7 stupid things guys and girls do in the gym The gym is as good as a comedy club. There are plenty of things you see in the gym which are flat out stupid. It will do nothing to make you look better and become stronger. This article lists out some of the more common examples of stupidity and suggests remedial action. So start reading, and if you do any of these, it’s not too late change. 1. Doing hundreds of broomstick twists. I see this at my gym all the time. The guy takes a PVC pipe, puts it on his upper back, and proceeds to do a 100 twists while watching re-runs of The Voice on cable TV. He probably hopes that this will help get rid of his love handles. I have news for you. Spot reducing is a myth. You have to lose fat all over your body, and often males store most of their fat deposits on the waist, and women on their hips and thighs. You are wasting your time! Do not do this. You just look like a dork and you will still be fat! 2. Treadmill walking. Let me be upfront and say this is a complete waste of time. Especially if this is done as your primary mechanism of losing fat. The metabolic response is much less effective than other forms of conditioning. Not to mention it’s seriously boring.. If you are a fan of the treadmill though, or you have one at home and just don’t want to make it a clothes rack do the following. Ramp the treadmill up to the highest incline. Turn the speeds up to 10 km/h and over, depending on your fitness. Start sprinting for 10 seconds. Then rest by putting your legs on either side of belt for 20-30 seconds. Hop back on and sprint for 10 seconds again. Hop back off. Do this 15-20 times and I guarantee you’ll be cursing me! You’ll thank me later when you drop some serious body-fat. 3. Smith machine squats. I covered this in my Squat article. Absolutely useless. Do regular barbell squats. Enough said. 4. High variety of curls. There is this older guy who comes to the gym. He must be in his 50’s and exercises regularly. He claims he has been training for 20 years. Trouble is he still has a potbelly and is weaker than Justin Bieber. He starts his workout with curls. And ends his workouts with curls. Everyday! Stop obsessing with your curls. The biceps are small muscles. True there are times you need to bomb them but I doubt many of you reading this need that right now. Wrap up your routine with 2-3 sets of curls, hard, heavy and with good form. That’s all you need. 5. Forearm curls. Again a common occurrence at Sri Lankan gyms. You want big arms and forearms? Squat, Deadlift, Bench Press, Military, Chins and Rows. 6. This one is for the ladies. Only doing cardio in the gym and not doing weights because they think it will make you ‘big and bulky.’ No those pink dumbbell front raises, and 100 sit ups do not count. A well-structured weight training routine (preferably designed by Body Corporate trainers!) will do more for your body composition, health and overall wellbeing than all those hours on the stairmaster, bike and treadmill. 7. This one is for the guys. Training like a regular bodybuilder and following routines off muscle magazines and standard templates issued by many gym instructors. One size does not fit all, and that’s sadly an issue with many of our personal trainers. This is not going to get you in shape boys. A well structured routine which comprises of the right mix of big lifts, supplementary lifts, assistance exercises and isolation exercises combined with an effective conditioning template like HIIT, Complexes and Sprints (again preferably designed by Body Corporate trainers) will get you looking and feeling awesome. I have just listed 7 here. No doubt in a future installment, I’ll list a few more. Till next time, don’t be a gym dork!
Posted on: Sat, 22 Jun 2013 07:52:36 +0000
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