My 15 Biggest Fitness Mistakes of 2007
As much as I love reading and researching bodybuilding, you’ll learn a lot more by simply testing different techniques on yourself. Whether it’s different types of diets, macronutrient ratios, training programs, etc - test it on yourself first. If you make a mistake, no big deal - learn from it.
Use your mistakes to leverage your success. Take each mistake as an opportunity to improve your results even more. Finally, use my mistakes to leverage your success. If just one person avoids one of these mistakes, then that makes this post worth it.
15. Thinking Chipotle was a great way to get more calories
Wow, I don’t know how I rationalized this one. I thought with my crazy fast metabolism that I really needed huge meals to pack on size - wrong!
14. Eating too many calories on a bulk
This is the most frustrating by far. At 150 pounds, I gained weight at 3500 calories, so I figured now that I’m 180 pounds, I need at least 4500 to gain weight. What really happened: I got Fat.
13. Skipping cardio on a bulk
Another reason why I got too fat. I’m not exactly the “runner” type, so I do cardio only as much as I need to. Next time, I’ll be doing cardio or HIIT twice a week - whether I’m trying to gain weight or not.
12. Checking my weight too often
I used to weigh myself every other day. I wanted to understand how my body weight fluctuated, but it made me more stressed. I recently fixed this one, thank god! Checking your weight once a week is so much simpler.
11. Inconsistent diet
Trying to keep track of my very variable diet on Fitday.com was a real hassle - and my results showed it. Eating the same exact meals (which I started 3 months ago) delivers much more consistent results.
10. Not paying close enough attention to my results
Somehow I didn’t notice that I was gaining too much fat, I just “pushed” it out of my mind and focused on my size - big mistake.
9. Thinking supplements are a waste of money
I like the old school approach of concentrating solely on diet and training. But I learned that on a cut, BCAAs are a miracle in recovery and reducing soreness.
8. Neglecting my weaker muscle parts
I still hate training my lats and biceps, but around 6 months ago I started to take those body parts much more seriously.
7. Expecting too much in too little time
I don’t think I’m alone on this one. What can I say? I want results now! But I’m learning to be more patient. I used to want dramatic results every month, now I align my expectations for achieving major progress in three month intervals.
6. Trying to get ripped by overdoing cardio
The only thing worse than getting fat is losing muscle. Last summer, I ran like Forest Gump and ate like a rabbit - losing tons of muscle. In 2008, I’m going to lean out by slowly reducing calories, not by overdoing cardio.
5. Looking in the mirror everyday expecting to look better every time
I used to mirror way too much and my mind played tricks on me. I’m sticking to tape measurements and body fat calipers for now on.
4. Not practicing what I preach
I admit it, even though I encourage people to eat vegetables, I neglect them. 2008 Solution: Make veggies their own meal.
3. Neglecting new ideas
I get comfortable with using the same workouts, routines, and rep ranges that I don’t want to change things. 2008 will be different.
2. Balancing my diet with my life
This one will be challenging to fix. It’s tough to balance my diet with my friends who want to go out to eat everyday. I’ll probably allow myself to eat out and cheat a bit more.
#1 Mistake: Not getting help
This was the biggest mistake of mine. I love reading and researching and I got think headed thinking I can learn it all from my own research. That, coupled with the fact that most trainers at (a lot of) public gyms don’t have enough experience with bodybuilding made me decide that I can do it solo.
Not in 2008 I won’t be. I have found a personal trainer who has over 15 years of experience in bodybuilding and has trained pro bodybuilders, and I plan on picking her brain.
What About You?
Now that I told my embarrassing mistakes, what are some of your mistakes? Make a list, not a mental one, and prioritize them. Try fixing the top 3 mistakes and focus solely on those. I know mine, do you know yours?
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Posted in Misc Ramblings, Newbie
January 14th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
good article. I agree and have experienced mistakes 15 ,12,7,4,1.. any ideas on how to fix theses??
January 14th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
@Chris: sounds like you gave me a new idea for an article
Here’s some quick suggestions for you anyways
#15 Solution: Stop eating that crap. Limit eating out to only social occasions 2 or 3 times week. Cook more, use a griddle - much easier than pots and pans.
#12 Solution: Weigh yourself ONCE a week, no exceptions. Easy fix
#7 Solution: Understand that achieving that perfect body is not a 2 month “work-out-athon”. It’s a lifestyle. Expect big results every 90 days if you doing everything right.
#4 Solution: Be honest to yourself. Make this more of a personal development goal than a fitness one. Practicing what you preach builds self confidence and others will notice that.
#1 Solution: Don’t think you know it all, regardless of how good you think your results are. Talk to trainers at your gym and ask for advice and keep an open mind. Trial and error is the name of the game.
January 19th, 2008 at 7:11 am
Actually, my biggest ‘problem’ when I started was that I only trained the smaller muscle groups; biceps, forehands, abs etc. This was a huge mistake. Now I’ve started to do squats, deadlifts, benchpress, dips and all these kind of “big movements”, and my improvements are so much bigger, both in the mirror and in my mentality. Nice post Carl, always great to learn some things from others mistakes.
January 19th, 2008 at 11:10 am
@Alex: Glad to hear you fixed your own mistake, nicely done.
And yes, squats, deadlifts, and bench press are the “home-run hitters” in the muscle arena.
Combine these big, compound lifts (called the big 3) with other super isolated movements for a one heck of a muscle mass strategy.
February 8th, 2008 at 10:23 pm
Number 4 is something lots of people do… I think I do it myself from time to time when promoting health… :-/
July 11th, 2008 at 7:57 pm
My biggest problem had to do somewhat with number one. A spotter is invaluable in the GYM whether it be a full time partner or the guy on the bench next to you. Instead of asking for a spot I used to just do a few less reps, or I would use less weight. I figure I could have probably squeezed 3-5 more reps in to every work out 5 days a week. After getting a work out partner that was as motivated as I was to working out hard, I figured out that over the course of one year of 3-5 missed reps per work out, 5 times a week I missed out on about 800 or more. Thats like missing a weeks worth of reps.
July 21st, 2008 at 2:27 pm
I do believe that working out with a “spotter” or “partner” can be very helpful. In my training I do use a partner when there is need for muscle gains because the “forced reps” helps you build that extra mass, if need be. Recently I have started working out again for mass and started a 5×5 routine. I am not going to use a spotter or partner this time around and go by the old theory “if you cant put it up dont put it on”. In a couple of months, I will truly know if a partner is really crucuial for mass building, or if it can be done efficiently by myself.