In this article we'll look at some common mistakes people make when starting out weight training or physical training in general. This is not to boast how knowledgeable i am but to help you out in your training journey not to make the same mistakes that so many people have committed, including the author. I am also like you and am telling myself the same things as i am telling you these.
If you want to save frustration and injuries in your training journey, follow these advices.
To keep it in short, prehab = injury prevention, rehab = recovery.
When you have just started, the cumulative trauma incurred in your body is little. You can get by without prehab and rehab. You make progress regardless of the quality of your training program. Until some time, you wonder why the aches and pains that used to go away after a couple of days start to stay on longer and longer. Or worse, you get a training related injury, too much too soon or otherwise.
Prehab and rehab are absolutely important to the long term progress of any training program. This is what makes people who perform seemingly impossible feats of performance going and going. The longer you have been in the iron game, the more trauma you subject your body to, the more you must unload your tissues from the activity. This is what we call compensatory movement or compensation in Circular Strength Training (CST).
2. Not having good movement prior to picking up weights or physical training
I have seen people in the physio clinic who are high level (or supposedly high level) athletes who can't squat and/or deadlift properly, who can't jump properly. And yet they compete in high level sports and are put through some really rigorous strength and conditioning.
Is it any wonder that they get injured?
The very least you can do before getting yourself into physical training is to get your movements rights. If you can't move properly with the body unloaded, what makes you think you can move properly when loaded?
In CST, our fitness hierarchy is:
1. Health - being pain free
2. Mobility - having pain free full range of motion in all directions
3. Function - being able to move normally with good technique
4. Attribute - strength, endurance etc, qualities for performance
5. Physique - having a beautiful body
3. Not learning proper technique for the core weight training lifts
The core lifts in weight training include deadlift, squat and overhead lifts (the list varies among coaches). These mimic movements in manual labour and everyday life. These are the lifts that are worth doing if you can't do any other exercises. These are movements that the average person should be able to do without injury.
It is true that the learning curve can be quite steep, especially if you do not have the mobility to begin with. But they are worth every drop of sweat when done correctly. As has been mentioned in my website, these lifts can give you strength that cannot be gained from machines.
When you have more energy for other exercises, then by all means go ahead and do them.
4. Trying to self-learn or self-teach
Out of every ten people who come for my kettlebell classes, including those who say that they have done kettlebell training themselves, only one can learn the lifts with minimal correction, only one can demonstrate the kettlebell lifts properly without any instruction. The majority will take a lot of movement relearning and correction to get the basics down.
Yes, with the advances in information technology, instructional videos on various weight training lifts abound on the net. As well as websites and articles on physical training. However, without the feedback that a qualified coach can give, people make mistakes without realizing them. Learning from videos is much different from live coaching.
5. Being stingy
I know of many people who have physical goals (whether it be getting rid of pain or losing weight or anything) who are not willing to spend money on instructions. Whether the instructions come form DVDs or live coaching does not matter. As a result, they never reach their goals.
If you need to spend, please spend. Health is a necessity. Would you rather spend the money now, pain free, or would you rather spend the money ten years later, in pain?
If spending a hundred dollars or less can buy you the tools to reach your physical goals, ten times faster than if you don't, isn't it worth every penny? Tools that you cannot get otherwise, unless becoming a coach yourself, which means 3-4 years in school studying anatomy, physiology, biomechanics, sports science etc.
If spending the hundred dollars can save you years of pain and suffering, isn't it worth every penny?
Conclusion:
To save you he frustration that i have outlined here, visit my website and come and learn the proper things about physical training.
