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4 Workout Mistakes to Avoid If You Want to Lose Weight

If you're hoping to lose weight as you go about your workout session, there are a few major mistakes you need to avoid. Read about them here so they don’t take away from your progress.

When it comes to fat loss exercise, you might think that anything that gets you up and moving will help you along with reaching your goals. And, for the most part, it’s true. Any movement is better than no movement. For some, just getting up off the couch is a huge accomplishment.

But, if you are someone who does want to take things to the next level and is involved in regular workout sessions, there are a few things to know and remember to ensure you see maximum results.

Let’s look at four workout mistakes you’ll want to avoid if weight loss is your goal.

Overdoing Steady State Cardio Training

One of the biggest mistakes that many people make when it comes to their workout session is overdoing steady state cardio training. You might think that this is the best form of exercise to do as it keeps you in the ‘fat burning zone’, but this isn’t the case. What you want to be doing is an exercise that jump starts your resting metabolic rate so that you can burn calories faster for hours after the workout session is over.

This can literally help you burn fat while you sleep, making the entire process that much easier. Interval training is the best go-to. Try doing interval cardio training a few times per week and you’ll be seeing a difference in your results in no time.

High Rep Training

Another big mistake some people make when trying to lose weight is doing high rep, very light weight training. The thinking here is this will help to boost your total calorie burn, thus moving you along towards your goal.

The problem is that you won’t burn that much many more calories using high rep training because the weight is so light. And worse, because you are lightening the weight, this is basically sending the signal to the body that it doesn’t need to sustain your strength any longer. This, in turn, can cause lean muscle mass loss, reducing your resting metabolic rate.

For better results, keep your weight moderate. Lift in the 6-10 rep range and find a weight that challenges you.

Over-Exercising – Period

Over-exercising is another big mistake that you’ll want to avoid making. You might think that more exercise is always better, but remember, the body can only handle so much exercise.

If you do too much, you’ll often find that your appetite level goes way up, making it hard to sustain any sort of healthy eating diet plan.

Focus on keeping your workouts short, but intense and make sure that you have at least two days off each week for recovery.

Never Changing Your Program

Finally, don’t forget to change your workout program. Some people get so focused on the numbers on the scale they forget to make any changes over time to their program.

If you hit the gym and do the same thing over and over again, eventually your body will adapt and you’ll stop seeing results. Change it up. Even if it’s just adding a new exercise, sometimes this is all you need to get results coming again and you making progress towards your weight loss goal.

Keep these four mistakes in mind and make sure you aren’t making any of them. Are you guilty of these workout sins?

[Image via Shutterstock]

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