Women are increasingly taking over gyms in our country, and that’s amazing!
As more and more women enter the fitness world, we’ve come to realize that each gender makes, let’s say… unique mistakes at the gym.
One of the most common mistakes men make is overdoing the weight or the duration of their workouts. Women make this mistake too, but it’s far from the most common one.
Here, we’ll show you some of the common mistakes in women’s workouts that are ruining gym-goers’ results.
Of course, not everyone does these things on the list. Some women train harder (and better) than many adult men. But most people still make some typical mistakes, as shown below.
Read on to learn about common mistakes in women’s workouts that can keep you from achieving your goals.
Mistake 1 – Doing too much cardio
This mistake isn’t exclusive to women, but it’s something many of them do. You shouldn’t overdo cardio, as it can interfere with your weight training and lean muscle gains.
Excessive aerobic exercise has catabolic effects and can interfere with lean body mass gains—even the muscles you’ve built.
To keep your body fat percentage low, focus primarily on eating well!
Mistake 2 – Using weights that are too light
Women are often seen doing low-weight exercises at the gym, especially arm exercises, because they don’t want to get muscular. That’s a myth!
Women’s muscles don’t develop like men’s because women have much less testosterone than men. So don’t be afraid of getting muscular—that’s not going to happen.
What’s more, it’s important for women to use appropriate weights in their training because they need to build strong arms!
Ladies… if you want beautiful legs and a nice butt, don’t forget to train your… UPPER BODY!
You’re probably wondering what your back, chest, arm, and shoulder workouts have to do with glute training. The answer: everything!
As I always explain, the most effective exercises for building your glutes and legs are compound movements, such as squats, Romanian deadlifts, leg presses, deadlifts, lunges…
In many of these exercises, you use your hands to hold the bar, or rest it on your back… So, if you don’t have strength in your arms, forearms, and back, you won’t be able to lift enough weight to build your lower body
Take the Romanian deadlift, for example… Anyone who does Romanian deadlifts knows what I mean…
Mistake 3 – Not changing up your workout regularly
Our bodies have an incredible ability to adapt. In fact, it’s by leveraging this adaptation that we achieve results.
That’s why it’s important to change our training from time to time. Changes in training can create an imbalance, and when our body seeks balance again, gains will occur.
We call this a “gain”—whether it’s building more muscle, improving flexibility, losing weight, and so on.
Mistake 4 – Not training with enough intensity
Intensity is an important part of high-intensity exercise. If you don’t furrow your brow, you can’t work out vigorously—you’ll eventually grunt, groan, or even scream.
Working your muscles can sometimes be uncomfortable. You may look beautiful and flawless during the first few reps of your workout, but if you finish smiling, haha, believe me: your workout isn’t good.
Don’t worry about looking flawless at the gym. There’s a place where you can get ready to look flawless the rest of the time.
Mistake 5 – Not controlling your workout tempo
I’ve talked about tempo several times…
My clients have already memorized this because, to me, it’s one of the most important fundamentals of weight training.
It’s common to hear about the importance of the number of sets, the number of reps, and the weight at the gym, but one aspect of training is often underestimated: the tempo of weight training, that is, the timing of the movements performed during the exercise—the eccentric and concentric phases.
Weight training is more than just randomly pulling or pushing weights!
According to several studies, contraction times of around 60 seconds, with reps lasting between 4 and 6 seconds—in other words, time in seconds—are ideal for designing muscle-building workouts. However, we have plenty of ways to vary these training stimuli.
Movement tempo as a variable is more important than simply increasing the “weight,” because increasing the load indiscriminately can affect the range of motion and compromise proper exercise technique, and in extreme cases can cause unwanted injuries.
Final thoughts on common mistakes in women’s workouts
Women have tremendous potential in training. Everyone, regardless of age, genetics, height, or experience level… just avoid these common mistakes in women’s workouts.
It’s important to get the support you need to get started and keep reaching your goals.
What did you think of these tips about common mistakes in women’s workouts? Do you make or have you made any of these mistakes? Leave us a comment with your thoughts. #VEMPROTREINO.
