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, that have caused me to hit plateaus and not get results. Most people who start exercising, want to see results but sometimes people don’t want to put in the work and want something quick that they can do with very little effort. I have made a lot of mistakes in my fitness journey that have made it difficult to get results but that is okay because failing at something is how we learn and is nothing other than a learning experience. 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 make these same mistakes.
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 unhealthily as they want, but it does not work that way. 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 get a pass from healthy eating and if anything you should prioritize it more. 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 to burn off one donut. When I first started exercising, I didn’t prioritize healthy eating as much as I should have because I never realized how much your diet can negatively affect your fitness results until I started eating healthier and had more energy to work toward my goals. 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 told me 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 I never have because I never have enjoyed cardio workouts, so I would skip them and focus on weightlifting. You can get some cardio when you weight 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 I 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. Walking helps me build muscle a little faster because, since I walk with crutches, I can’t walk without doing a little strength training. Cardio and strength training both provide different benefits and you shouldn’t be doing one or the other and should be doing both.
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 a week, and it wasn’t until I stopped doing that and exercised less that I realized I was over-exercising and not getting results because of it. I get better results now that I exercise less because I have more energy and am able to push myself harder. If you have hit a plateau in your fitness, sometimes the problem isn’t that you aren’t exercising enough but you are exercising too much. Don’t skip rest days because they are in important part of your muscle recovery.
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 changing my workout daily 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 loves consistency and will get confused if you change what you are doing too often. 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 are doing 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 I 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 I can walk faster when I sleep a minimum of six hours because I have more energy than I would if I slept less. Sleep can be difficult if you live with chronic pain but don’t neglect it because it’s hurting your workout performance whether you realize it or not.
Exercise at the exact same intensity and never changing anything– If you want to continue to see progress in your fitness, it is so important that you are slowly increasing the intensity of your workout because over time your body will get stronger and it will become easier. Once a month, I add a minute to my walks and do a few more reps when I am strength training to make sure my body is always being challenged because if your workout is easy nothing is going to change.
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 because you don’t have to be doing extreme workout to see progress. 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 health 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 your mistakes 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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