5 Gym Mistakes You Should Avoid – Watch Out!

If you just took the first step on your fitness journey or have been going to the gym for some time, you must know how hard is it to make progress.

While showing up to the gym every day is a big thing in itself, you have to make sure everything you’re doing is helping you to get better and not wasting your time.

So, to make your fitness journey a bit easier and make the most of the hard work and sweat you put in while training, we’ve talked about some of the mistakes that are common in the gym, but many people still keep making them without realizing them.

By the time you’re done with this listicle, I hope if you’re making these mistakes in the gym, you’ll rectify them and won’t let them hold you back anymore.

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#1 Gym Mistakes: Not bringing your headphones

When you go to the gym, you train there. Don’t go there to enjoy the social hour. You have to minimize distractions, such as the sound of people talking and laughing, and the awful music playing in the gym daily.

So, to give your best and not hinder your progress due to outside interference, you should consider using headphones during your training session. They’ll cancel out most of these eerie sounds.

Another benefit of using headphones is that when you’re listening to your desired music, you’re mostly happier and hyped. These two feelings help you push your body more – get past your limit.

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#2 Gym Mistakes: Lifting with too many friends

When you’re lifting weights alone or with a friend, you’re focused on your workout. But when you include a bunch of friends in your workout session and train with them, things will start to get messed up for you.

Firstly, you’ll lose the pump and motivation long before your workout ends because everyone is in a queue to lift that bar. Then, you’ll finish your workout in double time, once again because 3-5 people are doing the same exercises.

Also, when you’re working out in a group, you start to exchange words and socialize, which also takes time and focus away from your workout. If this isn’t enough, you’ll also be creating difficulties for other people in the gym too since you and your workout buddies will be hogging free weights and machines for a long time.

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#3 Gym Mistakes: Drinking a protein shake during the workout

There’s a reason why you should wait at least an hour or so after you eat to work out. It’s because so you don’t feel bloated. You don’t feel like throwing up after every set. You don’t hold yourself back.

And that’s what happens to your body when you drink protein shakes during your workouts. You constantly feel bloated and aren’t able to perform to the best of your ability.

Another ramification of drinking protein shakes during your workout is that you also don’t feel any pump. This is because when you have food or anything that needs to be digested in your stomach, your body directs blood flow to the digestive tract to break down the food.

And when that happens, the blood flow is partially taken from every body part. Because of this, the working muscles also receive less blood and oxygen and aren’t able to pump as much as they’d usually.

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#4 Doing too many exercises

Most people who go to the gym believe that if they exercise more, then they’ll get their desired physique quicker.

They expect to build something in 3 months that can only be built in 6 months. Sorry to disappoint you, but more isn’t better every time.

Also, this isn’t how the human body works naturally. It doesn’t matter if you want to lose fat or build muscle, the set of exercises remains the same.

Your utmost priority should be doing compound lifts. And on top of that, some isolation works. You don’t need variations or 30 different exercises to build a physique.

You only need a handful of exercises. That’s it. Focus on just that, instead of changing things up every other week. You only need to do like 10-12 sets per muscle weekly to see good results. Anything more than that is just you wasting your time and energy.

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#5 Taking every set to failure

Putting your maximum effort into every set is different from taking every set to failure. When you put in your maximum effort, you do that strategically. You do that in such a way that you have the energy to do other exercises in the plan.

If you take every set to failure, you can’t do every exercise in your workout with good form since you won’t have the required energy. Additionally, if you take every set to failure, you’ll feel fatigued, nauseous, and lethargic for most of your day.

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Also Read: 5 Habits That Are Killing Your Gains – Watch Out For These!

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Along with this, you’ll also disarray your body’s ability to repair muscle. So, try to train with good techniques. Take sets to failure, just not every. And, stay safe!

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