Bad Gym Habits That Are Holding YOU Back!

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There really can’t be enough said about the relationship between a healthy mind and a healthy body. Our wellbeing, our emotions and even our psychology all have their roots in the physical. After all, our mental processes are dictated by physiological changes in the body which is why it’s curious that so many people treat the mind and the body as separate, independent entities.

Whatever your field of expertise, there’s no doubt that regular exercise can not only improve your physical health and fitness but it can also benefit your psychological well being and your professional life as well.

Regular exercise reduces stress, improves self-confidence and is a natural antidepressant.

For most of us, a trip to the gym on the way to or from work is the most convenient way to get our regular fix of the benefits of exercise. Unfortunately, way too many of us harbor bad habits that can prevent us from reaching our true potential at the gym.

Let’s look at them and see what we can do to overcome them and be the very best that we can be both physically and mentally.

Make an effort

The most egregious error we can make is to think that simply turning up and sleepwalking our way through our workout routine is enough. This is the surest way to lose our motivation when after a few months we fail to see any benefits.

Making an effort is, for many of us, a matter of coming to the gym in the right frame of mind. We need to make sure that we walk through the door feeling like a badass and leave feeling accomplished and confident (if a little sore).

Try to avoid coming to the gym in the same sorry looking sweatpants you used when painting the shed. Treat yourself to some cool, inspirational gym wear. We recommend https://renegadecitizen.com for badass apparel that’ll keep you motivated and looking good in and out of the gym.

Mix up your routine

When our mind is distracted by our work, family and social lives it’s all-too easy to fall into the same workout routine day after day, week after week, month after month.

The trouble is that your body is smarter than you give it credit for and it doesn’t take long for the same old routines to become a little too easy. Most of the time we enjoy the feeling of these familiar routines getting easier and feeling stronger, faster and fitter. However, riding this wave of self-believe for too long can lead you to become complacent and before you know it you’re not pushing yourself or noticing any real gains.

Mix up your exercises, reps and weights to ensure that you’re constantly pushing yourself.

Overdoing it

As bad as complacency is, sometimes going too far the other way can be even worse. If you’re training every day, chances are you’ll start to feel sluggish and you’ll notice your results start to plateau. This is because your muscle tissue needs time to recover and rebuild (which you’ll see in terms of increase in lean muscle mass and reduction of body fat).

Make sure that your body has time to recover by building in rest days. This will also hugely reduce your risk of injury which could set your progress back weeks or even months.