Are you working hard in the gym but not getting results? Most likely you are making one of the 15 bodybuilding mistakes.
Top 15 BodyBuilding Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
I want people to love me, respect me. I want to look great. I\’ve joined a Gym as well, but it\’s not happening. I am not getting results!! What am I doing wrong? Here are the top 15 bodybuilding mistakes, one or more might sound familiar to you.
1. Not regular to the gym
Having a yearly gym membership, does not mean going to gym. Going once or twice a week doesn\’t work either. At-least 4-5 days is necessary to expect good results.
2. Not serious about Fitness, it’s not one of your top priorities yet
Let\’s face it, bodybuilding is tough. It\’s not just daily workout, but the other 23 hours of the day where you have to be watchful of your diet. If fitness is not in your top 3 life priority, forget about it, it is not going to happen.
3. You rely too much on supplements without understanding the importance of diet and nutrition
I read somewhere that if your monthly supplement bill exceeds your food bill, you\’ve already lost it. How true is that!
You are fooled by media, commercial, trainers and supplement companies. If supplements were the only criteria of bodybuilding, every businessman and politician in this country would had ripped six pack abs.
Supplements are just supplements, they are there to add extra 5-10 % of your diet and workout.
Start working on your diet first! It is possible to get in good shape without supplements.
4. You have unrealistic expectations
You wanted too much too soon. You live in a world of instant gratification. Probably you never learnt any skill or art or musical instrument for that matter. It takes years and years of hard work, discipline and dedication to build an exceptional physique. Learn to be patient or leave the sport.
5. You have not mastered proper exercise technique and form
Its quite common to see even the experienced folks doing exercise with improper form and technique. While not only can this be dangerous but it also hampers your progress. Muscles fibres need to be recruited properly to stimulate growth.
Spend time learning exercise technique and slow down the repetitions.
6. You don’t use your head, just wait for other peoples instruction/help
You are very good in following instruction, but you don’t want to use your brain. As a coach I have noticed that people who are very good in following instruction are the one\’s who get the best results. But that happens when they have somebody to guide them at every step.
So either hire a qualified coach or get into the habit of learning.
7. You expected more than what you worked for
100% efforts may give you 80-90 or even 100% results, but 50% effort will get you nowhere. Be realistic, either be willing to do whatever it takes or adjust your goals accordingly.
8. You work really hard in the gym but your diet is letting you down
You live by the hardcore mentality, working out 3 hours in the gym everyday, 7 days a week. No off! This is serious business. But how about your diet, you take chai – biscuit in breakfast, daal roti- subji in lunch and dinner.
If you are going to eat like your friends and family you are going look like them. Cut back your workout duration, 1 hour is enough. Invest those extra hours on your diet and you will get crazy results.
9. You got some results but are not moving ahead
You got some results, now you want more. You don’t understand completely how to plan your diet and how to optimize your workout for best results. The moment you realize you need help, take it.
10. You take advice from 10 trainers/coaches, mix them up and create your own strategy, which never works
You take advice from everybody and then judge there advice basis your own understanding which was inadequate in the first place and then you mix them up to create a unique strategy. Don\’t take advice from 10 people. Find one person whom you can trust completely, and follow his/her advice to the T.
11. You are looking for help at the wrong place
You are online all the day. Checking the latest bodybuilding articles, latest supplements launched. While it’s good to be on a learning mode, you are learning at the wrong places. These companies look for suckers who in this case is you. They make money by selling supplements which are not backed by science or any other independent study for that matter. Invest your time at proper place, refer good sites for knowledge, if you are up for it do certification courses, if you want to speed things up hire a quality coach.
12. You don\’t understand how your body works
You are regular to gym doing weight training and cardio, you are eating a balanced diet and taking all the supplements, still not getting results.
You don\’t understand how your body works. How fat loss or muscle building works in general. This is the right time to make a decision. Either hire a coach or start learning professionally.
13. You don’t have an action plan
You don’t know what is happening and you don’t know how to track it. You have a diet plan and a workout to follow. However you don’t track the snacks and chips and the micro stuff between your meals, you don’t track whether your weights are improving or your timings on the treadmill are improving. Basically you don’t have a tracking mechanism and a feedback loop.
Start using diet tracking tools like Myfitnesspal, and workout tracking tools like Bodyspace and keep track of your progress.
14. Do it yourself approach is not helping and you are actually wasting money and time
Many people are too tight with their purse, which can be good for your finance, but spending money on good coaching and knowledge is an investment not an expense. In this article I explained, how hiring a coach can actually save your money, effort and time.
15. You are getting better, but not at that level that you wanted
This happens with everybody. The best of the best have to go through this. Keep working on it, things don\’t happen overnight, mastery takes years. Take help and suggestions from mentors.
If you guys have any suggestions or would like share your experience, please let me know by leaving a comment.