8 Signs You’re Lifting Weights Wrong

Doing strength training? You might as well do it correctly. A lot of people tend to make common mistakes that comprise their entire workout. It can be a wrong posture or working yourself too hard with a particular exercise.

The Mistakes Might Be Hidden in Plain Sight

You might not know it, but you’re probably one of the people who commit the mistakes shown below. It’s crucial to check yourself before embarking on a full-on strength workout to prevent injuries and other issues.

Here are some common mistakes to avoid and signs that you’re not doing it right. Early detection will benefit your exercise in the long run.

1. Skipping Muscle Warm-Ups

   As what fitness experts always emphasize: NEVER skip a warm-up. It’s crucial to get your body into workout mode by stretching or doing mini cardio exercises to jolt your heart, lungs, and entire body awake. This will also improve your flexibility and gets your blood flowing.

2. Rushing Through Reps

   Exercising isn’t a race and the last thing you’ll do is rushing through your reps as if you’re running a marathon. When you speed through your workout, you depend too much on velocity instead of strength and doing your muscles a disservice. Try to keep a medium pace to let your muscles adjust.

3. Cardio Before Weight Lifting

   Most start with cardio first thinking it will help them lose weight more. But here’s the thing: the more muscles you build, the more calories you burn at rest. So it’s more ideal to combine both workouts.

4. Holding Your Weights Incorrectly

   Depending on the size of the weight, it’s important to observe proper holding. For instance, with dumbbells, you need to wrap your thumb under the handle rather than away from it. While exercising, keep your wrists straight as possible.

5. Wrong Breathing

   Yes, there is such a thing as wrong breathing and it makes an impact on how you exercise. The right way of breathing is exhaling through your mouth as you lift weights and inhaling deeply as you lower them. This way you’re helping to get your oxygen to your muscles which in turn powers your movements.

6. You’re Feeling Pain in Your Joints

   Feeling the pain in your joints doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re doing it right. It could be a sign of an injury due to an incorrect form. This can compromise your ability to lift in the future. If the joint pain lasts for days, it’s time to see a doctor to have it checked to prevent severe injuries in the future.

7. Dropping Your Head During Weighted Squats

   Doing this can misalign your spine and injure you in the process. Keep looking straight as you move up and down, taking note of your back as well. Don’t arch your back or put up your buttocks in the air.

8. You’re Too Sore

   Muscle sores are entirely different from joint pain since the latter refers to a tear in a muscle that has been pulled taut during weight lifting. It can be a sign that you’re making progress, but if the sore is too overbearing, there might be a serious health concern that your doctor needs to check.

Working Out Too Hard – It Can Be Risky

Pushing yourself with more challenging workouts is commendable but you’ll get serious injuries if you go way overboard with it. Proper posture and form, warming up, and taking your body’s capability into account are some of the factors to keep in mind while doing your fitness routine. At the end of the day, you only have one body and you need to take care of it.

Get Your Gains with Fitness Expo

Now that you have a cheat sheet for a correct way of lifting, it’s high time to buy yourself a new pair of weights. Buy your gym equipment from us at Fitness Expo. We’ll make sure that everyone deserves quality exercise equipment. Our Baton Rouge showroom offers the following weight equipment and accompaniments such as the Life Fitness Hammer Strength Single Tier Dumbbell Rack.

Find us in other locations in Kenner, Shreveport, Metairie, and Jackson in the Mississippi area. We have elliptical machines, rowers, spin bikes, and more.