Fitness trainer reveals 3 things that your workout is missing: ‘Do a real warm up to avoid…’

Fitness trainer Maddie highlights three crucial aspects of workout sessions which are commonly overlooked.

Are you exercising correctly? Sometimes, despite bringing in your 100 percent of efforts to the training session, it may become frustrating if the results don't reflect the hardwork. But you will have to open your eyes to see what you may be missing, not how hard you are pushing. Smart work makes a huge difference. The correct warm-up, targeted exercises, and rest can help you transform better.

Are you exercising correctly? Know what are the common mistakes. (Picture credit: Unsplash)

Addressing common mistakes during training, Maddi Bard, fitness coach, shared in a November 13 post about the reasons that may hold people back from seeing real results. If you persistently overlook minor errors, your progress may even stall. Rectifying them will turn your training session into a transformative, results-driven one.

Here are the 3 errors which she spotlighted:

1. Make sure your warm-up is ‘real’

First thing Maddie pointed out was to strengthen your warm-up session and make it more ‘real.’ “Short-cutting your warm-up doesn’t make you cooler than everyone else; it can cause injury. It’s worth your time,” she cautioned, reminding the downsides of a light warmup. It means your workout cannot just be simple 3 arm circles or something equivalent. When you skip or rush your warm-up, your body is not prepared for the rigorous exercises ahead.

The fitness coach insisted, “Get your heart rate up, get some dynamic stretches in.” She firmly advised against neglecting the warming up of joints such as ankles, knees, shoulders and hip flexors. Exercises also exert stress on joints. But warming up the joint reduces injury risks and encourages better performance.

2. Unilateral work

“Exercises that work one side of the body at a time help us with our stability, core engagement, and correcting muscle imbalances," Maddi explained. Unilateral exercises involve movements that work only one side of your body at a time, instead of both sides together. For example, single-leg squats or one-arm presses.

Sometimes people may ignore them as they may be ‘harder’ to perform or opt for exercise that multitasks and targets multiple areas in one go. But as the fitness coach informed, this type of exercise engages core muscles better, making them work harder. It also corrects imbalances.

Maddie suggested adding unilateral exercises at least in every workout. Since this makes you put in more effort, as per the fitness coach, the other exercises will begin to feel ‘100x easier.’

3. Planned rest times

Maddie cautioned against scrolling on the phone for rest. In fact, random rests may undermine all the effort you are putting in during the workout session. She instead suggested planning out your rest times. It will help to enhance your performance, also.

She shared how to plan rest time, “The amount of time you should be using between sets varies depending on the purpose of your training. Know your goal, set your rest time, and stay consistent.” When you begin to follow structured and well-planned rest, your workout session becomes more impactful.

Note to readers: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice.