Everyone knows how crucial physical activity is for one’s health. It is really great if you are not only aware of this fact but you also include physical activity into your life. Yet, even if you enjoy sport and exercise regularly, it is quite possible that you are making one of the frequent mistakes described in this article.
If you want sport to work for you and not to lose your progress, you should make a mental check-up right now and quit any of the bad habits related to sport you will see below.
Do not use food as a reward for being physically active
There is an entire group of people among sport amateurs who feel so good about having an intense workout that they believe they deserve a piece of something really delicious even if it has lots of calories. Actually, the majority of such yummy foods are somehow rather rich in calories.
Unfortunately, many individuals are not aware of the exact amount of calories they are burning while exercising. Since one has been working really hard, there is always a tendency of exaggerating the amount of used calories. This is not only a problem for people who are exercising in order to lose weight. Obviously, treating oneself with junk food after a workout will not help in achieving such an aim. Still, even those people for whom getting rid of excessive weight is not a target, are really risking while giving themselves such rewards.
First of all, according to multiple studies, people tend to eat not just more than they have lost during a workout. They are actually consuming four or five times more calories than they have burnt! Certainly, you can imagine the source of these calories is either fast food or various pastries and sweets. Almost no one is giving oneself such rewards as an extra portion of a fresh salad or an apple.
Another crucial problem related to such a behaviour is that people who are already prone to overeating or compulsive eating can develop a rather serious condition. Knowing they can safely consume as much calories as they wish because of exercising they can either start overeating without any limits or get into the sport addiction trying to burn everything with particularly harsh exercises which is rather harmful for health.
Do not ignore pain in your body
Certainly, many people who really love physical activity are happy to feel some discomfort in their bodies after an intensive workout. Sore muscles are an indication of the fact we actually have these muscles and we have just made them stronger. This is satisfying for many people and motivating for more physical activity, so such individuals do not actually feel like having a break because of such sensations in their bodies.
This is not a bad approach. Still, some physically active people believe they have to ignore any type of pain no matter where it is and continue exercising. Some individuals are actually practising taking pain-killers and absolutely ignoring any type of ache.
Needless to say, this kind of behaviour will not lead you anywhere. Repetitive pain even if it is not coming from your internal organs or joints means there is really some problem in your body and you have to address it as soon as possible. Otherwise, the condition will be only deteriorating especially since the aching point is already inflamed and is incapable of taking all the pressure so it spread to the nearby areas of your body which are not supposed to endure it in the first place.
Even though chronic pain has to be diagnosed and treated, it does not mean you will have to ignore from exercises completely. For the time of your recovery, you will just need to modify your workouts in such a way as to omit any pressure on the aching area. For instance, if your knee was damaged, you can switch to the upper body for the time being.
Do not set your workout plan according to your mood
There are some people who believe they can go to gym or practise running whenever they want since they are not going to do it professionally and this is entirely for their health. Even though it might seem logical to many individuals, it is not a good approach to sport.
Many kinds of sport and especially powerlifting or running require a particular plan in order not only to be effective but also in order to be safe.
What is really crucial from the very start is understanding the basic amount of a workout you are going to begin with. For example, for running this will be a number of kilometres combined with the time you would like to spend on it. As a beginner, you are not supposed to increase the amount of exercises by more than 15% a week. It is crucial to do it gradually which is certainly not possible for people who are listening to their mood in the first place and allow themselves to make frequent brakes.
Such individuals are risking hurting themselves if they ignore the fact they have actually missed a couple of weeks and now are returning to the amount of exercising they did the last time. At the same time, those people who are more careful with their health are risking to be beginners forever.