Whether you’ve been training for years or are just getting started you may be guilty of adopting a few bad training habits that are holding you back from getting the most out of your time and effort.
The good news is that they’re easy to correct and in no time you will be seeing the difference of these few simple changes.
Skipping Prehab Getting your body prepped for training is one of the most important steps you can do to make sure you get the most out of your time in the gym. Prehab is the proactive approach to reducing injury, while improving your overall movement and flexibility, allowing you to work at your hardest, getting maximum benefits from your sessions. So before your next session make sure to allow 10-15 minutes for getting on the foam roller/physio ball and release those tight muscles and grab a blue band for your activation drills.
Going Through the Motions Turning up to a session and just ‘Going through the motions’ is one of the biggest killers to achieving your goals! Not to mention boring and no fun at all. Engaging in what you're doing, connecting with the people around you and giving 100% effort will leave you feeling satisfied, energized and on a high from having a kick ass time. Just to clarify this does not mean distracting everyone around you.
Focus on Form and Technique The most effective way to ensure you don’t achieve the body you want is to get injured or waste your time throwing around heavy weights without recruiting the right muscles. It’s all good to go hard in a session but if you’re not using correct form and technique you’re eventually going to hurt yourself. Make sure you’re recruiting the right muscles and maintaining good posture throughout every exercise you do. If you need some help with this make sure to reach out to a coach who can help you with this and hold you accountable to it.
Avoiding Strength Training Don't get me wrong, cardio is GREAT for your body. It gets your heart rate up, burns a lot of calories. But strength training has so many physical and mental health benefits such as increased muscle strength and tone, better body composition (burn more calories at rest), greater stamina, better posture, increased confidence and self-esteem. Aim for 2 to 3 strength sessions per week. If you don't think your getting enough make sure to chat with your coach and get a plan in place.
Recovery Keep Hydrated - Dehydration cannot only reduce your performance, but also delay the recovery process. Get your nutrients – Make sure to consume a balanced meal post training with good quality protein, fats and carbs.
I hope these tips have been helpful.
