Clicks BroNation: 5 Common exercise mistakes and how to avoid them

1. Not warming up or cooling down

Skipping these can seem to save time, but they are essential. Warming up prepares your body for exercise by warming your muscles and increasing blood flow to them. This boosts your circulation and muscle elasticity, allowing for a greater range of movement. Cooling down after a workout helps reduce muscle stiffness and aids recovery.

Take action: “Spend around 3-5 minutes before your workout walking briskly or marching on the spot, circling your arms, and doing some jumping jacks,” says Cape Town biokineticist Avinesh Pursad.
"You should break into a light sweat,” says Klerksdorp biokineticist Isabeau van Heerden. After your workout, spend around three minutes jogging slowly or walking, to allow your heart rate to slow down. Then stretch for another two or three minutes, holding each stretch for 10 to 30 seconds. Do not bounce. 

2. Using poor form

Whether running, lifting weights, using gym machines or doing yoga, poor form can cause misalignment, putting undue stress on your joints, muscles and ligaments. This raises your risk of acute injuries, like sprains and fractures, and chronic injuries, like tendonitis, stress fractures, and back and neck issues down the line.

Take action: Use a personal trainer or coach for a session or two when you start a new workout to ensure that you are doing it correctly, are using equipment as you should, and are adopting the right posture. “Mindful training – being ‘in the moment’ while training – gives better results,” says Van Heerden.
“Use the services of a biokineticist in that group, as biomechanics looks at technique,” advises Pursad

3. Not fuelling your body

Like a car, your body requires the right fuel. Without it, you will not have enough energy to get the most out of your workout and to burn calories efficiently.

Take action: Around an hour beforehand, hydrate with water, and fuel up on healthy carbs and a little protein, such as wholegrain cereal with low-fat milk, wholewheat toast or crackers with a boiled egg, low-fat yoghurt with fruit, or brown rice with vegetables – not more than 300-400 kcals, says Van Heerden. “Try to stick to whole foods, not processed. Avoid saturated fats and heavy proteins, which your stomach digests more slowly, diverting oxygen and energy-delivering blood from your muscles to support digestion.” 
“If you are engaging in more than two hours of activity, you will need to refuel during the activity,” adds Pursad. “Get input from a dietitian if you are serious about this.”

4. Not refuelling after exercise

If you do not drink and eat within around 30-60 minutes after a workout, you can experience dehydration, low energy, muscle weakness and cramps, dizziness, light-headedness and low mood.

Take action: Replenish fluid by drinking water and eating whole fruits or vegetables with higher water content, such as berries, melons, grapes and cucumber, which also provide nutrients. Replenish vital electrolytes with fruits, leafy greens, fatty fish, low-fat dairy, nuts and seeds. Sports drinks, tablets and powders may help, but take care – they are often high in sugar and caffeine, says Van Heerden.
Your body also needs whole carbs, lean protein and healthy fats in a snack or light meal, in an easily digested form, she says. Consider grilled chicken with roasted vegetables and brown rice, a tuna salad sandwich on wholegrain bread, an omelette with avocado spread on wholegrain toast, or oatmeal with milk, banana and almonds. 

5. Overdoing workouts

Lifting weights that are too heavy, too soon, especially when starting a new routine or returning to one after a break, can result in muscle tears. Similarly, working the same muscle groups each day without resting them can cause injury – they need at least 48 hours after a strength session to recover and rebuild. 

Take action: “Start slow, and build the base again,” says Pursad. Use lighter weights and lift them more times – for instance, do two or three sets of 20 lifts with 1kg weights, instead of one set of five or 10 lifts with a 2kg weight. Alternate the muscle groups you work from day to day, such as legs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and arms and shoulders on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Do not overtrain – listen to your body and take time to rest and recover, says Van Heerden. “‘Active recovery’ can also be implemented on rest days, like a 20-minute brisk walk.”

IMAGE CREDIT: 123rf.com