“Common workout mistakes” has
always been a very popular topic in fitness publications. But no matter
how many times this subject is re-hashed, you almost always hear about
the same half a dozen or so mistakes, including poor form,
overtraining, going too heavy, not stretching, not warming up, yadda,
yadda yadda. Ironically, you seldom hear about the biggest mistakes of
all. I call these humongous bloopers “bonehead
mistakes” because once you start to analyze and think about
them, they’re really just common sense and they all seem so
obvious… except of course to the person doing it…
who is often quite oblivious until someone else points it out to
them... then the light goes on and it's like... "Doh!"Before I begin the countdown, (in no particular order), there’s one more gripe I have about the treatment this subject has been given in the past: Most of the attention has been put on the mistakes, but very little on the solutions. It’s all too easy to point fingers and say, “Don’t do that” and “Shame on you, dummy” but only 1% of your time should be spent on problems. 99% should be spent on solutions. So in that spirit, after I bring each mistake to your attention, I’ll give you a solution-oriented training tip to help you avoid boneheadedness and join the elite group who “kick butt” in the gym at every workout…
Bonehead workout mistake #1: "Winging it"
“Winging it” means having no
written goals or plans, no training journal and no way of
“keeping score.” It’s when you just show
up at the gym day after day and do whatever strikes your fancy,
whatever machine happens to be available, or whatever you’ve
become habitually accustomed to doing. Winging it is when you
don’t know where you are, where you’re going or how
you’re going to get there - but you start your journey anyway
– no compass, no roadmap. It’s been said that
“Action without planning is the biggest cause of
failure,” and I believe that statement is 100% accurate.Kick butt workout tip #1: Develop a strategic plan
Successful people never “wing it,” they always have a plan. Strategic planning is a never ending process and includes: Assessment (where am I now?), goal setting (where do I want to go?), creating a plan or strategy (How will I get where I want to go?), executing the plan (what action steps must I take daily to reach my goal?), and measuring results (how will I know if I’m moving towards my goal and how will I know when I’ve reached it?). Boneheads “wing it.” Butt–kickers have a master plan and goals for every workout.
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