Friday, November 19, 2010

My Training Mistakes

After almost three years of a more active lifestyle, it seems that I've made my fair share of exercising mistakes. Check out the list below. Did you or are you still doing them?
  1. Hiring a bad trainer - I just joined the gym and was intimidated by all the machines that filled up three floors of the place. They provided me with 2 complimentary sessions with a personal trainer. We seem to get along well (NEVER hire a trainer based solely on how well you guys get along) so I hired her for an additional 10 sessions... which ranked as the biggest training mistakes I ever did and one of the bigger financial mistakes that I did.
  2. Using weight machines - It's hard not to when all you can see are weight machines left, right and centre. Plus my idiot trainer made me use almost all the machines available. On hindsight maybe she was paid to do so, so that I feel like I need to go the gym just to get a complete workout. Yes, I saw changes in my body but any newbie would see body developments no matter what they did when they first started exercising. All those machine exercises just gave me a false sense of strength and I also ended up with a weaker core.
  3. Doing Sit-ups - Bad for your spine, bad for your neck. I did 1,000 of them each time I hit the gym. Thank goodness I was lucky enough to escape injury.
  4. Warming up on the treadmill for 20 minutes - Ever trusting, little did I know this was a ploy by the idiot trainer to buy time. It did little in my quest to increase mass.
  5. Using gloves to avoid calluses - Caused me to have almost non-existent grip strength.

Looking at these mistakes, I can actually attribute almost all of it to that trainer I hired. All the false information. All the useless things I was made to do. The reason why I hired a trainer in the first place was because I didn't know any better. The trainer was supposed to be the one to educate me. I'm disappointed and kind of bitter the way I was cheated out of my money.

Nowadays I prefer just to stick to the basics. No power plate, Marie France Bodyline, or Herbalife crap for me. I'm also reading up more on fitness science... not because I'm being a nerd, but it's good to equip yourself with good fundamentals. That way, no one can screw you over.

Care to share any of your training mistakes?

10 comments:

no one said...
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FatLouie said...

Those are wrong Kasey? Seems common among the fitness enthusiasts. I mean, these are what they do....

no one said...
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FatLouie said...

I know 400 crunches is wrong but train till failure is wrong? I really dont get it

no one said...
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Aizan Suhaira said...

Adeline... about training to failure. Check out this write-up. Hope it helps.

http://jasonferruggia.com/3-ways-to-build-muscle-fast/

FatLouie said...

Nice article. I mean, I never train to failure before, but I know enough of gym rat around me who actually train to failure. Didn't know that it's wrong till you guys point it out.

Someone just need to teach these people.

Kasey, you got a book? is it like the manual which Aizan has told me?

KevL said...

Homaigawd, that was horribad Kasey.. I mean, feet on the bench? Like, really?

Okay, here's mine:

1. Didn't actively seek a PT, but was given 2 free training sessions so I used them.. that was.. last year May? No comments about him, but I've always preferred an experienced workout partner many times over 'your average PT'.

2. Yep, used a few before. Completely stopped using all of them (save for cables) more than 6 months ago.

3. I do crunches.

4. Nope, didn't do that. I jog for 15-20 minutes AFTER a weight lifting session these days.

5. This one.. I ditched my gloves a few weeks back. Since I have a pull-up bar at home, I got used to not using gloves even in the gym. No longer used to having that 'second skin' worn on my hands.

What else? Oh yeah, I took a weight gainer without actually knowing how to use it effectively. Weight gainers are basically whey + sugar (calories) + fats (calories). I mean, why would you want additional fats if you're already getting them from your diet? And sugar? You can just mix some household sugar + whey for a post workout drink.

Aizan Suhaira said...

Kev: You come across to me as a fellow hardgainer. Don't you think jogging for 15-20 minutes after every weight training session is a bit of an overkill? Perhaps reduce the jogging sessions a bit?

KevL said...

I'm targeting about 3-4 jogging sessions per week. I weight train 5x a week, and post workout jogs last only 15-20 minutes. On days where I jog only (hardly nowadays), the sessions will last no more than 45 minutes. There are no definites, so I play around with the day and time of jogs. On days where I do some bodyweight workouts and get it done in 30 minutes, I'd jog in a slow, steady state for the next 30 minutes. Gotta fully utilize the fat burning hormones wert :P

Overkill? Naww. Strength gain is at the top of my priority list, with cutting fat being second, and size gain being the third. 60% of my workouts come in the form of strength training with the other 40% being mostly bodyweight workouts which I use to supplement the lack of work done in the gym. You can check it out here: http://redefining-boundaries.blogspot.com/2010/10/update-on-my-2-day-full-body-workout.html . Been changing the regime for like a gazillion times now and now it's finally settled.