5 Gym Mistakes That You Might Be Making

Many people feel that they are doing everything the can to improve their physique, however in reality what they blame on poor genetics is in fact lack of knowledge! Here's a quick list of some common mistakes that are often made by rookie gym goers.

1. Having a poor diet: You can train with the intensity of an IFBB pro all year long, but if you aren't eating properly you might still look like you haven't touched a weight in your life! Looking good is 80% based on your diet, so if you aren't getting the results that you want then the first thing that you should look at is improving your diet. Go to a dietician, research diet plans online, or ask for help on any bodybuilding forums to ensure that your diet is suited to your goals.
2. Overtraining: Overtraining is a trap that's easy to fall into. If you don't give your muscles a rest then they will never have time to repair (and thus grow), and by training them before they are repaired you are actually breaking them down and putting your body in a state of muscle catabolism. A good general rule of thumb is to take a rest day every third day, and avoid training one bodypart more than once per week ( abs is an exception).
3.   Believeing in "miracle" supplements: One of the first things that you should learn is to never believe the claims of supplement companies! The supplement industry falls into a grey area in that it is not regulated by the FDA, therefore they are technically allowed to say anything! One of the companies that abuses this to the fullest extent is Muscletech ; they would have their customers believe that a simple whey protein or bcaa supplement will give results that mirror those of anabolics! This is completely ridiculous! There is no substitute for hard work, and while supplements may improve your results to a slight extent, they will never give you any results if your diet and training aren't spot on.Don't think you can slack off and still get results just because your "on" the latest "breakthrough" from whatever supplement company.
4. Ego lifting: Many men fall into the trap of trying to impress their fellow gym goers by swinging around big weights by utilising momentum and poor form. This can easily lead to injury and not very easily lead to muscle growth! You need to put your ego aside in the gym and use weights that allow you to execute your sets with perfect form whilst still causing you to strain on those last few reps. I have personally seen much greater results by doing slow reps curling 20kg dumbells than by swinnging around 35s.
5. Lifting too little: This is a mistake that is commonly made by women who fear getting "too big and muscular". They do all their weights training without breaking a sweat and insist they only want to "tone up". What needs to be realised is that women's testosterone levels are nowhere near that of mens, and so they are pretty much incapable of resembling any of the olympia competitors without heavy anabolic assistance. The only way to succesfuly "tone up" is by using weights or rep schemes that require you to push as hard as you can. Also if you do get bigger than you want do due to some sort of superhuman genetics then its as easy as stopping gymming for a bit to lose the muscle and reach your preffered look.