gym
by Adam Librot
Contents
1. Typical Male — Use Too Much Weight
Typical Female — Use Too Little Weight
2. Typical Male — Does Too Much
Weights
Typical Female — Does Too Much Cardio
3. Using The Rails On The Stairmasters To
Support Your Weight
4. Sacrificing Form For The Sake Of
Increasing Weight
5. Doing Long Sets Of Ab Exercises
6. Doing Cardio Before Weights
7. Using The Neck and/or Oblique Machines
8. Riding The Bike On Low Levels (or
walking on the treadmill)
9. Chatting For 10 Minutes Between Sets
10. Not Putting The Weights Where They
Belong
11. Using Belts (knee and/or ankle
wraps) For Every Exercise
12. Using The Smith Machine (and other
machines) For The Main Exercise
1. Typical Male — Use Too Much Weight:
Picture this...actually you don't have to, cause you probably
have seen it in the gym all the time. A guy lifts the weight on
the bench press as fast as possible, locking out the elbows at
the end (and later complains of joint pain). Then lets the weight
fall into his chest and uses the spring action of the rib cage to
bring it back up again. Many times he can't as early as the first
rep, and the spotter does half the work, only to say after,
"It was all you."
Give me a break. You are probably in the gym to gain muscle,
lose fat, and look and feel better. But, most people are just
there to lift weights. That is probably not what they are
thinking, but it is what they are doing. The typical couch potato
has the idea that people who go to the gym make a life of testing
how much they can lift. "How much ya bench?" Many
people try and answer this question every time they go to the gym
Basically, check your ego at the door, and use enough weight
to completely tire your muscles, not to put on a show. When you
use controlled motions and slower reps, you will not be able to
do as much weight — at first. But as you get stronger you
will soon be beating all those guys who continually test their
weight, and you will have a better body. Sure it is hard, sure it
is frustrating, but who ever said it was supposed to be easy?
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Typical Female — Use Too Little
Weight: Just because you are doing something does not mean
you are getting anything done. There are 3 ways to increase the
difficulty of a workout, and this is covered in the "10
Commandments of Bodybuilding": increasing reps,
decreasing rest, or increasing weight. Most females don't use the
last one. You cannot increase reps forever and expect it to do
anything. Five minute sets are useless. Though after 3 sets of 40
with 30 seconds rest in between, you may "feel
something", you are really spinning your wheels.
Ya, I know the reasons. "I don't want to look like a
guy," or, "I don't want to become huge. "Hey, it's
more likely that a guy starts looking like a girl by watching
Melrose. The reason is testosterone. Sure females have some, but
there is no way enough to look like a guy. Furthermore, it is
gaining muscle that give the appearance of "curvature"
which looks good, as opposed to the tubular shape achieved by an
hour and a half of exclusively Stairmaster everyday.
The way females explain it to me, it seems as though they will
lift some weights, wake up the next day, look at themselves, and
say "Damn, I'm HUGE!" Have you seen guys who go to the
gym all the time, and after years, they barely look any bigger?
It is not that easy to gain muscle, even for guys in their early
20's who's testosterone levels are at the lifetime high.
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2. Typical Male — Does Too Much
Weights: This is straightforward, but the main point is that
doing high reps and low weights DOES NOT make anyone cut. High
reps help you get cut as much as reading chemistry will help your
class titled "Social Modes of Central Asia: 1235-1587".
Being cut is the product of nutritional manipulation and about
20-30 minutes of cardio at the end of each weight workout.
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Typical Female — Does Too Much Cardio:
Unless you are training for some athletic event or playing in an
athletic contest, spending more than 30-40 minutes a day on a
cardio machine is just wasting your time. More is not better.
Cardio breaks down muscle, as well as fat, and the end result is
usually that your metabolism is reduced which makes it more
difficult to keep off fat. The apparent need for lots of cardio
tends to be a self fulfilling prophesy. The more you do it, the
more it becomes necessary to maintain your present physical form.
The way to reverse this process is to reduce the cardio and lift
some weights.
The time you spend doing cardio is much better spent lifting
weights. Those economics majors know of declining marginal
return. Many people have gone as far as crossing the line when
marginal return is actually negative.
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3. Using The Rails On The Stairmasters To
Support Your Weight: This seems to be the female version of
guys' using too much weights. Reduce the intensity and only use
the rails for balance and minimal support. Twisting your hands
around and locking your elbows to elevate 70% of your weight,
then tiptoeing on the stairs is quite unproductive.
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4. Sacrificing Form For The Sake Of
Increasing Weight: Again, a corollary to using too much
weight. Increasing the weight over time is the only way to better
yourself, but it is the EFFECTIVE load that matters. If you fling
the weight up and let it drop in a nanosecond, the load you place
on your muscles is not very great. Who is stronger? Someone who
throws around 200 lb. a couple of times, or the guy who can lift
140 in a slow, controlled fashion for 8 reps, maintaining tension
on the muscles the entire time? Who is going to make more
progress in the long run? As Will Brink wrote, "If the
answer to these questions are not obvious, your hands were better
made for Crayola crayons and a Little Mermaid coloring book than
a pair of dumbbells."
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5. Doing Long Sets Of Ab Exercises:
This is a typical case of using too little weights and thinking
that high reps will make you cut. In fact of all the muscles,
since abs have a higher percentage of fast twitch fibers, you
should increase weights preferentially to the other difficulty
modifications. If you can do a set that lasts much longer than 40
seconds, it's time to use weights.
At first people use bodyweight, and that is sufficient. But as
you get stronger, bodyweight is not enough. Most people increase
the reps, and for some it turns into an aerobic exercise,
rivaling time spent on the treadmill. Either hold a weight on
your chest or behind your head for crunches, or between your feet
for reverse crunches.
But what if you want a six-pack? Training the abs has nothing
to do with the fat over the abs. The fat does NOT belong to the
muscles. This is covered in the "30
Lies About Bodybuilding". It is nutritional manipulation
and some cardio that will get you those prized washboard abs.
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6. Doing Cardio Before Weights: So your
main goal is to gain muscle? Well then it should be obvious that
you do weights first. But what if your main goal is to lose fat?
Then you should do...weights first! There are many reason for
this.
If you do cardio first, you will not burn bodyfat
preferentially because your blood sugar and insulin levels (which
inhibits bodyfat mobilization) are relatively high. After using
weights, your blood sugar and insulin levels are reduced, thus
creating an ideal environment for cardio to mobilize bodyfat.
There are two times in the day when this occurs; one is
immediately after the weight workout, and the other is right when
you wake up before you have anything to eat.
Another reason why weights are better first is the fact that
in weight workouts you have 100% intensity — you go to
complete failure during sets. During cardio, you want to stay in
the 60-75% intensity levels to burn fat optimally; you do not
work at such an intensity that you reach a point of complete
failure. If you do cardio first, a combination of low blood sugar
and low blood pH will hurt your weight workout a lot, but doing
weights first will not hurt the effectiveness of the cardio
session.
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7. Using The Neck and/or Oblique Machines:
As of now, these are the two machines that stick out in mind as a
complete waste of time. The top reason for not working out these
days is, "I just can't find the time." When these
people end up going to the gym, many waste their time by not
working out hard, continuously chatting, watching other people
work out, or doing useless exercises. As a service to yourself,
donŐt use these machines just because they happen to be included
in the circuit by the gym. Chances are the person who bought them
in the first place doesn't work out, much less knows anything
about exercise and nutrition. Basically, evaluate what you are
doing for efficiency; you may just be spinning your wheels.
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8. Riding The Bike On Low Levels (or
walking on the treadmill): This is the cardio version of not
using enough weight. Instead of sitting on an uncomfortable
exercise bike for and hour and a half at level 2, go home, grab a
couple beers, and watch some South Park reruns. It's a lot more
fun.
About walking on the treadmill, this is more a matter of
respecting other members of the gym. At most gyms treadmills are
the hardest piece of equipment to get to use since there is such
a high demand; their purpose is to pace someone's run at a
moderate to high intensity. If you want just to take a stroll,
please go walk around the perimeter of the gym or go to a track.
Granted, for some people walking is actually strenuous, but most
people I have seen walking on treadmills look like they just
drank a bottle of NyQuil.
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9. Chatting For 10 Minutes Between Sets:
OK, I admit, I like talk to friends and meet people in the gym,
but I am also in the gym for purposes other than that. When it is
time to do a set, say a nice, "Excuse me," and then
continue talking afterwards. That does not leave you much time,
since most rest periods should be only 1.5 to 2 minutes. But if
you are not concerned with improving your body, knock yourself
out!
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10. Not Putting The Weights Where They
Belong: This is another matter of respect and gym etiquette.
Not being able to locate the proper weights in the proper time
can affect otherŐs workouts, and just be a pain in the ass. Just
because other people don't put the weights back does not mean you
have free reign to contribute to the problem.
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11. Using Belts (knee and/or ankle wraps)
For Every Exercise: Belts and other gadgets are meant for
protection, not as crutches. The need to use a belt in again one
of those self-fulfilling prophesies. The more you use the belt,
the more dependent you get on it, until to maintain your current
work load, you HAVE to use the belt, or you risk serious injury.
"Well, I have back problems," they say. Many times, the
reason they have, or continue to have back problems, is because
of continued use of the belt.
The solution to this problem is to lower your weight so the
muscles you weakened due to belt use can recover. Keeping a belt
on the entire workout is ridiculous. Most people use belts only
for squats and power exercises. Even this is excessive, unless
you are doing maximal or near maximal weight loads. For the lower
weight loads, don't use the belt. This will strengthen back and
abdominal muscles and prevent injury in the future and on the
maximal weight loads.
Knee wraps and elbow wraps should not be used at all. If you
have an injury you should not be lifting, or should reduce the
load; don't mask the injury. Lifting is a long term commitment,
and you will fare better if you rehabilitate the injury rather
than mask it; masking often leads to more damaging and sometimes
irreversible injuries that could prevent you from lifting
forever.
I want to acknowledge that belts are very important at certain
times, such as when you are lifting heavy loads with which you
can only do a few reps, and when you are learning form on power
exercises. They prevent injury in these situations, yet should be
avoided in most others.
Certain exercises are plagued by these crutches, often because
you can lift more with them than without. Again, check your ego
at the door, and your long term goals will soon outpace the short
term benefits.
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12. Using The Smith Machine (and other
machines) For The Main Exercise: Again, this has to do with
not "checking your ego at the door." You appear to be
stronger while using this machine. First, since the bar weighs
about 25 lb. less than a free weight bar, you can put more plates
on. Second, accounting for the weight difference in the bar, you
can lift more overall weight on the smith machine simply because
it is a machine. Given the same motion, you will be able to lift
more on a machine than with a barbell, and more with a barbell
than a pair of dumbbells. The less the motion of the exercise is
guided by some outside force, the less weight you are going to be
able to lift.
The problem with machines is that it only exercises main
movers, and does not stress the assisting (or stabilizing)
muscles. This is called by most trainers "balance". I
heard one trainer propose that since you can lift more with
machines, and the more you lift the more you grow, and since
there is no reason to learn "balance" (we wouldn't be
falling over if we didn't learn "balance" in our
workouts, right?), it just makes sense to use only machines, and
free weights are a crock.
Well, his philosophy fails when we discover that
"balance" is not the correct analysis. When you use
machines, you are taking assisting muscles out of the picture.
The more guided the motion is, the less they are stressed. Your
main movers may be strong, but without the assisting muscles, you
cannot perform any real life tasks as well, such as those is
athletics. This is evidenced by the fact that those who can do
chin ups can excel at the pulldown, but those who have always
done the pulldown may not be able to do more than a few chin ups.
Concentrating on machines also increases the chance of injury
during real life activities since the stability of the joints
depends on the strength of the stabilizing muscles, and not on
the strength of the main movers.
Also, your long term goal of increasing strength or muscles
mass will never be achieved solely with machines. This is because
exercise variety is on of the most important aspects of training.
In restricting motions, machine seriously restricts the ability
to vary the stress on your muscles.
So are machines good for anything? The answer is YES! They are
just not a good choice of main exercises for your workout. You
can actually use what was previously called a weakness of the
machine as a strength. You cannot lift as much with free weights
usually because some stabilizing or assisting muscle tires first;
your main movers may not be exhausted. So, after you are done
with free weights, go straight to doing the same exercise or
muscle group on a machine. You will be able to continue to stress
your muscles where otherwise you would have stopped.
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