These 5 common weight lifting mistakes might be the reason why you’re not seeing the results you want.
It can be frustrating to be at the gym every day and yet not see a change in the mirror. Nevertheless, these plateaus are usually not without a solution. Most issues arise from common weight lifting mistakes that are easily corrected. If you’re not seeing the results you want, check out these 5 key tips and see if you are guilty of any of these mistakes.
1. You aren’t eating enough.
Lifting heavy weights tears your muscle fibers. Your body then repairs them, using amino acids to strengthen the muscle. Consuming enough calories and protein is paramount for weight lifting. Without this, you’ll see little to no results because your body wont be able to rebuild the muscle. In fact, without enough calories, your might even break down muscle for energy.
When professional body builders and bikini competitors want to grow stronger, they have a bulking period before cutting. During the bulking period, they consume a lot more calories. This helps them gain muscle faster and more effectively. Then they focus on getting their body fat percentage down during the cutting period. Check out these 20 protein-packed recipes for fit meal ideas.
2. Your weights are too low.
One of the most common weight lifting mistakes is lifting too light.
There are two kinds of weight training. High-rep training is when you complete about 8-15 reps of a move using lighter weights. This kind of training helps build muscular endurance. It helps you get in better shape and maintain muscle, but it won’t help you build a lot of new muscle. Low-rep training is when you use a heavy weight to complete 3-5 reps. This is the kind of training that helps you grow stronger and more muscular. You want to use a weight that makes the final rep truly challenging, but it shouldn’t be so heavy that you lose proper form.
3. You’re doing cardio before weight lifting.
Both cardio and weights are important parts of a healthy lifestyle. However, if you’re always prioritizing cardio over lifting, you might not be getting to see amazing results. This is because your body runs out of energy and your muscles become tired. Starting with cardio means that you likely aren’t lifting as heavy as you could.
Several times per week, try doing weight lifting first and cardio afterwards. Even if your ultimate goal is losing weight, lifting is still a key component to the plan. Read more about how weight lifting is essential to your health.
4. You only do moves that isolate muscles.
It’s great to be able to target one specific muscle, but doing just these isolating moves isn’t the most efficient way to grow stronger. In real life, you rarely need to do a move such as a bicep curl. Instead of isolating specific muscles all the time, try compound moves that involve multiple muscle groups. One easy way to do this is to incorporate exercises where you bend at more than one joint. For example, you only bend at the elbow when doing bicep curls. However, when doing squats you bend at both the knee and the hips. This means that in squats you are using more muscles to lift.
This lower-body weight lifting plan has a great mix of moves to help you target different muscles.
5. You’re not giving yourself time.
The final reason why you might not be seeing results is simply that you’re not giving yourself enough time. Your body wont change overnight and it will require long-term commitment. Choose a single goal (lifting a certain weight or reaching a certain size) and then work steadily towards it. Find a plan that works for you and stick to it. One reason why people sometimes don’t see results is because they switch goals and plans too often.
