ML Coaching
1. Too much cardio training
By "too much cardio training" I actually mean "no strength training." Cardio is great and necessary, but spending 45 minutes exclusively on the treadmill or stepper isn't efficient. This type of training is usually characterised by low intensity, a low heart rate and low effort. If you're already going to the gym to train, then actually train. Slow cardio is pointless, partly because of the muscle fibres your body uses. You have many different kinds, some are meant for heavy lifting, others for endurance. If you only do slow, low-intensity cardio, you're only using the small muscle fibres, not the big strength fibres. This is called the "size principle": the body doesn't use big muscle fibres for small tasks. If it did, you'd rip your shirts in half every time you put them on. So by only doing slow cardio, you're leaving half your muscle mass completely unused. If you want to look lean and fit, you should definitely be doing strength training. Cardio absolutely has its place, but it shouldn't be the only thing you do at the gym.
2. Strength training with tiny dumbbells
If you can do more than 20 reps with your weights, they're too light and won't get you anywhere. If you're doing leg exercises and don't regret your choice of weight by the 12th rep at the latest, you need to add more. Here too, the size principle applies. Your body only uses the muscles you force it to use. If you want to look fit, you need to build muscle. And since that happens more slowly for women than for men, extra weight certainly won't hurt. The more you challenge yourself and your body, the more calories you burn too. With lighter weights and more reps, the calorie burn after training is much lower.
3. Too low intensity (cardio and strength training)
This point is a kind of combination of the first two. As already mentioned, cardio absolutely makes sense in certain situations. If you're doing cardio, do it properly. Don't just hop on a bike and pedal along comfortably. Instead, push yourself on the rowing machine and get your heart pumping. Through more intense training, fat burning is boosted much more even after training, so your workout is far more efficient and you get results faster. If you find it hard to push yourself alone, find a training partner or, even better, a personal trainer.
4. 80 minutes of abs
Let's get one thing straight before we go on: abs are made in the kitchen. No amount of crunches or planks in the world will flatten your stomach if there's a layer of fat over it. If you eat consistently healthy and low-calorie, you get far more out of your ab exercises, because only then can the muscles actually show. If you do five minutes of burpees or tabatas, you'll get a flat stomach much faster than with 1000 crunches. If you spend more than five minutes of your workout exclusively on ab exercises, you're wasting your time.
5. Searching for a miracle pill
If you're wondering why you're not getting the results you want, one of your basic health conditions isn't being met. These include enough sleep, stress management, healthy eating, efficient training and plenty of water. It's not that there's some magic exercise or pill out there you just haven't discovered yet. You can eat as many acai berries and superfoods as you like, if your health basics aren't covered, they won't do you any good. So before you pin your hopes on the next supplement, take a look first at whether you're getting enough sleep and water, whether you're not too stressed, whether you're eating healthy, and whether you're moving.
6. The hip machine… and all the other machines
Machines where you move your legs inward or outward to train your thighs, and pretty much all the other machines, belong on this list because they're simply inefficient. If you're doing real bodybuilding, they make sense, because they focus on individual muscle groups. In all other cases, you're better off skipping them. You probably want to lose fat around your hips, and so you assume the hip machine is a good exercise. The problem is, you can't lose fat from a spot you choose, unfortunately we have no control over that. That's why hip exercises won't result in slimmer hips either. To lose fat, you need to burn calories. And those are best burned when your whole body is engaged. Planks, squats and burpees are far more efficient.
7. Expecting results too soon
No matter what the women's magazines promise you, lasting change can't happen overnight. Not in four days either, or a week. If you expect to lose 10 kilos in a month, you'll only be disappointed, and probably give up. After all, you don't gain 10 kilos in a month either, it just takes time. Instead, you should focus on improving your lifestyle. Get enough sleep, don't expose yourself to too much stress, eat healthy and move regularly. Over time, that will bring results that no cabbage soup diet in the world can match.
8. Aimless workouts
To make your training efficient, you need a plan. If you wander from exercise to exercise at the gym without direction, chances are your heart rate stays low and your body isn't challenged. This quickly leads to boredom too, which in turn means your workouts stop being fun and you start neglecting them more and more. First, you need to know your goal. That determines your choice of exercises, weights, reps, and so on. You also need to know how much time you can or want to invest, not just now, but for good. If you need help planning, a personal trainer can assist you with that. If you live near Zurich, feel free to contact me, and together we'll create an individual training and nutrition plan that gets you seeing results fast.
9. Not sweating
Women don't like to sweat and often try to find a way around it. Unfortunately, there isn't one. If you've trained and haven't sweated, it was wasted time. Real workouts get your body running at full speed, so you need to cool down afterwards. Sweat is basically the measure of effort and intensity. Dry skin is a no-go at the gym.
10. Doing all your exercises on a balance board
Standing on a balance board is exclusively good for developing balance and stability. It doesn't help with fat burning, developing abs, or anything like that. See point 4. Some exercises, like squats and push-ups, are more intense on a balance board, but you're better off getting down to lift more weight. For your muscles to properly develop strength, you need to stand stably. If you want to lose weight, occasionally working a balance board into your training can make sense. It just won't shape your muscles in a time-efficient way. Only heavier weights and powerful movements can do that.