The Health and Fitness Truth Blog

Many of my personal training clients come to me with years of exercise experience, but, unfortunately, many of these clients have also gotten poor results or had chronic injuries that have set them back. Most of these are related to very common errors I see in the execution and planning of their exercise programs. 10 of the most common and detrimental exercise errors are:

1. Not including any functional strength exercises. Many fitness participants ONLY use selectorize strength training machines to build strength. We now know, without a doubt, that we need to include more bodyweight and free weight exercises to train the body to meet the demands of daily function- not just push a weight around while sitting at a machine.
2. Executing exercise with poor posture and form. A major cause of injury- and lack of good result! Education, attention and practice are the key to knowing whether your posture and form are appropriate. Mirrors are a must! Most people need visual feedback to insure proper posture and form.
3. Exercising without watching nutrition. If your goal is weight loss or increased muscle mass, proper nutrition must be adhered to. Poor nutrition will hold you back from getting good results.
4. Dieting without exercise. See above. It is IMPOSSIBLE to achieve permanent weight loss and good health without exercise. PERIOD.
5. Men try and lift too much weight and often injure themselves or show poor form. Women lift too lightly- and never build the muscle necessary for improved strength or weight loss.
6. Ignoring chronic injuries and pain. If you have joint pain from exercise- dont ignore it. See your Doctor and get it checked out. It might be minor- but too many people ignore minor pains which then become major. It takes twice as long to heal an injury as the length of time that you have had the injury.
7. Trying to spot reduce. Women especially think they can work one specific body part to reduce fat over that bodypart. It doesn’t work that way! You can’t spot reduce!
8. Not progressing program as it becomes easy. This is more of a problem for women than men- as men tend to want to lift greater and greater weight. When something is EZ- you must change it to make it harder!
9. Not performing a balanced exercise program which includes stretching, cardio and weight training. If one is missing from your regimen- injury or lack of progress will result.
10. Not understanding the physiology and reasoning behind proper exercise techniques. This comes from a lack of education- something a certified personal trainer can easily teach you. Lack of understanding leads to doing some things that will never work, avoiding others which always work, and losing patience because you aren’t getting good results!

Hiring a personal trainer, even for one or two sessions, will eliminate almost all of these common mistakes. Aren’t you worth the investment?

Coffee, coffee drinks and all their delicious varieties are immensely popular here in the US. While the jury is still out about the negative or positive effects of coffee itself, there is a growing trend towards sugary, dessert like coffee drinks that is definitely harmful!

I recently met with a client who treats herself to a coffee drink in the late afternoon. I’ll admit it- I love my ice coffee with skim milk during the summer- but what I discovered about my client’s treat shocked me. I went on the Starbuck’s website which features- thank you Starbuck’s!- nutritional information about it’s products and discovered that her large coffee drink was almost 600 calories. 600 calories of pure sugar and pure fat. A total deal breaker! This “coffee drink” was more calories, fat and sugar than an ice cream sundae- and yet, because it is markteted as coffee- we don’t realize the harm it is doing.

SO- before you indulge in daily coffee drinks- find out how many calories are in your favorite. If it is over 100 calories- rethink it. OR- modify it- use skim milk, no extra syrup, no whipped cream, less sugar. You can check out the calorie content of many fast foods by visiting the websites of companies such as Dunkin Donuts and Starbuck’s. Be an educated consumer- both in buying power and food indulgences.

The country has experienced extreme summer weather over the last few weeks. From Arizona to Pennsylvania, where hundreds of boyscouts fell ill just sitting in the heat, to the Northeast, where humidity levels were oppressive, the heat and humidity has mimicked temperatures in the 100-110 range. And yet, last week, on the hottest and most humid day I have experienced in my life, a middle age average man was jogging up a hill near my home at noontime! What an idiot, I thought! I held my tongue- for once- and pondered why this man would even attempt such a ridiculous feat. Suddenly I had it - EGO! MALE EGO! This man obviously thought, “I’m in such good shape- that unlike everyone else- I can and will exercise in the heat. Who cares that weathermen all over the country are warning us to stay out of the dangerous heat at all costs- I’m special”. No one is that special- even the most elite athletes take time off during this dangerously hot weather. From football players to weekend joggers, each year, men (and kids and women) die from dehydration and subsequent heat stroke as they try and exercise in the heat. One workout is not worth the risk! Even in air conditioned gyms, the cumulative effect of multiple days of high heat and humidity can take it’s toll on your workouts, making you feel dizzy, out of breath and nauseous. Do not take these symptoms lightly. Heat illnesses can progress rapidly and become very serious . Even short bouts of dizziness are signs that something is wrong- putting you at risk for falling at the least, and death at the worst. SO- let your ego go! Never exercise in high heat and humidity- no matter what your fitness level.