If you’re like most people, then you struggle to find a balance between work, play, family, and friends. Many of us are working long hours, spending less time with the people we care about, and not taking care of the thing that matters most - our health.
When we do try to take care of our bodies, we usually go about it in the wrong way. We do repetitive routines that are time-consuming, increase potential for injury, and that fail to deliver an adequate calorie burn. On top of that, we reward ourselves for our efforts by consuming extra calories that we supposedly “earned” during our workouts. Is it any wonder that we are one of the fattest nations on the planet?
One of our mantras at Sanki is: Work smarter, not harder. We are going to go over the Top 3 Workout Mistakes and what you can do to fix them.
Mistake #1: No Variety
Face it, we are all creatures of habit, and it’s easy to fall victim to routine. You go to the same piece of cardio equipment, the same machines, the same Pilates class each time, where you run the same distance, lift the same weight, and perform the same movements. It’s easy, it’s familiar, it’s safe. In short, it’s your comfort zone.
Guess what? Your body is so used to this routine, that it’s no longer effective. If you want to see results, then you’re going to have to mix it up. Try swimming or biking instead of running, seek out the free weights, or find a bootcamp or obstacle course that gets you out of the same boring routine and into something that challenges your body as well as your mind.
There are literally thousands of ways to get a great workout, and changing up your routine is easier than you think. Working your muscles in new ways forces them to work harder, which burns more calories and leads to better strength and coordination in the long term.
So if you want to get the most out of your workouts, then it’s time to try something new. Outside your comfort zone is where the real transformation happens.
Mistake #2: Relying on Cardio to Burn Fat
It is true that cardio burns calories, but does it really burn as much as we think it burns? The answer is NO, and relying on those 30 minutes of walking on the treadmill to “burn off” all the foods that you eat will get you nowhere. For the amount of calories that you “burned” in 30 minutes, you might as well have been sitting on the couch eating celery.
To be successful in weight management, you must approach fat burning from both directions, meaning that you must eat fewer calories while simultaneously engaging in more strenuous activities to increase your metabolism.
The key to burning more calories in your workouts is a combination of resistance training and cardio intervals. These activities place greater demands on your system, which in turn leads to a greater and longer-lasting calorie burn.
If you approach fat loss from both directions by upping the intensity of your workout routine AND making good choices in the foods you eat, we promise you will start to see the results you are seeking. Stop relying on moderate cardio to get it done and start working smarter today with resistance routines and cardio intervals.
Mistake #3: Unbalanced Approach
Ok, you’ve read the articles and are taking the advice to heart. You decide to go to the gym and rock a high-intensity workout complete with total body resistance exercises and intense intervals. You sweat it out for almost 3 hours and you feel amazing...until the next morning. You wake up feeling like someone dipped your legs in concrete, and you can barely lift your arms up to shampoo your hair.
Because you remember that Rest is one of the 7 Principles of Fitness, you treat yourself to a day off from working out...then another...then another. Before you know it, you’ve taken the rest of the week off from working out, but you don’t worry too much about it because you worked out so hard on Monday.
Sound familiar? This hit or miss approach to fitness is all too common, and it’s sabotaging your efforts to look better and feel better. This constant cycle of binging and fasting, in both diet AND in exercise, is terrible for your body and for your psyche. With this unbalanced approach, you feel great one day, then you feel horrible the next day.
You wouldn’t try to get all the sleep you need for the week in one day, so why are you taking that approach with your health and fitness?
You’ll get much better results with 1 hour a day three times a week or a half an hour every day. It’s less stressful on your body, and you get to enjoy the physical and emotional benefits of exercise on a more regular basis.
Taking care of your health does not have to be complicated. Start by adding a little variety to your routine, make sure you approach weight loss from both directions by increasing the intensity of your activities while decreasing your calorie intake, and above all else be consistent.