by April J.

Created on: July 01, 2008

Greater strength, a tight, toned body and a higher metabolism are but a few of the benefits that strength training has to offer. Because of this, it is an excellent addition to anyone's fitness regime. However, getting started with strength-training can unfortunately be intimidating and confusing at times, what with the various exercises, machines and techniques out there. There are a number of common mistakes often seen in the gym when it comes to weight-training, and I will cover some of these in this article in the hopes of helping "newbies" to avoid these pitfalls and maximize the benefits they get from strength-training.

THE SEVEN SINS OF STRENGTH-TRAINING:

1) CONFUSION AND INCONSISTENCY

My first attempt to break into the world of weight-training involved going to a gym a couple times a week, walking into the area full of weight-training equipment, choosing a machine at random and doing a few exercises with it once I figured out how to use it. How many reps? Whatever I felt like at the time! Which machines? Ditto! After a couple weeks of this I became frustrated due to the lack of results and gave up.

So what led to my failure this time? I was confused about what my goals were and the ways to reach them, uninformed about how to choose exercises, how often to do them and for how many sets and reps., and not following any kind of regular fitness regime. It is no surprise that this led to failure - I had no idea what I was doing! At least I learned my lesson from this debacle. The next time I decided to attempt weight-training, I immediately set up a session with a personal trainer who wrote a program for me based on my goals, trained me on the proper technique for each exercise, and gave me a sheet to track my progress. This time I was much more successful and I was happy with the results (and the compliments that they earned from my friends!)

Knowing where you are and where you want to be are key, and setting goals is very important. Getting the proper training from someone who is qualified to train you is also critical as it will help you avoid injury and get the great results from your workout. Having a regular plan that you can incorporate into your weekly schedule, coupled with lots of information, can help you to avoid that confusion and keep you on track.

2) POOR TECHNIQUE

Performing an exercise wrong - in the best case it can hamper your results, and in the worst case can actually lead to injury. This is one of the reasons that it is a good idea to enlist

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