Sneha has just joined the gym to lose a bit of weight, but has been quite disillusioned and intimated by the other members of the gym. Being a bit out of shape and not up to the mark does not help your confidence, especially when confronted by the sight of well toned women and buff men who can seemingly run forever on the treadmill, without tiring! Not wanting to seem like an out of shape koosh ball soon had Sneha huffing and puffing on the treadmill. With her body not being used to intense activity, soon Sneha began feeling nauseous and fainted.
But this was expected, wasn’t it? Sneha in her bid to achieve her weight loss goal quickly over exerted and her body not accustomed to so much activity soon gave in. This in fact is one of the many mistakes that new comers commit at the Gym commit unknowingly. Not knowing the basics of Gymming can bring about such mistakes which can cause serious harm if not checked at the right time!
Following is a list of some of the most common mistakes that people tend to make when they are new at the gym,
First timers in their enthusiasm about starting their ‘gymming’, tend to skip this easy yet very important part of their workout regime and jump straight to their cardio or weights section. We are talking about the warm up here, sure warm ups seem like a waste of time when you are eyeing the walkers, toners and cycles!
But warm ups are a very integral part of any exercise regime, as they include a series of stretch ups and light jogging on the spot which slowly increases your body’s temperatures and flexibility, they also serve to activate the fluids in your joints which goes a long way in preventing the wear and tear that your joints go through your when you exercise.
- Not setting realistic Goals:
Many newbie’s in the gym make a major mistake of setting unrealistic goals for themselves before even entering the gym! Goals such as losing a major chunk of your weight in a short period of time or developing a six-pack within 2 months will not only be unachievable but also have the potential of causing you harm in the form of an injury or de-motivating you.
‘What’s the harm in setting a tough goal to achieve?’ Asks Sneha our new joinee to the gym.
There is a huge difference between tough and unrealistic goals, tough goals are just that, tough to achieve but achievable nonetheless. But with unrealistic goals you jump in with all guns blazing and are often caught exercising too hard which dosen’t give you the required results in the expected period of time. Experts point out that a moderate and regular exercise regime gives you much more results than a heavy exercise regime which takes a toll on your body, especially if you are not fit enough.
- Not adjusting the machines:
The machines that you see present in your gym or any other gyms are made in such a way to accommodate a whole range of size and shape of the human body. It is important that you adjust these machines to suit your body type and endurance levels, as there are plenty of chances that the machine is not set up to suit your exercise style and body type.
Most times, newcomers in their enthusiasm hop onto machines with greater resistance and improper seating and end up with a pulled muscle or some other similar injury which sets their exercise routine back by at least a couple of days.
- No proper cooling down after work outs:
Another mistake that most newcomers in the gym make is that of heading to the showers right after they have finished their work out. This is not advisable as the body temperature is quite high and also the heart is beating quite fast i.e. it is constantly pumping blood to the various parts of the body. With the newcomer finishing his or her workout and heading straight to the showers to cool down, the heart continues pumping blood to various parts of the body even though they are not being exercised. This continuous pumping of the blood results in blood pooling in major muscles, mostly the legs, making the individual feel nauseous, dizzy or faint.
- Not sipping enough water between breaks:
Our bodies are made up of 70-75% of water depending on our size and shape and when we exercise, we lose this water to sweat, as during the course of an exercise regime we work up a lot of sweat. We need to replace the lost fluids by drinking water in between work outs, to keep ourselves from dehydration. Most newcomers forget to follow this basic rule and end up dehydrated i.e. feeling nauseous, dizzy with a dry mouth and a parched throat.
Experts point out that one should consume one cup of water every 15 to 20 minutes to make up for the lost fluids that the body loses during an exercise routine.
- Getting stuck on a routine:
Many newcomers commit this mistake when it comes to choosing an exercise routine that suits their liking. They like a certain routine and get stuck to it, however this is not advisable as experts point out that repeating the same exercises regularly lessens the exercise’s effect on muscles. This mainly happens due to our body’s ability to adapt to changes, which is the reason why sticking to only one exercise routine is not recommended.
Having a breakup of the work out helps in such cases; a break up between cardio and weights is the best option as they both present different challenges to your body and exercise different sets of muscles. This breakup is beneficial as it stops the work out from becoming routine and also gives the exerciser a much better result than a rigid work out regime.
- Going for heavy weights at the start:
A very common mistake that people new to the gym make is of going straight to lifting the heavy weights. This misconception is the result of the thought process that lifting something heavy will help build muscle quickly, but you could suffer a torn muscle, tissue or some similar injury if you don’t have enough muscle strength to do the lifts!
Experts point out that the best way to gain muscle and increase muscle strength is to gradually increase the weights that you are lifting, this helps as the muscle is being exercised regularly and due to the increase in the weights faces more resistance. Hence with a gradual increase in weights you serve a two pronged purpose that of increasing your muscle mass and strength.
- Focusing on anything but your exercise:
Everyone knows how much you love the new Dan Brown novel, but you are in a gym to exercise and not read, watch tv, listen to music, talk on your phone etc… Newcomers often make these mistakes and end up cutting down short their valuable time that could have been spent working on a neglected set of muscles or running that extra mile on the treadmill. Experts recommend exercising for at least an hour everyday to maintain good health, so why waste that time reading away while you just sit on the gym cycle?
So, now that Sneha knows about these basic mistakes, we are sure that we won’t have any more fainting episodes here on. Happy gymming people!
