Top Five NOs in the Gym

Top Five NOs in the Gym

There are certain things in the gym from which you should restrain in order to acquire a fit body.

Step1 :

We all know that there is a very thin line difference between doing with strong determination. You are the least likely to overdo things at the gym if you do all of your exercises using proper form. For most strength building exercises, it is advised to keep your back straight and your abs tight. For cardiovascular exercises it is important to breathe naturally, being extra careful to never hold your breath.

Holding your breath is a strict no no for the gym.

Step2

While the above advice certainly is good in general, most exercises have much more specific guidelines for form. The best way to ensure that you are using proper form is to work with a personal trainer . If you cannot afford ongoing sessions, at least hire a trainer for one or two sessions, and tell him/her that you need to be instructed on proper form for the various machines.

Schedule a refresher session as often as you can afford one since it is very easy to gradually slip back into bad form, especially when no one is around to watch you. It is also easy to think that you are aware of your form, but in reality not be to the extent that you should.

Step3

Unfortunately there is a fine line between pushing yourself hard and overdoing it. The ubiquitous phrase “no pain no gain” is highly misleading. When doing weightlifting exercises, it is usually advised to work your muscles to “failure.” That means you should do a set of reps until you can no longer do them with proper form, at which point you stop. If you’re working with a trainer, s/he will “spot” you for that final rep. Perhaps you will rest for a minute and do another set with fewer reps than the first, since you’ll be somewhat fatigued. The goal is to totally exhaust the particular muscle group that you are working. Then, through rest and proper nutrition. it will build itself back up stronger than when you started.

Step4

As part of this process it is highly important to distinguish true pain from the “burning” sensation which accompanies working your muscles. In simple terms, pain is the type of thing that makes you say, “ouch,” or in extreme cases, makes you realize that you need medical care right away. You should never exercise through a bona fide injury unless instructed otherwise by a doctor.

Of course if during an exercise you are truly convinced that you have pulled or broken something, or are really exacerbating some type of tendinitis symptoms or similar, you should stop. You simply have to learn to be able to distinguish the different types of signals that your body gives you. Push yourself, but don’t hurt yourself. Don’t ever have a silly mindset such as, “I’m going to do 12 reps at my goal weight no matter what happens to me.” Push yourself, but be ready to stop if you have to. There is always your next workout.

Step5

You will most likely start to feel the onset of soreness between 12 and 24 hours after your workout. Unfortunately we often don’t get the message that we overdid it until quite a bit after the fact. Again, you need to take inventory of what you are feeling. There is a difference between general soreness and something truly wrong with your body, the latter of which you should obviously see a doctor about.

After a hard workout, it is normal for soreness to last for 24 to 48 hours from the time of onset. If many days go by and you still feel sore, it means you did too much. Give it extra time to subside, but think about what you did that caused more soreness than you should have had.