We all have bad habits. Unfortunately, some of these bad habits prevent us from reaching the fitness goals that we set for ourselves. If you have been struggling to reach your fitness goals in a timely manner, you may have a few habits that you need to kick as soon as possible. Here is Plunkett Fitness’ list of bad habits to beat to help you reach your fitness goals faster.
1. Not Getting Enough Sleep
Nearly everyone has been guilty of going through periods of not getting enough sleep. This is one of the biggest hindrances to a healthy lifestyle. Whether you are staying up too late to catch another episode of your favorite show or staying out late with friends, you are likely impeding your ability to reach all of those goals that you have set.
While part of the reason a lack of sleep could hurt your process is due to lack of energy, another big factor is how a lack of sleep affects eating habits. Sleep deprivation often leads to stress which leads to an increased appetite. When you are stressed, you are much more likely to reach for unhealthy options like refined carbs and empty calories. For example, instead of a healthy breakfast, you might start reaching for pastries because they are easier to get and consume quickly, especially when you are running late. Lack of sleep also inhibits your body’s ability to process sugar, and your blood sugar is likely to increase dramatically.
Low levels of energy also contribute to skipping workouts. When you are tired, the last thing you want to do is exude more energy at the gym. It is easy to see just how quickly not getting enough sleep can have a significant impact on your fitness goals.
2. Getting Stuck in a Workout Rut
Doing the same workout over and over isn’t going to yield great results. Our bodies thrive when we incorporate new, more challenging exercises into our workout routine. If you are just repeating the same workouts, you are going to see your progress stall, which is going to impede on your ability to meet even small fitness goals.
Additionally, only working one part of your body isn’t going to yield significant results overall. It is important that you balance your workouts across your entire body. Consistent workouts are great, but you need to make sure that you are working numerous parts of your body at a time instead of focusing on certain body parts and skimping on others.
If you are having problems coming up new workouts that will help you reach your goals, you might want to consider working with a personal trainer. At Plunkett Fitness, our personal trainers will listen to you discuss your goals and lifestyle and implement a routine that can get you back on track to reaching all of your personal goals.
Our process will likely teach you new techniques, exercises, and even nutritional information that can help you throughout the course of your life.
3. Eating Poorly
There is nothing wrong with treating yourself to delicious food, but to reach fitness goals, you are going to have to dedicate yourself to proper nutrition. Your body needs whole foods like protein, fruits, vegetables, and grain to provide fuel. This fuel will help you see improvements in your muscle tone, strength, and overall growth. Well-balanced meals will help you feel full without sidetracking all of the progress that you have made in the gym. Eating too many or too few calories won’t lead you to your fitness goals.
Simple carbs and processed sugars are going to be full of sugar and extra calories that you will have to work extra hard to burn off. If you have trouble with your diet, a Plunkett Fitness personal trainer can help you develop a nutrition plan that will keep you from overeating or eating a lot of empty calories.
4. Using Poor Form
Bad form is very common in many gyms. Unfortunately, many people are never taught the right way to do some of the most common exercises. Others might be rushing through workouts or using bad form to impress others in the gym. However, this is one of those bad habits that can lead to serious injuries, which will surely knock you off track to meeting the goals you have set for yourself.
A professional trainer is a valuable resource for learning the proper form for all of the exercises you do in the gym. If you have some knowledge of proper form, you can also find videos online that showcase proper form, but you need to be careful on the source. Only listen to experts, because you could learn improper form from another person.
5. Lifting Too Much Weight
We have all seen someone struggle through a workout with improper form because they are using weights that are far too heavy. While it is okay to try to lift a heavier weight as you increase your strength, you want to make sure that you aren’t jumping too far ahead and causing extreme soreness and injuries. If you realize that you picked up a weight that is just too heavy, you should replace them with a weight that feels more natural to you. There is no shame in realizing that you aren’t ready for a certain weight yet. You will know when a weight increase is too drastic if you start to feel your form slipping.
When you are starting a new exercise, always start conservatively. You can always increase the weight if you need to. As you continue to build strength, you can increase your number of repetitions or gradually increase the weight. You really only want to increase the weight when you start to see a plateau with your current lifting weight.
To learn more about reaching your fitness goals with the help of a personal trainer, give Plunkett Fitness a call at 913-390-3360.
