Summer is coming – high time to “give the body the finishing touch”. But there are so many different tips and fitness myths that not only cause confusion, but are also sometimes simply wrong. We would like to provide a little more clarity and have listed 5 typical fitness mistakes for you and how to avoid them in the best case.
- disregard of regeneration
Recreation and rest days are often underestimated by athletes. Many forget that regeneration is just as much a part of training as the sports unit itself. During the workout, only stimuli are applied to the muscle. In the subsequent regeneration phase, the body begins to adapt to the previous load and to initiate the muscle build-up. Goal: To achieve a higher level of performance. This process takes time and depends on the intensity and duration of the previous training session. If the body does not get the time it needs, the training effect does not occur, in the worst case it can lead to an overloading of the muscle, which additionally restricts the performance. The effort and time for the previous training are thus wasted. Besides rest, enough sleep and a balanced diet, the regeneration can be supported by light endurance training and subsequent dynamic stretching. Foamrolling is also recommended, as it supports the blood circulation of the muscles, heat from e.g. sauna is also helpful. - only muscle soreness make the training effective
Muscle soreness is not an indication of the effectiveness of the training. Rather, it is a sign of overstraining the structures. The pain has nothing to do with an excess of lactic acid, but the pain is caused by small injuries in the muscle fibres. Muscle soreness “may occur”, nevertheless never train consciously for minutes in the pain range on a muscle soreness. If you continue to exercise despite sore muscles, the tissue can scar and be damaged in the long term. Especially the aching muscle groups should be spared until they are completely regenerated. Muscle ache is “normal”, especially for beginners, but even professionals can feel it during unusual exercises. However, it becomes dangerous if aching muscles are caused by the wrong training technique. Therefore, check your execution regularly and get help from trainers and experts. - The power of habit
Warming up on the crosstrainer, then a few squats, lunges and two exercises for back and arms – routine is good, but does not really help you in sporting terms. We tend to form habits and prefer what we know. However, there is no progress if the process is constantly repeating itself. Even worse, the danger that you will be bored by your training and you will not do it at all increases.
Therefore, try to set new stimuli on a regular basis and face new challenges. You can do this, for example, by changing the number of repetitions and sets, varying the weight or changing the sequence of the exercises. A muscle will only adapt if it has to. Therefore, it is important to regularly address and challenge new muscle groups, only in this way you will see results and keep the fun of sport. “Once you see results, it becomes an addiction!” - fat burning only after 30 minutes
The rumor is persistent. It is true, however, that during jogging for example, the body always uses several energy sources from the first step onwards. The two most important are fats and carbohydrates. No matter what you are doing, both sources are always used in parallel, but with different proportions. Depending on the type, duration and above all the intensity of the physical strain, the percentage of the respective energy source changes. Jogging therefore also burns fats right from the start. If you now imagine a medium intensity, the longer you run, the smaller the percentage of energy gained from carbohydrates will be. After about half an hour, the proportion of energy obtained from fats prevails. Hence the often quoted “30 minutes”. Run now with a 50 to 70 percent maximum performance to optimize this principle.
Fat burning and fat decomposition are generally often thrown together. A negative energy balance is crucial for fat reduction and not how much fat you have burned during a workout. This negative energy balance is exclusively controlled by the energy supply and energy consumption. In order to increase energy consumption through endurance training, it is not only the duration of the load that is important, but also the energy consumption. - too comfortable in everyday life
“I trained today so I can take the car to go shopping.” Do you recognize yourself? Do you prefer to skip the stairs after a sports unit and take the elevator? Careful. The actual number of calories burned during sport is often estimated to be much higher than it actually is. If the activity in everyday life is also reduced, the training effect is zero. A false assessment of calorie consumption combined with the idea of “I’ve earned my piece of cake after exercise” becomes an absolute figure killer. Faster than you think, you have consumed the burned calories again and will not see any long-term success. Many people also think that training balances out a poor diet. It is better to see nutrition as an important source of nutrients for your body and supply it with sufficient vitamins, minerals and trace elements. In this way, you not only benefit from better performance during training, but also support muscle building and regeneration. An 80/20 rule is one possible method. The diet should consist of 80% healthy, balanced foods and 20% things you love. Since this, unlike a diet, is not based on renunciation, it is a good and easy to implement method.