3040: The 10 Biggest Mistakes People Make In The Gym by Daniel Moses with Free Form Fitness on Training Smarter

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[00:00:28] tomorrow starts with a good night's sleep. Just search for Good Sleep in your podcast app and be sure to pick the one from Optimal Living Daily. This is Optimal Health Daily, The 10 Biggest Mistakes People Make In The Gym by Daniel Moses with FreeformFitness.ca. And I'm Dr. Neal, your host and narrator. Welcome back to another week of Optimal Health Daily. This is where I read to you from some of

[00:00:56] the best health and fitness blogs on the web, kind of like an ongoing audiobook, and always with a bit of my commentary at the end. Now, I'm sure you're excited to hear about the biggest mistakes people make in the gym, so let's keep this intro nice and short and get right to today's post as we optimize your life. The 10 Biggest Mistakes People Make In The Gym by Daniel Moses with FreeformFitness.ca.

[00:01:25] We've all seen the blooper videos of people doing things completely wrong in the gym. Well, I asked 10 health and fitness experts from the Freeform Fitness personal training studios to give us their thoughts, and here they are. 1. Not Balancing Your Workout From Vanya Hao, CPT, Oftentimes, people will overwork one muscle group, making it tight,

[00:01:50] while the opposite muscle group grows weak. People in the gym naturally gravitate towards exercises they are good at, instead of what they need. This leads to injury. A good way to avoid this is to look at your posture and assess what exercises would be best for you. 2. Exercising While Eating Poorly From Catherine Marion, CPT Too many people feel they need to cut fat to lose weight, which leads them to buy fat-free or low-fat

[00:02:20] items. Those foods are loaded with sugar and fillers, which simply harm their efforts to lose weight. Fats are not to be feared. Well, good fats, that is. Understanding proper nutrition is key to a successful weight loss journey. And no, that does not imply dieting. Those never work. It's a way of life. It's all about fueling the engine that is your body. 3. Having Too Many Goals At Once From Joey Blase, CPT

[00:02:50] There's a Chinese proverb that says, quote, Chase two rabbits, catch none. End quote. Well, I would say the biggest mistake people make in the gym is just that. They try to fix too many things at once. I want to run a marathon in record time, but I also want to lose weight and be healthy. These are things I hear. Those three goals can be very conflicting and lead to complete mediocrity across the board. It's best to have a strategy.

[00:03:18] 4. Drinking Too Much Alcohol From Mike Robichot, CPT I had a client that wanted to get in shape, but had a ton of aches and pains. I asked him to give up alcohol. Wait, wait, wait, please keep listening. There's still some alcohol. I knew he would hate hearing those words, but I knew that was the poison. Now, with exception to only one or two glasses of wine on the weekend, he lost 15 pounds in less than 8 weeks.

[00:03:46] All his aches and pains went away and he increased his performance tenfold. We actually had members say he was an inspiration. Find the poison, remove the poison, and reclaim health. 5. Not Eating Enough From Alex Kendoza, CPT The problem I see in people who work out is they don't eat enough quality food. Most are lacking nutrients to build muscle, get strong, or lose weight in a healthy manner.

[00:04:15] Not eating enough food also slows down your metabolism. 6. Not Warming Up Properly From Ryan Williams, CPT I think one of the biggest mistakes people make is underestimating what a proper warm-up can do. For example, static stretching before a workout is not a good idea. You want to move your joint through a full range of motion. I see a huge difference when my clients warm up properly.

[00:04:41] They approach their workouts with much more intensity and prevent injury. 7. Not Making Your Goal A Priority In Your Life From Ryan Brown, CPT The biggest mistake goes something like this. The client will say, I can't lose weight. And then I will respond, Didn't you just tell me you drank three bottles of red wine and ate a whole row of cookies last night? The biggest mistake is not making your health priority number one in your day.

[00:05:10] Schedule it in and let everyone know that it's your most important meeting of the day. It's you time. The pit stop to keep the car going strong. 8. Not Maximizing Their Cardiovascular Training From Nicholas Antal, CPT I think the biggest mistake is that they walk on the treadmill holding on at a snail's pace. They're not utilizing their cardiovascular training very well. Have you seen what sprinters look like?

[00:05:37] Sprinting helps stimulate fat burning and muscle building hormones. 9. Following Trends Instead of Getting Down to the Core Issue From Matt Uden, CPT People tend to follow trends as opposed to getting down to the core of the issue. Sure, you can do CrossFit or catch the next Zumba class, but what's the purpose? What are you trying to achieve? That's what I look at and try to find the most efficient and safest way to get there. That often means starting with the basics.

[00:06:07] 10. Exercising Too Long From Lucia Jaeger Hintz, CPT You don't need to be in the gym for very long. The first 30 minutes produce 80% of the results. All you need is a 10-minute dynamic warm-up, 30 minutes of resistance exercise, and a 5-minute cool-down. Anything more will not provide more results. Whether you're new to exercise or a veteran lifter, there are always things you can do to make the best of your workout.

[00:06:40] You just listened to the post titled The 10 Biggest Mistakes People Make in the Gym by Daniel Moses with FreeformFitness.ca and I'll be right back with my commentary. Oikos presents 15 Seconds of Strength. Here we go. Steve's got a trunk full of groceries and no one to help him. Oh, that's tough, Jim. Looks like a five-trip load at least. He grabs the first bag. The second. Bob, it looks like he's trying to do it on one trip. He shimmies the door open, steps over the dog. Oh, and he stumbles. Oh, right into the kitchen without missing a beat.

[00:07:09] Jim, now that's a man who eats his protein-packed Oikos. With 15 grams of complete protein in each cup, Oikos Triple Zero can help build strength for every day. Oikos. Stronger makes everything better. Dr. Neil here for my commentary. I want to go back to mistake number six. This was where the value of a proper warm-up was discussed. Now, one of the mistakes that was mentioned was static stretching before a workout and how this is not a good idea. And I completely agree.

[00:07:37] I don't agree with this, not just based on my opinion, but there are actually quite a few studies that have found that this kind of stretching before a workout can actually prevent us from performing at our best. So what is static stretching anyway? That's the type of stretching we're probably most familiar with. It's when we get into a stretching position and hold that position for at least 15 seconds. This is different from dynamic stretching. Dynamic stretching is moving the muscles through their full range of motion.

[00:08:07] For example, doing arm circles and leg swings are types of dynamic stretches. So back to static stretching. Again, that's where we're holding a stretched position for at least 15 seconds. If we do this kind of stretching before a workout, whether it's a strength or cardio workout, studies have found that it can lead to poorer performance. Dynamic stretching, like arm circles and leg swings, actually improve workout performance.

[00:08:35] So incorporating dynamic stretches as part of the warmup is probably the way to go before a workout. Then save those static stretches for the cool down after the workout. All right, that'll do it for the Monday episode. I hope you're having a great start to your week and I'll be back here tomorrow as usual where your optimal life awaits. Thank you. Thank you.