by David Carr

Created on: January 03, 2010

It’s no secret that a healthy exercise routine can help you lose weight, increase energy, and generally enhance well-being. There is a catch though. Your time spent in the gym can be doing more harm than good if you don’t have a strong grasp of the fundamentals. Without arming yourself with this knowledge your well meaning workout program can lead to frustrating results and even long-term damage to your health. You can easily avoid these pitfalls by not making a few common mistakes.

1) Get organized. Don’t walk into the gym without a game plan. It should reflect where you are at in your physical conditioning, as well as your goals. Ask yourself the tough questions when you are creating a program. Do you need to lose weight? Do you need to gain muscle? Can you walk up a flight of stairs without gasping for air? Questions like these will help you gain an understanding of where to start and how to achieve your personal goals. It will also keep you from wandering around the gym aimlessly wondering what exercise to do next. Time management is crucial. One of the biggest reasons people abandon their work out routines is because they can’t find the time. Having your program written down in front of you will allow you to smoothly transition from one exercise to the next without much thought. Keep in mind your plan will evolve over time as you achieve your goals.

2) Develop a stretching regimen before you workout. This is a crucial step in preparing your joints and muscles for upcoming stress. As you exercise you’ll be tearing down muscles so they can rebuild themselves stronger. Stretching will help to prevent you from pulling or tearing a muscle. It will also increase blood flow to these areas cutting down on recovery time. You will find it helpful to stretch every day, not just on gym days. “Stretching it out,” is a great way to alleviate muscle tenderness and maintain your range of motion.

3) Don’t skip over the warm up. Again you are preparing your body to exercise, but this time you are also increasing your heart rate. Typically, 15 minutes on an exercise bike will do nicely. Stair climbers, treadmills, and elliptical machines are also great for a warm up. Try to stay away from high impact endeavors. By speeding up your heart rate you are enriching your blood with oxygen, bolstering your metabolism to burn more fat, and increasing your aerobic activity.

4) It can be very tempting to over-train. Especially after you

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