5 Most Common Fitness Mistakes

Tired of exercising with minimal results?

Or, have you fallen victim to sore joints or muscle injuries as a result of exercise?

Below are five of the most common mistakes that are slowing down your progress!

#5:  Inaccurate cardiovascular conditioning

For the masses, cardio-respiratory conditioning is rarely handled accurately.  While the body improves from 20 or more minutes of moderate-to-high intensities on most days of the week, many people exercise either too intensely or too lightly, or for too short of periods.  Others simply don't meet the weekly requirements of four or more days per week.



Depending upon your health history, your body composition and lung capacity, your own required numbers for success may differ.  But, in general, your program should be written to incorporate the right frequency and durations, with varying intensity of approximately 60-85% of your capacity (less for beginners, more for the more advanced.)

#4:  Poor stretching habits

Muscular stretching is absolutely critical to your success, even if you're already flexible.  However, most aren't stretching for long enough periods, at the right intensities, or frequently enough to keep the joints and muscles limber and healthy.  Hold your stretches for at least 30 seconds, preferably longer, and be sure to incorporate all major muscles after every workout.  (There are far more recommendations that vary on an individual basis, and we're happy to show you just what's best for your body.)



#3:  Too little attention to back muscles

Perfect Personal Training is known for making tremendous change in our clients' physiques, and part of that involves paying the right attention to every muscle group.  Generally, back muscles are trained either too infrequently, too lightly, or both.  For others, only certain back muscles see appropriate training, whereas others see too little.

#2:  Short warm-ups

Warming up prior to exercise involves a slow, gradual increase of the heart rate from a comfortable resting point to an aggressive rate that will be sustained through exercise.  This change should transition slowly over at least 5-10 minutes (more for beginners or for those with poor fitness or health).  Additionally, the warm-up is BEST when it incorporates all major muscles and deep, smooth breathing,  Jumping into moderate-to-high-intensity work is not only dangerous, but it reduces your ability to train optimally.  Why close doors to success that you don't have to?

#1:  Muscle control

Conditioning the muscles is a critical part of life. Exercise your muscles with smooth, healthy movements.  Engage a full motion with every exercise and keep solid control over your musculature.  Pounding, high-impact movements generally don't belong in the muscular-conditioning phase of your exercise regimen, as muscles are better improved with cautious biomechanics.


Ready for the next level of health?  The fitness & wellness experts at Perfect Personal Training have your answers!  Request your free consultation at perfectpersonaltraining.com!