Common Pitfalls
There is a lot more to training than people realize; my goal in writing this is to help you steer clear of some of the pitfalls that many trainees encounter during their first few years in the gym.
For those of you with some experience lifting weights, some (or all) of these may sound familiar:
Confusing Exercise for Training: Your time in the gym is either directed towards measurably improving some marker of health and performance or it is not. At the Strength Block, we train to improve strength and conditioning, and each workout plays a role in the larger trajectory of improved health and performance. This takes deliberate planning (preferably under the guidance of a coach!) and does not happen simply by showing up to the gym and “exercising”.
Undertraining: Many trainees fail to make progress because they underestimate their potential. They opt for a weight that “feels” right and never challenge themselves. For example, a young healthy male that does not manage to get his squat up from 95 lb. to 225 lb. or his deadlift from 135 lb. to 315 lb. within six months of training is likely not pushing himself hard enough.
Overtraining: On the flip side, others add too much weight too quickly and suffer from overtraining. They have pushed themselves too hard and for too long and are likely to either suffer an injury or simply lose the motivation to continue. The role of programming is to ensure that you’re pushing yourself enough to drive progress, while also managing your fatigue levels so you don’t end up overtrained. As you progress through a training cycle, it is imperative to balance the increased intensity with either reduced training volume or by incorporating light days, deloads, and back-off sets.
Gaining too much fat when bulking: Many trainees will overestimate how much they need to be eating while trying to gain muscle. If you’re gaining too much fat, you’re either 1) not eating enough protein, 2) eating too many calories and gaining weight too quickly, or 3) not training with enough volume.
Losing too much muscle when cutting: While we often talk about “losing weight,” what most of us really want is to lose fat and retain or gain muscle. To achieve this, it is not enough to simply eat less. Your protein intake and training volume needs to remain high and your rate of fat loss needs to be modest. Cutting too much weight too fast by means of a water fast or something similar is a sure way to lose your hard-earned muscle. Retain your lean mass and you’ll likely look better at 165lb than if you had cut too aggressively down to 150lb without having paid attention to training volume or protein intake.
Injury: I cannot stress enough the importance of learning how to lift safely and efficiently from a qualified coach. Find someone in your area that is a specialist in the barbell lifts and book an introductory session with them. If you’re unsure where to find such coaches, the Strongfirst, Starting Strength, Barbell Medicine and Barbell Logic directories are a great place to start.
Burn Out: There are folks out there that have impeccable lifting mechanics and are armed with the perfect program, yet they fail to make progress. Why? Because sometimes the perfect program is just not the right program for you. Not everyone can devote 6-8 hours/week to training and following the perfect program. Sometimes, we need what’s optimal rather than what’s perfect. A good program needs to serve your goals, but also fit your constraints. Whether you can commit to thirty minutes, five days a week or just one hour, twice a week, finding an optimal program is key.
In the coming weeks, I plan to treat some of these in more detail in another article. If you haven’t already done so, subscribe below so that you are notified when that is released.
