Mistakes to avoid as a fitness beginner

[DavideFitbit]

I'm curious to know if there are any mistakes in particular that you made when you were first getting started into fitness, whether it's with low intensity or high intensity workouts. 

Before I started to use Fitbit, I didn't keep track of almost anything, I had a weekly workout plan and a diet, but I didn't log my food anywhere or kept track of my calories and didn't really know the intensity of those workouts, but mostly I made the mistake of going too hard too fast or not warming up before any activity. 

What about you? What you do you think it's a mistake to avoid as a fitness beginner? Maybe at the gym, while going for a walk, running, hiking or during any other activity. 

[shipo]

Over the years I have coached many beginning runners and a common mistake is too much too soon.

Here's the thing, the cardio, pulmonary, and muscular systems develop fairly rapidly, however, the skeletal, joint, and connective tissue areas of the body take a LOT longer to develop to a point where increased exercise can be sustained without injury.  For beginning runners, any of the widely available classic C25K (Couch to 5-Kilometer) programs is a good start; they have the beginner mix walking and slow jogging in changing percentages as the beginner progresses.  Once through a C25K program, I strongly advise LSD (no, not *THAT* LSD, Long Slow Distance), where the new runner keeps their pace slow enough to maintain a conversation with a fellow runner without any discomfort.  As the runner progresses, there will be a temptation to go faster; resist the temptation and instead run further.

As for the speed thing, as the new runner gets to the point where six miles or ten kilometers becomes relatively routine, then, and ONLY then, start speeding up the last few hundred yards/meters of the run, then the last half mile / kilometer, then add faster finishes as capabilities increase.

The flip side of the above is injury which will be a "when" not an "if" proposition, joint swelling, tendon pulls, stress fractures

[Heybales]

Ditto's to Shipo.

I usually seem to overestimate my ability to recovery from starting back up a routine (biking in spring, lifting in winter, ect) or increasing it in some manner (weekly running).

And with age comes more recovery time, get it wrong takes even longer recovery time.

That's what concerns with me so many jumping into the HIIT (even if not truly doing HIIT but some workout that is intense when doing it) - no base built, and even if some was built the fast changes to CV or muscles fool you into thinking you can do more.

Fighting through the joint pain, or not noticing the tight muscles/tendons/ligaments - all of which can come back to bite in hopefully not a major way, but sadly it many times is.

So now knocked out of workouts for awhile - and too many think exercise is required to lose weight, so they give up the whole thing.

[emili]

The most common mistake I see is beginners at the gym using weights wrong or lifting too heavy and not watching their form. you can hurt yourself so quickly. if the gym offers a trainer, it makes sense to book a few sessions to learn how to use the equipment, how to increase weight, how many reps and sets, etc. If the gym doesn't offer it, watch the regulars and observe the form they use when lifting. As for cardio, I think a common mistake is thinking you're burning more calories than you really are. And not wearing good shoes. you can't run in keds or converse- this isn't look cute activities.

[DavideFitbit]

Definitely, @shipo @Heybales! It's very important to warmup and to let our bodies adjust to the intensity of the workout, as well as giving our muscles and joints some time to recover. This is something I learned the hard way, but it's a very common mistake one can make at the very beginning and even at later times when we're already aware of its importance.

I've seen that many times too, @emili, and I agree with that, it's better to ask for help to the trainers and people at the gym than risking injury. This also helps us to do the exercise correctly and get better results. 

[healthy2022]

I think one of the "mistakes" to avoid as a fitness beginner is being too conscious about the people around you. @shipo covered the physical side quite nicely, so I want to shine some light on the mental/psychological part.

Whenever I was going to the gym, I felt my anxiety creeping in because I always thought people were judging my form, looking down on me and etc–but in reality, people could care less about what you're doing. There are some who'll approach you nicely and coach you, but for the most part, everyone is busy with their own journey and you shouldn't let the feeling overwhelm you.

Keep striving for those goals, you're your best motivator! 

[DavideFitbit]

Thanks for sharing @healthy2022, this one is very important! I think the mental/psychological part of fitness is half of the experience. It's very easy to feel observed or judged, but most of the times we're only imagining our own suffering and concerns, while most people are doing their own business. We also tend to compare ourselves constantly to the people we see at the gym, and this can take a toll on our mental health if we feel we're not progressing in our goals fast enough. 

Thank you again for sharing! 

[cathm]

One of my biggest mistakes was skipping the stretching at the end of a workout. Some of the benefits of post-workout stretching are increased flexibility,  improved blood circulation,  eliminating lactic acid, pain prevention and improved range of motion.

[DavideFitbit]

Thank you for sharing, @cathm! Definitely many benefits from post workout stretching. 😀