When looking to improve your physical condition, there are multiple choices and possibilities available to you and it is easy to get lost and make the wrong decisions, faced with the choices that search engines can offer you. To improve your physical condition, the first mistake not to make is to want to skip steps to speed up the process. Know that nothing can speed up your physical fitness. It is advisable to respect the stages of its progression, in order to register its fitness in the long term. Here are the top mistakes not to make if you want to reach your fitness goal and maintain your fitness:
– Cut calories too much
– Skipping meals
– Avoid dietary supplements
– Overtraining
– Neglecting strength training in favor of cardio
PHYSICAL CONDITION: THE MAJOR NUTRITION MISTAKES
It’s a fact, when you decide on something, you are always in a hurry to get it done. The same is true when you decide to improve your physical condition. We would like everything to go quickly and well. But the body is not a machine that we can program and, above all, it is impossible to traumatize it without it turning against us. One of the biggest mistakes you could make when trying to improve your physical condition is trying to cut calories too much to achieve good muscle definition faster. Also, ignoring food supplements is a common mistake that can have deleterious effects on your progress, to the point of preventing you from obtaining a good physical condition.
WHY YOU SHOULD NOT CUT CALORIES TOO QUICKLY
The body has daily energy needs and, of course, cutting calories burns fat and leads to better muscle definition, more energy and better health. But cutting calories too much risks destroying your chances of success in your fitness phase. Indeed, gaining weight or losing it is determined by the metabolism, which is regulated according to what we absorb and what we burn. If, all of a sudden, the calories are reduced by more than half of the usual daily ration, the organism reacts to this as to an attack which risks putting it in danger. His reaction: reduce the number of calories to burn to counter this sudden deficit. You will understand, you cannot deceive your body. On the other hand, if you rebalance your meals and you maintain balanced intake, there will be no drop in metabolism and you will continue to burn fat while strengthening your muscle capital.
WHY ARE DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS SO IMPORTANT?
The modern diet is no longer as nutritious as it was 50 years ago and fruits and vegetables, for example, contain practically no more vitamins and minerals. They are still rich in fiber and retain their taste qualities, but they are no longer full of elements essential to the chemical processes of the body: vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and trace elements. Food supplements, as their name suggests, are intended to accompany food. They bring what our food can no longer give us. So, wanting to rely on diet for fitness is a good start, but it won’t be enough to achieve your fitness goal. A complex of vitamins and minerals is a must for supplementation, whatever your sporting objective. Also, essential fatty acids and amino acids are to be taken seriously because they are difficult to find in the diet.
PHYSICAL CONDITION: THE BIG TRAINING MISTAKES
Just like with food, the first instinct when you want to improve your physical condition is to do too much all the time, until injury and fatigue set in. Who has never registered in the gym after making good resolutions, then stopped going to train after just two months, sometimes less? This is a common mistake, due to impatience. Another mistake too, that of focusing only on cardio training, sometimes for fear of gaining too much muscle mass (especially valid for women).
RATE YOUR TRAINING
In your goal of getting back into physical condition, keep a frequency of 3 sessions per week, no more and no less. In these sessions, devote about 45 minutes to strength training and 30 minutes to cardio. Don’t go for marathon weeks of 5 or 6 3-hour sessions. It will last two weeks and then you will be tired, injured, bored and above all you will have no results. You can’t go faster than the body’s normal progression rate. You want to get back in shape, not prepare for a competition. Train 3 times a week, but do it all year round. The results will soon be felt, and you will finally be able to find the shape you are looking for.
CARDIO: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
Cardio strengthens the cardiovascular system and helps to better mobilize stored fat. That’s a fact. But for cardio to really have a positive impact on your physical condition, it must be accompanied by a specific diet and weight training. Know that weight training mobilizes fat better than cardio, simply because the muscles, in the muscle recovery phase, need a lot of energy to regenerate. This is not the case with cardio. You’ll have a better chance of getting in shape by doing only weight training than by doing only cardio. Do about 30 minutes of cardio per session, but always after your weight training session.
POINTS TO REMEMBER TO IMPROVE YOUR PHYSICAL CONDITION
– Don’t cut calories too fast. Cutting calories drastically may seem like you’re speeding up the process, but it’s only going to slow it down. The body responds favorably to the tools put in place over time.
– Do not ignore food supplements. They provide your body with what food can no longer provide. They are the guarantors of a truly balanced diet.
– Do not train too much or too often. 3 sessions of 75 minutes are ideal for improving your physical condition. Training more to go faster may just slow your progress.
– Don’t binge on cardio. Everyone thinks cardio burns fat and helps you get in shape. It is true, but only if the cardio is accompanied by strength training. Never fall into the trap of too much cardio, you risk destroying your chances of success. To improve your physical condition, do your weight training session, followed by your 30 minutes of cardio.
