Skipping rest, overtraining, and more: Fitness coach reveals mistakes that slow your progress

Trying to lose weight or build muscle quickly? These fitness mistakes could be costing you results.

Losing weight takes time; however, most people rush to get the results quickly. From overtraining to crash dieting, Dhruva Sivakumar, fitness expert at Cult, shares the most common mistakes people make in the race for quick transformations.

Lifestyle mistakes

Dhruva Sivakumar highlighted that sleep deprivation, ignoring NEAT(Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis), and constant program switches are some of the lifestyle mistakes that should be avoided.

Sleep deprivation

According to Dhruva Sivakumar, ignoring sleep over exercise usually leads to high cortisol, i.e., increased stress hormone along with hunger pangs and sugar cravings, which store fat easily, so try to aim for a minimum of 7-9 hours of sleep every night.

Ignoring sleep over exercise usually leads to high cortisol. (Unsplash)

NEAT

Improving NEAT( Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis) accounts for a larger portion of calorie burn than gym workouts, which includes your day to day life activities like walking, cleaning, or pacing during phone calls.

Workout program

“Sticking to one workout programme or routine for a minimum of 8 - 12 weeks with progressive overload, which accounts for better body composition and helps in progression, then constantly switching workouts following the latest fitness trends every day,” said Dhruva Sivakumar.

Nutrition mistakes

While chasing quick results, people tend to slash calories down to less than 1200 or try to cut down an entire food group. Dhruva Sivakumar highlighted that dropping calories to a starvation level leads to low metabolism, burns muscle mass, and triggers a binge eating cycle.

Cutting out entire food groups like carbs and fats leads to less energy and affects hormonal health, which results in mood swings and brain fog. He recommends aiming for a sustainable deficit and prioritising protein for muscle preservation. And try not to replace or swap food for fat burners or meal replacement drinks.

Training mistakes

“People are tempted to chase fast fitness results by taking shortcuts, usually leading to injury, burnout, and plateau,” said Dhruva Sivakumar. The common mistakes are preferring cardio over weight training, which usually leads to muscle loss, fatigue, and high cortisol levels.

Cutting out entire food groups like carbs and fats leads to less energy and affects hormonal health. (Unsplash)

Ignoring rest days and recovery

According to Dhruva Sivakumar, muscles usually don't grow while training; they grow when you are resting, and skipping recovery leads to chronic fatigue, joint pain, decreased performance, and stalling progress. So plan a proper workout routine which includes strength training, cardio, as well as proper rest or recovery days by avoiding ego lifts.

Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.