8 training mistakes you are probably making
From Lee Boyce | 04/10/15
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/8-workout-mistakes-youre-probably-making
Here's what you need to know...
- Don't fatigue your core between strength exercises. Save ab workouts for the end of your training session.
- Consider your height and weight when performing metcon workouts.
- After you've done a strength training session for one exercise, anything else you do in the name of strength is nothing more than conditioning training.
- Some supersets do more harm than good. Pairing exercises that exert the same forces on the spine is a recipe for disaster.
- You can't train multiple attributes (strength, flexibility, conditioning, etc.) at the same time. Pick one goal and train for it.
1 - You train your abs in the middle of your training session
Direct training for the core is a classic "interlude" that is often performed as a "filler" between sets of barbell exercises or between two barbell exercises.
Even if you have learned to avoid sit-ups and crunches with upper body rotation and the ab exercises you perform are sophisticated and target your weak points, the timing of when you perform these exercises is what matters most.
Remember that workouts damage muscle fibers and ultimately leave muscles in a state of exhaustion. That's the last thing we want to do to our core between exercises that rely most heavily on the core.
Stop doing hanging leg raises between sets of deadlifts or squats. Even if you don't feel that your performance will decrease as a result, know that you'll be in a better position if you separate these exercises. It is always wise to choose pairs of exercises that support each other.
The lesson: Save your ab workouts for the end of your training session.
2 - You use silly supersets
Pairing exercises in supersets can do more harm than good. Pairing exercises that exert the same forces on the spine or other weight-bearing joints can be a bad idea - especially if you have a history of or are prone to injuries in these areas.
Classic squats and overhead barbell presses, for example, subject the spine to the same compression forces, so it's not so smart to combine these exercises as supersets. The whole thing might not sound like a big deal, but after 4 or 5 rounds, your lumbar spine might be telling you a different story.
Instead, use supersets that allow one exercise to positively influence performance on the other exercise and vice versa. When performing barbell presses, pairing this exercise with pull-ups or lat pulldowns is a smarter move because vertical pulling pulls the spine apart and exerts decompressive forces on it while simultaneously stabilizing the shoulder blades, which can improve stability when performing the press on the following set.
The lesson: Think twice before pairing two exercises together. Think about the impact these exercises have on your skeleton.
3 - You don't take height and weight into account with Metcon
I have a love-hate relationship with any "reps for time" challenges. I recently performed a two minute bodyweight squat challenge. For this, I loaded a barbell bar with 115 kilos and performed as many squats as I could in 2 minutes.
Needless to say, I was flattened. In the truest sense of the word. Looking back, however, it's clear that I was at a disadvantage compared to many other people with different body types but similar strength ratios.
Put me (a 194 cm tall strength athlete) next to a much smaller exerciser doing bodyweight squats and I will guarantee you that he will do more reps - simply because he will take less time than me for each repetition.
But this goes even further. Many Metcon (short for "metabolic conditioning") workouts will place aggressive demands on rest intervals compared to training volume.
A well-trained 194 cm tall strength athlete with a body weight of 120 kilos and good conditioning will simply have a harder time with 30 second rest intervals than a well-trained 175 cm tall strength athlete with a body weight of 80 kilos and good conditioning.
It is simply too much to ask a larger person to keep up with such parameters without taking size into account.
Programs like German Volume Training require closer observation to find the "sweet spot" where the amount of weight moved depends on the height and weight of an exerciser, so that adequate exhaustion can be achieved without reducing the weight too much. Bigger and heavier guys should stay closer to the 60 to 65% range, while smaller guys can train in the 70% range.
The lesson: Consider your weight and height when performing metabolic conditioning workouts. You'll still get the same workout effect without becoming a case for the emergency room. And if you're a big exerciser taking on a challenge like this, know that smaller guys will probably beat you. Use challenges like this to improve your fitness and have fun with it.
4 - You overdo it with corrective exercises
"Corrective exercises" are those trendy exercises and techniques designed to improve your posture and correct imbalances or movement patterns.
This is good, but corrective exercises should complement your program, not dominate it. If you want to see results, you need to train with weights for most of your session and not spend all your time in the gym doing something for preventative maintenance.
As a general rule, you should choose one area per training session to focus on for corrective exercises and do no more than two exercises for that area. This will ensure that you keep the primary focus on the essentials.
Too often, corrective exercise is a great way to tell weak people overall that they shouldn't do the difficult exercises that are causing them problems. Make sure you're not bad at an exercise just because you don't do it often enough. Corrective exercises are worthless if none of them are transferable to the exercises they are supposed to correct.
The lesson: Prioritize the big exercises. No one is in "perfect balance" or ever will be. Address your weak points, but don't forget what's really important.
5 - You train for strength on more than one exercise per session
If you talk to powerlifters, you'll notice that they all train in a way that emphasizes one exercise per training session. The goal of your strength training sessions is to train your CNS so that you can function as efficiently as possible when you want to perform maximal efforts, hopefully resulting in a new personal best.
This is when speed training, training with paused repetitions and other training methods are helpful. The remainder of a given training session usually consists of support exercises to address weak points and muscle groups where progress is stagnating.
Let's apply this logic to a recreational strength athlete who is not a powerlifter but still wants to get stronger. Performing a solid 8 x 3 training session on a pressing exercise or deadlift is a great start and provides ample volume specific to the motor units.
However, things take a turn for the worse when you try to repeat these near-max efforts with a second big exercise on the same day. Not only will your focus and explosive energy diminish due to CNS fatigue, but the weights you are moving will likely drop substantially - possibly to a degree where they are no longer ideal for strength training in terms of 1 RM percentages.
After you've performed a workout on strength for one exercise, anything else performed in the name of strength will, by default, no longer be a conditioning workout.
The lesson: When training for strength, stick to one exercise and then either perform supporting exercises or use higher reps on the other big exercise on the plan.
There's nothing wrong with following up an 8 x 3 deadlift training session with a few sets of bench presses with 10 to 12 reps. Your nervous system and your performance will thank you.
6 - You kill your grip strength on back day
You can only move as much weight as you can hold. In most gyms, I see a lot of exercisers using grip aids. People often don't realize how much grip strength is saved by using grip aids. By doing this, grip aids allow you to perform back-to-back exercises that would compromise grip strength every day of the week.
And I'm not even talking about supersets. A training session consisting of deadlifts, pull-ups, seated rows, single-arm rows and face pulls sounds pretty great, but you've performed five pulling exercises in a row and this is likely to reduce the quality of exercise execution on at least the last two exercises.
But that's not all - your forearms and hands will be giving you the finger during the last 30 minutes of the training session.
Mass addicts need to think about isolation when it comes to back training sessions and the idea should be to not allow anything to stop you from properly stimulating your back muscles on back day.
Grip aids allow more freedom, but this takes things too far in the opposite direction. It is a better idea to train without grip aids whenever possible, as this will have a positive impact on overall strength and the neuromuscular junction. Training without grip aids can be more effective for building muscle mass than trying to isolate the muscles with grip aids.
Having said that, the solution to the problem of diminishing grip strength on back day is simply to perform other back exercises in between heavy pulling exercises that are not extremely dependent on grip strength. Here are some possibilities:
- Pullovers
- Pulldowns with outstretched arms (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v19jtxrL7SI)
- Side raises bent over
The lesson: Forget the grip aids and train the old-school way! You'll save your grip strength if you take a second look at the order of your pull exercises on back day.
You can also boost your performance with boosters such as the Valhalla Vikingstorm from the Gods Rage range.
7 - Not using your common sense and not training intuitively
For some, deviating from a given training program is worse than unfriending someone on Facebook. In the face of this fear, exercisers force themselves to do exercises that cause pain or do things that don't work well for their body.
At a certain point in their training career, an experienced exerciser will be able to recognize what works for them and what doesn't. For example, I've noticed that lying leg curls don't work well for me. Even seated leg curls are a better alternative to avoid unwanted stress on the knees.
If you suffer from musculoskeletal issues or just have general weaknesses in performance or body development, there's nothing wrong with making one or two minor modifications to a program to ensure you get the results you want while maintaining your safety.
In addition, physiology varies from day to day. If you're not feeling "strong" on a day when you have heavy sets of two reps planned, it won't hurt to perform sets of 3 reps instead and reduce the weight by 5 to 10% that day. You are still training for strength.
The lesson: Be aware of how you feel during a training session and your rate of perceived exertion and be mindful of injuries or weaknesses from your training history.
A program is not the same as a personal trainer who knows you well, so you should be careful when following a training program.
8 - You perform a CrossFit workout
Your program includes corrective exercises for four weak points, mobility exercises before each training session, a sprint day, a day of explosive plyometric exercises, three strength days, three days of cardio after strength training, and promises mass gains based on cumulative volume.
This is the kind of program that won't get you anywhere.
Trying to get results everywhere will get you results nowhere. Proper training will always involve relative trade-offs - and that's the truth.
If you want to train for muscle mass, then you can bet your mobility will decrease. If you want to train for strength, you can bet that your conditioning and cardiorespiratory fitness will decline. If you're all about flexibility and conditioning, then you'll probably lose some mass and maybe even some strength.
Olympic weightlifting? Say goodbye to forearms like tree trunks like you used to build in a bodybuilding workout. I think you understand what I'm getting at.
People who are professionals in their discipline would use different training styles at the same time all the time if all elements of fitness could be improved at the same time. But that's not the case. The closest thing to this is called CrossFit and I'll let you decide if it's worth it.
The lesson: Pick one goal at a time and go for it. The world will keep spinning even if you go 6 or 8 weeks without a given phase of training.
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