Is Your Workout Doing Your More Harm Than Good?

For a lot of men, there is nothing more satisfying than a great workout. The adrenaline pumping through your system, the sweat on your skin, that strangely satisfying ache that you feel in your muscles after you’ve really pushed them to the limit. When you combine that with the results that a good workout can give you, it’s no surprise that so many people end up practically addicted to the gym! And, let’s face it if you’re going to be obsessed with something, staying active and getting fit is certainly not a bad choice. However, that doesn’t mean that it’s all good news. As with just about anything in life, workouts can bring certain risks with them. Nothing is risk-free, and there are plenty of stories all over the internet and beyond about guys who pushed themselves too hard and paid the price for it. To help make sure that you don’t end up in that position, here are some of the ways that your workout might be doing you more harm than good.

Overexertion

There’s a classic phrase that you’ve probably heard thousands of times and is often painted on the walls of the gym itself: “no pain, no gain.” It might even be the most classic and famous phrase in all of workout culture. But here’s the thing, it’s false. It’s one of the most pernicious and dangerous lies that anyone could possibly tell you. Pain is your body’s way of alerting you to some kind of problem. If you put your hand on a hot stove, your brain registers pain, and you pull your hand away. Simple. So why do we ignore pain during a workout? Well, a lot of the time it comes from a competitive attitude that you need to be able to push yourself harder than the next guy, or even just harder than you were able to before. The problem there is that it leads people to push themselves too far and run the risk of suffering a serious injury. Remember, there is a big difference between the feeling of pushing yourself to your limits and the pain of forcing your body to go past what it’s actually capable of.

Supplements

Working out is hard, and the results that it produces can of take a long time to show themselves. Because of this, there are hundreds, if not thousands of shortcuts that people swear will improve your workout and give you faster results. The most common of these shortcuts is supplements like anabolic steroids. The problem is that these supplements often come with some pretty serious risks. Steroids have been shown to increase your risk of kidney failure, liver disease, and even put you at risk of a heart attack. These supplements may be effective, but it’s often nowhere near worth the risk. If you do want a little bit of a leg-up, read this post to see some of the natural alternatives that you can use instead of dangerous chemical supplements. The important thing to remember is that if someone claims to be offering you something that will take the work out of your workout is probably lying to you.

Poor form

Just because you’re at the machine, working hard and putting in a lot of effort, that doesn’t mean it’s actually going to end up making any real difference. If your form is bad then you’re not only going to fail to get what you need out of your workout, but you’re also putting yourself in danger of some pretty serious injuries One of the most common injuries during workouts, weight lifting especially, is that you end up straining yourself or pulling a muscle because you weren’t paying close enough attention to your form.

The assumption that people make is that as long as they’re putting more weight on the bar, they’re getting more from their workout. If you’re trying to lift more weight than you can manage, you’re just going to end up straining against it and ruining your form. Those mirrors in the gym aren’t just for taking selfies! You should be using them to check on your form and make sure that you’re not making any dangerous mistakes that could land you with a trip to the chiropractor is you’re not careful.

No Resting

Everyone knows that only working out once every few weeks is going to do absolutely nothing for you. However, a lot of guys don’t realize that going to the gym every single day can be just as bad, if not worse. This is because you don’t build up muscle during your workout, but during the times when your body is at rest afterward. If you never let your body rest, it’s never going to be able to convert the energy that you used into muscle. Not only that but you often run a pretty serious risk of suffering an injury if you spend every single day doing a tough, rigorous workout. Give your body a break and time to recover between workouts.

Hydration

Almost everyone in the developed world should be drinking more water than they actually are. But nowhere is this more important than when you’re working out. When you work out, you sweat, when you sweat you dehydrate. It hardly takes a genius to see what you need to do. And yet far too many guys at the gym fail to stay hydrated. Make sure that you take a bottle with you when you go to work out. Not only that but there should be drinking fountains around the gym as well. Don’t feel as though you have to save your water for any reason. You can refill it as many times as you need. Not only is dehydration going to sap your energy, but you could end up getting seriously ill.

Remember, even the best workout can turn against you if you’re not careful. As with anything else in life, it’s important to exercise caution and moderation when it comes to your workouts. Be motivated and disciplined, of course, just try your best not to go totally overboard. Create a clear, manageable routine and stick to it. If you have a personal trainer, they can help you avoid making any of these mistakes so that you really can get the most out of your workout possible.