If you have been exercising consistently there is nothing more frustrating than doing a ton of hard workouts and not getting the results you are working towards. It is hard to improve your fitness level and takes a lot of time and consistency because your physical health will not improve overnight like people want it to. I have been working out consistently for over ten years and through the years of exercising I have made mistakes along the way like most of us had that have made me hit plateaus and not get results. It is more difficult to exercise when you are disabled because fitness is not accessible, and it is easier for disabled people to get discouraged if they don’t see any progress in their strength because it’s already hard enough to exercise with disability. I think it is so important to hear about the mistakes that other people have made in their fitness journey so you know what not to do if you want to start exercising and don’t make those same mistakes. What mistakes have I made in fitness? In this post, I am going to talk about mistakes I have made in my fitness journey so you don’t have to.
Not eating in a way that supports my goals– When it comes to fitness a lot of people who exercise think that because they exercise it means they can eat as unhealthy as they want but it does not work that year. People who exercise are able to eat slightly more calories than someone who doesn’t exercise without gaining weight, but exercising does not mean you don’t need to care about healthy eating. People trying to improve their physical health should prioritize healthy eating because nutrition plays a major role in your fitness results. You can’t out-train a bad diet, and you would be surprised by how much exercise it takes t burn off one donut. When I first started exercising, I was stuck in diet culture and didn’t prioritize healthy eating as much as I do now because I thought that my exercise routine made it, so I didn’t have to care about healthy eating as much and it wasn’t until I started eating healthier that I started seeing improved strength and better results. It will be harder to reach your fitness goals if you don’t get your nutrition right because poor nutrition makes you feel sluggish which will affect how hard you are able to train.
Skipping cardio- My main fitness goal is to build more muscle, and my trainer has always to not to skip cardio because it plays a major role in your muscle-building journey. I have always known that you should do cardio but never have because I don’t enjoy cardio workouts so I would skip them and focus on weightlifting. You can get some cardio when you weigh lift, but it is not going to be as much as if you were to go on a walk and you should not be using your lifting workout as a substitute for cardio. In November, I decided I was going to start doing short walks a couple of times a day to improve my cardiovascular health, and was surprised by how much more muscle I have built because I walk a little more. I have more energy when I do my strength training workout and have been able to push myself harder than I ever have been. Walking does help me build muscle a little faster because since I walk with crutches, I can’t walk without doing a little strength training. Don’t skip cardio because it’s just as important as strength training!
Not taking rest days- People often think that they will achieve their fitness results if they work out more often and it is true that the more you exercise the faster you will get results but there is such a thing as over-training and exercising too much. Rest days often are not as much of a priority as the workout because people often think that skipping a workout will make it so they don’t reach their fitness goals, but the opposite is true. When I first started exercising I did reasonably long workouts six days and it wasn’t until I stopped doing that and exercised less that I realized I was exercising too much. I get better results now that I exercise less because I have more energy and am able to push myself harder. You don’t always need to exercise more and sometimes you need to exercise less.
Doing a bunch of random workouts– When I first started exercising, I did a different workout every single day because I thought that was what you were supposed to do but the reality is you don’t need to change your workout that often. I like to change something about my routine every four to six weeks to avoid hitting a plateau but at the same time, you also want to make sure that you have a structured workout routine. It takes a lot of time to find a workout that is somewhat accessible and doing that every single day is exhausting. It wasn’t until I stopped doing that and only changed my routine once a month that I started getting better results. New workouts can help challenge your muscles in a different way, but you don’t want to change your workout too often because your body will be confused. You want to always be challenging your body when you exercise but you will get better results when you write down how many reps you did and work on improving that instead of doing a bunch of random workouts every day.
Not prioritizing sleep- Sleep plays a major role in your workout performance because if you don’t sleep enough, you will not have the energy to push yourself as hard. I have never been the type to truly prioritize sleep, and it wasn’t until started going to bed earlier that I realized how much poor sleep affects your workouts. I have noticed a huge difference in my cardio workouts since I started sleeping more and can walk faster when I sleep a minimum of six hours because I have more energy than I do when I sleep less. Don’t neglect sleep because you need good rest to be able to crush your workouts.
When you start exercising, most people want to get results, but you may not get those results if you exercise too much or too little and aren’t taking nutrition seriously. It is hard to improve your physical health, but it is so important that you be patient and don’t expect overnight results. I have made a lot of mistakes in my fitness journey that have made it more difficult to get results but because of these mistakes, I now have a better understanding of what I need to do to improve my physical and what not to do. You are going to make mistakes when you start to exercise and that is okay because the most important thing is that you learn from them and correct them. If you have made any of these mistakes, don’t beat yourself up over it because mistakes aren’t bad and are a learning experience. What mistakes have you made in fitness? If you liked this post, please leave a comment below and share it with your friends.
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