Functional fitness is a great way to get yourself into shape, as long as you’re doing it right. If you’re confused, then the easiest way to word it is, you can work out wrong.
There are many common mistakes most people make when they start working out by themselves or even when they’re starting out in a gym. So, before you start out on your own routine, make sure to do some research and learn the correct forms of execution.
An Everyday Routine
One mistake people tend to make all too often is doing the same workout every single day. If you do this, you’ll never get the ideal muscles, tone, and body that you want. Yes, over time these workout sessions will get easier and you’ll feel the strength in your limbs while doing this, but watch yourself crumble when you have to try a different workout.
Your body is made up of many limbs, muscles, bones and joints. If you don’t work on all of these parts of your body equally, you’ll end up with an imbalance in your strength and stamina which results in nothing good.
Any good workout will have multiple actions that’ll target specific muscles in your body. When you combine the four main components of fitness (discussed in later chapters) you get the right balance between everything your body needs.
Unfortunately this isn’t as easy as piecing a puzzle together. Instead, it’s more like having to make smaller puzzles first in order to make a larger one. Once one component has been completed, you move on to the next one. This is a timely process which can’t all be tackled in one workout.
So when one workout focuses on cardio and perhaps muscle building, another workout you do through the week can focus more on HIIT and stretching. Keep switching up your exercises rather than doing the same one each day. Take it slow, only change your routine when you know you can handle new moves and challenges.
If you constantly swap your daily exercise, you’ll cover more ground quicker and spread the oncoming strength to all parts of your body. Only doing one type of exercise is going to tire you out and not properly help your body develop the way you’d have wanted it to.
Love What You Do
Some people work out because they feel they have to with no other choice. No one can truly determine your own situation quite like you can, but this is the wrong mentality. You should never approach your workout sessions with resentment. Always look to your workouts with optimism and confidence.
If you want to work out, then do it for yourself, not for anyone else’s satisfaction. If you feel that you’re being pressured into working out then the results are never going to satisfy you, even if you do make it to your goal.
You have to enjoy something in order to achieve anything. If you don’t like cooking, then you’ll never enjoy a meal even if you mastered the recipe. The victory is always sweeter when you’ve got sugar, not salt.
Start working out when you feel good about working out. Do workouts that make you feel confident you have what it takes to make the change you need. If you don’t like the criticism, comparisons or judgement of others, then don’t go to the gym. You don’t need to be in a crowd to get the motivation you need to starting lifting weights and running in evenings.
All your motivation should be positive, not negative. When you have positive motivation, it means you are being forward by the achievement you’ll receive. When you have negative motivation, it means you are driven by the consequences of not acting. Don’t be afraid of what people are going to say and do if you don’t work out, think about all of the good response you’ll get from doing so. Remember how happy you’ll be when you finally reach where you want to be. Keep all of your thoughts positive and you’ll not only feel good, but soon enough you’ll look good as well.
Dieting
Another one of the most common mistakes people make when they’re starting out, they think they have to start dieting! No matter what science and TV health programs try to tell you, dieting isn’t the perfect solution for weight issues. Nowadays, people are coming to realize that diets actually limit you way too much.
When you start dieting, you work with either elimination or restriction. This should never be the case. Eat as much as you can permit yourself to. Have a balance of everything edible out there. Nothing should stop you from eating what you wish.
Just have a balance with what you eat. Most of your normal diet should consist of healthy hearty foods and whatever little snack your gluttony craves for can be satisfied once in a while. There is no issue with having a treat after some time. Keep control over how much junk food you have and keep that careful eye over your food to make sure the good always outweigh the bad.
Working out doesn’t make dieting compulsory. If anything, it means you have to keep yourself energized more often. You’ll crave more food once you start working out and that craving is one you’re going to want to satisfy. If not, you’ll become grumpy, hungry and your attitude towards working out won’t be a very positive one.
Rolling with No Goals
There’s no race to be won if there’s no finish line. You always have to chart out your goals before you start working on a project.
In this case, the project is yourself, and you need to place some goals on what you want to do. Do you eventually want to have that hard core six pack? Are you aiming for a fitter, stronger you? Lay out your goal and make it clear to yourself, otherwise you may as well be running head first into fog.
Once believe you have a goal, set down your stepping stones to get there. You can’t just hope you can make the jump from your side to the finish line. Make the bridge and cross it one tile at a time. It’s a timely process, but it’ll grant you the guaranteed success you want. It’s better to work your way through at a decent pace rather than failing and having to restart the whole process.
First, try to lose weight. Aim for something that’s fit and healthy. Go for at least 10 pounds less than what you are now. By the time you’ve reached that goal, you’ll have gotten accustomed to the fatigue and strain after a hefty workout session. You’ll also have a stronger understanding of how much you can handle and where the limit can’t be breached.
Then, try aiming for another goal. Seek to tone your muscles a little bit at first, so you can understand how much time it takes you. Once you’ve gotten a clearer idea, you can start working hard to the final destination.
All of this will take a decent amount of time so don’t give up if the results don’t show after weeks, or maybe even a month. They’ll come along soon and once they do it’ll have been worth all of the time and effort.
Protected by Patchstack