10 Common Beginner Workout Mistakes To Avoid

So you have decided to start working out, but you are unsure of what workout mistakes you need to avoid at all costs? You’re in the right place. Although working out is never a mistake, there are many workout mistakes you can make that can either sabotage your workouts, provoke an injury, or discourage you from exercising in the future. To help you avoid or stop making common rookie workout mistakes, I have curated a list of workout mistakes to avoid before, during, and after working out. So, below I will share 10 common beginner workout mistakes to avoid.

📌 SAVE THESE 10 COMMON BEGINNER WORKOUT MISTAKES TO AVOID FOR LATER!

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10 Common Beginner Workout Mistakes To Avoid

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BEGINNER PRE-WORKOUT MISTAKES: 

1. Not dressing for the occasion

Believe it or not, the clothes that you wear during your workout can affect your performance more than you know. Which is why, you should not workout in clothes that will limit you from doing certain movements, get in the way of your workout, or make you feel uncomfortable. Your workout outfit should enhance your workout, not destroy it. So, make sure you always exercise in appropriate workout attire.

CLOTHES/ITEMS TO AVOID

• Jeans
• Extremely tight or baggy clothes
• 100% Cotton clothes
• Jewlery (any kind)

2. Working out on an empty or full stomach

Working out on an either empty or full stomach can massively interfere with your workout. If you exercise on an empty stomach, apart from being hungry, you will get tired quicker. You can’t perform at your best if you don’t have energy. On the other hand, if you exercise on a full stomach, you will feel sick after doing a couple of exercises.

PRO-TIP: Have a snack before a workout, not a whole meal. 

3. Skipping your warm up

Okay, if there’s just one workout mistake you can take from this post, it’s this one. Please don’t ever, under any circumstance, go into a workout without warming up first. Skipping your warm up won’t help you save time, it will only put you at risk of getting injured. And I’m speaking based on experience. Getting injured during a workout is not fun. Warming up prepares your muscles for a successful workout and also protects you from pulling something during your workout. So, it is better to spend a few extra minutes warming up than to spend weeks or months dealing with an undesired injury.

BEGINNER WORKOUT MISTAKES DURING YOUR WORKOUT:

4. Having a bad mentality + attitude

“You can’t change your reality, if you don’t change your mentality” 

If you go into a workout with a negative/pessimist mentality, you will not have a positive outcome. In fact, you will be dreading every single exercise. So much so that every exercise will seem “too hard” and impossible to do. Your body will believe your mind even if your mind is far from the truth. So don’t look at an exercise and say “I can’t do this” without even trying to do the exercise first. Instead, tell yourself  “this exercise seems quite challenging, but it’s not impossible to do. So, I CAN and WILL do this” You have to train your mind before you can train your body!

5. Not being conscious of the muscles you’re training

It is important to note that most injuries and workout errors occur from the lack of anatomy knowledge rather than the lack of strength or ability. When you complete an exercise, you always have to think about the effect that it has on your body.

Here are some important questions to ask yourself during a workout:

• How does this exercise affect my body?
• Where am I feeling the burn when I do this exercise?
• Which muscles am I using when I do this exercise?

For instance, when you complete a glute bridge, are you feeling the burn in your glutes or are you just feeling the burn in your legs? If you’re only using your leg muscles, you will only feel the burn in your legs. Which is not ideal if your goal is to train your glutes. However, if you squeeze your glutes and use the strength in your glutes to complete a glute bridge, you will feel and see the results in your glutes rather than just your legs. 

6. Not hydrating

When you exercise, your body loses a lot of fluids and electrolytes. So, it’s extremely important to replace the fluids and electrolytes that you lose with water. If your body is dehydrated, you will get tired quickly and your performance will be poor. Therefore, to ensure a safe and successful performance, always make sure to drink water before, during and after your workout!

7. Underworking your muscles

Excuse the tough love but a mediocre mentality will only get you so far.

If you want to see any change in your body, you have to put in the work first. So, although something is always better than nothing, please don’t underwork your muscles by doing a 5 minute workout every once in awhile. You don’t have to workout for an hour everyday, but you do have to make sure that your workout is helping you train your muscles. At the end of the day, “Fitness is like a relationship, you can’t cheat and expect it to work.” If you don’t put in the work or effort in, it will only affect you. Don’t scam your own body! 

8. Overworking your muscles

On the other hand, don’t over do it.

Although it is important to exercise passionately, please don’t exercise to the point of injuring yourself or completely losing interest in working out. Yes, exercise burn-out does indeed exist! Learn to have balance when working out. So train your muscles, but don’t overwork them. Take at least two rest days during the week to give your muscles enough time to recover. Also, don’t work on the same muscle every day. Rotate the muscles you work on so that your muscles will perform at their best. 

Here’s an example of what your workout schedule should look like:

• Monday: glutes and abs
• Tuesday: arms
• Wednesday: glutes
• Thursday: rest day
• Friday: legs
• Saturday: rest day
• Sunday: full body

BEGINNER POST WORKOUT MISTAKES:

9. Not cooling off

Just like it’s important to warm up before a workout, it is important to cool down after a workout. Cooling off helps you avoid post-workout dizziness and helps your heart rate return to a regular level. A three minute cooling off session of stretching will do. 

10. Not eating after a workout

Starving yourself after a workout won’t help you build muscle or lose weight. In order for your muscles to recover, recharge, become stronger, and grow, you have to eat a meal. Not eating after a workout will only make you feel dizzy, exhausted, and quite disoriented afterwards. And in some instances, you can even provoke a headache by choosing to skip a meal after your workout. It is recommended to eat from 40 minutes-2 hours after a work out. So, make sure you feed your muscles after a good workout session!

Here are 10 healthy and easy post workout smoothie recipes you have to try! 

More Posts You May Like:

• 100 Bodyweight Effective Bodyweight Exercises To Try
• At Home Workout Plan Basics | For Beginners
• 5 Fundamental Reasons You Should Workout 
• 10 Healthy & Easy Post Workout Smoothie Recipes

FINAL THOUGHTS

I hope you found these tips helpful! If I am missing any other common beginner workout mistakes, let me know in the comments below!

Until next time,

Gabby Abigail

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