Don't waste your time at the gym

The basics of exercise are good form, good breathing, good tempo, and good intensity. Photo: Robert Pearce

I love watching those people at the gym who move with fluidity, intensity, and a sense of purpose.  These types of people, big or small, get results and reach their goals.
Unfortunately, many of the other workouts I witness resemble train wrecks. I know - it’s your body, your health and your future wellbeing - but some of you seem to be making some pretty big mistakes.
To help those people get back on track with their fitness I have compiled a list of the top 8 things you should really try to avoid doing at the gym.

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Training with zero intensity
Stop with the 30 minute cross trainer sessions while getting in some talk-show giggles and watching Bieber videos - you could burn more calories walking around Luna Park. Man-up and train with some intensity. Get some knowledge around circuit training, strength/hypertrophy training, CrossFit or High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT).
Creating an imbalanced body
You want a big chest, so all you do is chest, chest, chest work. Bad idea. Why? Because in doing so much chest work, as you strengthen, you tighten and turn into a hunched over kyphotic mess. You must balance your body with an equal ratio of back exercises to ensure balance and decent alignment.  Good posture means a good body. Hunched over posture means you look like the antagonist in a Marvel Comics movie.
And if you build your upper body, don’t forget about building the legs, eh? Squats/deadlifts.  Triceps/biceps. Hypertrophy/cardio. Yin/Yang. Church/Pub. Balance your body, and balance your life.

Poor planning
If you attack the array of fitness machines like a Sizzler buffet, you’re going at it all wrong.  First, think about your goal. We all have fitness goals, but if you have no plan on how to get there, you won’t get there. So what’s your plan for your body at the gym? Think. Research. Learn. Make a plan.
Enjoying the easy-peasy
I once trained a lovely guy who was new to the country, and after five sit ups, he exclaimed ‘‘Michael, this hurts. I think I twisted my organs’’.
It’s easy to lay on the couch. It’s easy to shift your body weight back and forth for 30 minutes on the stair machine. You do what’s easy with the mindframe of ‘at least I’m doing something’.
It’s hard to run real stairs, and it’s hard to make a lifestyle change. Training should hurt a little bit.  Good, healthy pain with some sweating and swearing is good progress, and you won’t even twist your organs.
Understanding good v bad cardio
Do you enjoy walking on the treadmill? The belt is doing the moving for you. Skip it.
In fact, get skipping – rope. Jump roping is one of the biggest calorie burning exercises you can choose.  Try 100. Try 200. Try doing some double unders. Your heart rate will go through the roof. In fact, according to a study on The Mayo Clinic’s website, skipping rope burns 50 per cent more calories than swimming laps. Rowing is serious cardio work; so is sprinting and hill running.
Style stinks
Your deadlift with a rounded back will cause you so much pain tomorrow. Your lack of breathing might cause even more damage. You run like you’re missing a quad. Likewise your bicep curls with that cheating back thrust, and your Zumba moves wouldn’t even cut it in a bar on Friday at midnight.
The basics are tough to learn, but they are: good form, good breathing, good tempo, and good intensity.
Negating your workout
Outside the gym, do you smoke? Do you hit beer o’clock 3 days a week with a slab of cold gold, movies, and frozen pizza? Do you sleep four hours a night?
Good nutrition, hydration, and rest matters. It’s not completely what you do in the gym; all the naughty bits outside count too.
Doing the same ole cardio
Only a caged guinea pig runs in the same wheel every day, doing the same ole thing. Hit the weights.  Build some strength, and you’ll build lean muscles and burn more fat. Change up your cardio work, and change up your weight bearing sessions because the body doesn’t like change. So, it will adapt to a new stimulus, and change for the good and help you reach goals.
Not doing a Thing
I could write volumes about form, intensity, tempo, and breathing, and the number of sets and reps required for strength, hypertrophy, and toning exercises, but in reality the worst thing you can do is not doing a thing. And the cost argument doesn’t cut it because the truth is if you want to get fit, you don’t even have to join a gym.
We live in one of the most beautiful countries in the world. The running trails, the ocean, the parks, the hikes … it’s endless and so damn simple. So get outside. Get moving. Just do something that combines fun and intensity and watch what you put into your body.
What sort of gym mistakes most annoy you?


Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/executive-style/fitness/blogs/boot-camp/dont-waste-your-time-at-the-gym-20110708-1h6co.html#ixzz1So5amhW4