3 Common Exercise Mistakes Most People Make

Before we get to the mistakes, we must assume what our training goal is. In this instance let’s say your goal is to gain lean body mass, muscle.

I will cover three very common ways that you could fail at gaining lean body mass. The common thread among these three training mistakes is that they all involve training techniques that are not congruent or in agreement with the training goal, increasing lean body mass.

Mistake #1: Exercise selection


The most obvious training faux pas can be realized when we consider the lack of attention your gym’s power rack receives on a day-to-day basis. There is the occasional guy doing standing barbell curls in the rack. However, besides that rarely do you have to wait long to find it available.

Why is the power rack important? Consider this very important fact of muscle physiology: the greater the demand placed on the largest muscle systems of the body, the greater the response you will have from the body in producing anabolic hormones (the body’s natural hormones that drive muscular development) like growth hormone and testosterone. When you perform full body compound movements like the squat, dead lift and chin ups at the appropriate intensity and volume (amount of work performed) your body will respond by producing more muscle in response to the demand of your training. You cannot expect to create more muscle mass when exercising the smaller muscle groups with single joint movements like bicep curls and lateral dumb bell raises. Get in the rack and start squatting!


Mistake #2: Training intensity


The next very common training mistake is one very few people realize that they are making, even when you ask them about it. Most people will tell you that they train hard. However, it’s been my experience that very few people are training at a high enough intensity consistently enough to stimulate growth. When you consider that the body will only change when presented with an adequate physical stress it makes obvious sense. The intensity with which each exercise is performed is a critical factor that cannot be overlooked. No matter what your selection of exercise, if you perform it at low intensity, you will never achieve your desired goal. So consider this during your next workout. Are you exercising with enough intensity?


Mistake #3: Wrong rest period


Now finally an overlooked weight-training variable that is extremely under appreciated. Rest. Seemingly mastered by the masses of people utilizing 6 to 9 month rest periods between workouts, this term has nothing to do with leisure and everything to do with that brief period of time with which you allow your body to recover from a weight training set before performing the next set. The rest period can be defined as the time you rest between sets of a particular exercise. It can be as short as 10 to 30 seconds or as long as 5 minutes. By manipulating your rest period you can challenge the body’s different energy systems and increase your potential for muscular hypertrophy (increased muscle mass). The biggest mistake with respect to the rest period is that most people rest too long. Rest periods that last longer than 1.5 to 2 minutes can diminish your potential for gaining lean muscle mass. Longer rest periods, like 3 to 5 minutes, can be valuable when training for strength but will not help you increase lean muscle mass. If your goal is to increase strength as in your 1 repetition maximum lift so you can boast about your bench press, you should be training at extreme levels of intensity for smaller numbers of repetitions and resting as I previously described, 3 minutes plus.


Wrapping it up!

There are many methods to increase strength and that deserves more explanation than I can offer here. It suffices to say you cannot mix up the different training methodologies and expect to get a predictable result.

I can wrap this post up with a brief summary. I know the information in this article will assist you if your weight training goal is to increase your lean body mass.

If we begin with the planning component of a good workout, then we should make sure to write down our exercises and select compound body movements (multiple joint movements) that will challenge the larger muscle groups of the body.

Secondly, we should remember the relationship between shorter rest periods and increased intensity. Rest periods should be around 2 minutes or less and you should continually strive to push yourself to higher levels of intensity with each repetition you perform.

Finally you need to train with the greatest level of intensity or effort that you can. This is often where having a personal trainer or training partner can help make sure you are working as hard as possible. Training intensity and achieving the results you desire go hand in hand.

If your time is as valuable as I believe it is, you owe it to yourself to make the most of it. Train hard but train correctly and effectively.