I know how much you all love Tom Venuto’s articles so this is a fun one! Now, don’t feel bad if you discover that YOU are making some bonehead mistakes! Just take it as a learning lesson…
By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS
www.burnthefat.com
“Common workout mistakes” has always been a very popular topic in fitness publications. But no matter how many times this subject is re-hashed, you almost always hear about the same half a dozen or so mistakes, including poor form, overtraining, going too heavy, not stretching, not warming up, yadda, yadda yadda. Ironically, you seldom hear about the biggest mistakes of all. I call these humongous bloopers “bonehead mistakes” because once you start to analyze and think about them, they’re really just common sense and they all seem so obvious… except of course to the person doing it… who is often quite oblivious until someone else points it out to them… then the light goes on and it’s like… “Doh!”
Before I begin the countdown, (in no particular order), there’s one more gripe I have about the treatment this subject has been given in the past: Most of the attention has been put on the mistakes, but very little on the solutions. It’s all too easy to point fingers and say, “Don’t do that” and “Shame on you, dummy” but only 1% of your time should be spent on problems. 99% should be spent on solutions. So in that spirit, after I bring each mistake to your attention, I’ll give you a solution-oriented training tip to help you avoid boneheadedness and join the elite group who “kick butt” in the gym at every workout…
Bonehead workout mistake #1: “Winging it”
“Winging it” means having no written goals or plans, no training journal and no way of “keeping score.” It’s when you just show up at the gym day after day and do whatever strikes your fancy, whatever machine happens to be available, or whatever you’ve become habitually accustomed to doing. Winging it is when you don’t know where you are, where you’re going or how you’re going to get there – but you start your journey anyway – no compass, no roadmap. It’s been said that “Action without planning is the biggest cause of failure,” and I believe that statement is 100% accurate.
Kick butt workout tip #1: Develop a strategic plan
Successful people never “wing it,” they always have a plan. Strategic planning is a never ending process and includes: Assessment (where am I now?), goal setting (where do I want to go?), creating a plan or strategy (How will I get where I want to go?), executing the plan (what action steps must I take daily to reach my goal?), and measuring results (how will I know if I’m moving towards my goal and how will I know when I’ve reached it?). Boneheads “wing it.” Butt–kickers have a master plan and goals for every workout.
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Bonehead workout mistake #2: Repeating the same workouts… without progressive overload
In one respect, repeating the same workouts is important – it’s called “continuity.” Continuity means that to experience an adaptive response (more muscle, more strength, less fat and all that other good stuff), you must a repeat a certain modality or exercise consistently over a long enough period of time to allow the adaptive response to occur and to reap the full benefits (rather than changing exercises at every workout). That type of repetition is good. The bonehead mistake is when you do the same exercises, same reps, same weight, same everything, week after week, without ever challenging yourself to do more than you’ve done before. If your muscles could talk they would say, “Yawn…. Did that, done that, been there… we’re just going to stay exactly the way we are… no need to get bigger or stronger today.”
Kick butt workout tip #2: Strive to beat your previous workouts
Muscle growth and strength increases occur when you place demands on your body above and beyond what it has experienced in the past. Your body responds to this progressive overload by getting stronger in order to handle this type of demand in the future. Your objective at almost every workout is to set goals to beat what you did during the previous one. If you can’t add more weight, it could be as simple as one more rep with the same weight or the same sets/reps/weight in less time. It could also mean one more minute of cardio, one level higher on a stairclimber, or half a percent steeper incline on the treadmill. Continuous and never-ending improvement is the name of the game.
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Bonehead workout mistake #3: (more…)
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I almost never talk about other people’s blogs but I’m making an exception today. This is the best analysis I’ve seen of the show The Biggest Loser. It happens to come from one of my favorite people in the fitness world, Tom Venuto. He really gets to the core of the pros and cons of the show. There’s no sale pitch or anything – just great content to really think about, especially if you like the show. I consider it required reading: http://www.burnthefatblog.com/archives/2009/09/the_biggest_loser_pros_and_con.php Learn from this! Darrin p.s. if you want to comment here, that’s fine or leave (more…)
Everyone seems to really like Tom’s posts so today I’m going to send you a link to a new article he wrote on his site.
Ever wonder what a champion bodybuilder – with an amazing physique – eats to promote both muscle growth and fat loss?
I bet a few of these things will surprise you.
http://budurl.com/burnthefatfoods
Even if you don’t think of yourself as a “bodybuilder”, you should check out his lists of top 10 foods.
What do you think? How closely do your eating habits match his? Come back and make a comment after you check it out.
Oh – and anyone who orders Tom’s book in the next 3 days will get a free copy of my new ebook Train Better To Gain More & Lose More ! Just email me your receipt and I’ll get you my ebook!
Here’s another exceptional article from Tom Venuto. You see, Tom understands that cardio plays a major role in having a fit, muscular physique as well as for your overall health. I sometimes sound like a broken record in saying that the guys who dismiss (more…)
Continue reading about 2 Cardio Mistakes You’re Still Making
It’s axiomatic that the exercises which give you the best results are always the hardest ones to do. If you want a huge back… you row and deadlift. If you want huge legs, you squat… OR… you do THIS leg exercise – that almost no one wants to do because its one of the hardest of them all.
Which one am I talking about? FRONT SQUATS!
In my opinion, front squats are one of the absolute best quad builders. Back squats are a tremendous mass builder as well, but front squats introduce an additional level of challenge because they require flexibility, technique, and core strength because the bar must be held and balanced on the front of the shoulders. As such, the front squat does everything the back squat does and more.
One great advantage of the front squat, especially for someone like me, having previously suffered a low back injury (herniated L4), is that the torso can be held in a more upright (vertical position). Since there is less forward trunk inclination, this removes some of the stress and shear forces from the lower back. At the same time, this upright position is closer to a bodybuilding squat and throws much more emphasis on the quads and less on the hips. It is truly a superb bodybuilding exercise.
There are two styles of front squatting, the Olympic lifting style and the crossed arm style. I find that most athletes, and of course Olympic lifters, use the former, while most bodybuilders seem to prefer the latter. The barbell should generally be your weapon of choice, but for bodybuilders, front squats on the Smith machine are an outstanding alternative. The Smith machine front squat takes some of the balance issues out of the picture, which allows the physique athlete to really focus on working the muscle rather than worrying about balance and stabilization. Be sure to rotate between both versions, however– barbell and smith machine – because long term overuse or dependency on machines may lead to stabilizer weakness or muscle imbalances and variety is never a bad idea in the physique game. [Editor's Note: I suggest not even trying this on the smith machine. Just go light to start with and learn it the right way - Darrin.] Incidentally, the barbell front squat is an outstanding “core” exercise.
A third version of the front squat worth considering is the dumbbell front squat (especially the sumo or wide stance version). These can be performed holding a single dumbbell with both hands on the front of the shoulders, cupped between both hands (goblet squat) or with two dumbbells, one in each hand, resting on top of each shoulder. The limiting factor on these front squat variations is often the poundage, as holding heavy dumbbells can become unwieldy. This can be partially overcome by performing the dumbbell front squat last in a leg workout or second in a superset, or by manipulating tempo and range of motion so the exercise is made more (more…)
Continue reading about The Greatest Quad Builder… That Almost No One Wants To Do
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By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS BurnTheFat High Intensity Interval Training, or HIIT for short, has been promoted as one of the most effective training methods ever to come down the pike, both for fat loss and for cardiovascular fitness. (more…)
Continue reading about Steady State Cardio 5 X More Effective Than HIIT????
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