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News : Top 10 Fitness Blunders
eDiets.com - Deerfield Beach,FL,USA, September 4 2005 -- On our way to getting and staying fit, there are blunders just waiting to be made. We certainly don't plan on making them, but our enthusiasm, impatience and/or inexperience make fitness blunders common.
Some of these fitness blunders can lead to unnecessary pain and discomfort while others can result in injury and physical setbacks. The American Council on Exercise recently polled a group of their personal fitness trainers to find out which fitness blunders they most commonly encounter. The 10 most common fitness blunders were:
Not stretching enough: Regardless of whether you intend to do weights or cardio work, a minute or two stretching each muscle group will help lengthen the connective tissue surrounding muscle fibers, help maintain mobility, have greater freedom of movement as you exercise, and also can be an important part of injury prevention and rehabilitation needs brought on by tightened muscles.
Not warming up: Avoid hitting a wall and exhausting yourself too soon by starting off easy and gradually increasing your intensity. Warming allows your cardio system, blood flow and muscles time to adjust.
Forgetting to cool down: Take five to 10 minutes to walk off your elevated intensity level, giving your blood flow a chance to return to normal, your heart rate a chance to gradually come down, and your muscles a chance to recover. Doing so will ensure you don't get dizzy or faint because you quit too abruptly.
Lifting too much weight: Lifting the correct amount of weight also is important to injury prevention. Gradually increase your weight 10 percent every six to eight weeks.
Exercising too hard: This is particularly harmful when you've missed a few workouts. When you get back to working out, don't try to make it all up in one workout.
Not drinking enough water: Eight ounces, eight times each day is the minimum. Exercisers should drink slightly more to avoid dehydration and lackluster workout performance.
Incorrect posture: We want to turn it up to level 10, but then we slump over and lean our upper body weight onto the machine because we're too fatigued to hold ourselves upright. Besides being cheating, this stance also can injure to your back. Instead, turn the level down a few notches and stand up straight.
Not exercising at the right heart rate: To make your workout truly strengthen your heart and lungs while also burning fat, you've got to work out within your target heart rate. Working too high above this rate fatigues you too quickly, and working below doesn't physiologically challenge you enough to produce changes. Check your heart rate 10 minutes into your aerobic workout and refer to a heart rate chart to make sure you're exactly where you should be.
Using momentum to lift weights: You'll be the true conqueror if you simply watch your form when lifting weights. If you're swinging the weight, accelerating through the movement, or using momentum -- not muscle -- to complete the exercise, slow down and use slow controlled movement. If, at this pace, you're unable to maintain correct form, lighten the weight and begin again.
Unnecessary eating: With all the cool ads, it might seem like you need sports bars, drinks, or gels to sustain your workout. But unless you're exercising for two or more consecutive hours, you really don't need the extra calories. A balanced diet and plenty of water is sufficient to cover your needs.
As you work toward greater fitness, keep this list in mind and do your best to avoid them. Doing so will increase your chances of fitness success without the pitfalls of fitness blunders.
(C) 2005 Richmond Times-Dispatch. via ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved
(source : www.ediets.com)
