When we lift weights, it’s easy to think that we’re doing everything right. However, there are a lot of seemingly minor mistakes that are easy to make in the gym.
Although they might not seem like that big a deal, they can actually cost you a lot, in your health and in your progress.
As weightlifting women, we want to make sure we’re doing everything in the gym correctly.
This helps us to ensure our health and well-being. While also ensuring we see the right results for the amount of work we’re putting in.
Here are eight mistakes that you want to avoid while weightlifting.
You’re afraid to lift too heavy and “get bulky”
A common misconception when it comes to women lifting weights is that weightlifting makes you bulky.
This simply isn’t true. Most female bodybuilders who you might think look “bulky” make a living off of lifting weights.
They put an insane amount of time and effort into achieving the physiques that they have. And still, even with insane time and effort, it’s still unachievable for some women.
It’s impossible for any of us to accidentally get too bulky, so this isn’t something you should be afraid of.
Don’t shy away from lifting heavy because of the myth that muscle makes you look manly.
In fact, you need to lift heavy to get that strong, toned look you desire.
If you aren’t lifting heavy or training intensely enough, you won’t see the progress that you want.
Your time in the gym won’t be worth while.
You aren’t utilizing compound and isolation movements
In order to make progress in the gym, you need to understand compound movements and isolation movements.
Knowing the advantages of each one and which exercises fall into each category is extremely essential to make progress.
This will help you implement certain exercises into your routine that you know will help you reach your goals.
Doing this is how you can train intentionally. By understanding what certain exercises do and how each one helps your body differently.
You can then use this to understand when, how, and how often you should incorporate each type of exercise into your routine.
This will help you make the best gym split for your goals.
You have poor form
Don’t make the mistake of sacrificing your form in order to lift heavier. This is called “ego lifting” and it’s something you don’t want to do.
It’s extremely important to have good form when you’re working out. In my opinion, this is even more important than how heavy you lift.
This will allow you to perform slow and controlled movements, which allows your muscle growth to skyrocket.
If you start prioritizing good form, I guarantee you’ll see much better progress in the gym.
However, if you have bad form, it does the opposite. It’ll put additional stress and tension on your surrounding muscles, joints, and tissues and decrease your gym progress.
Since you’re moving your body in a way it’s not naturally designed to move, this puts you at a much greater risk for injuries.
And, it doesn’t directly target your muscle as well as it does when you have better form. This means not as much tension will be put on your muscle and you won’t see as much progress.
You’re not warming up and cooling down
Before you work out, it’s really important to warm up your muscles before jumping right in. This allows your muscles to ease into movements before jumping straight into the heavy weights.
This will decrease your risk of injury and help your body move better through each exercise. When your body moves better, your muscles are under more tension and you’ll see more growth.
A warm up can be as simple as just 5-10 minutes of walking on the treadmill. All you need is something to get the blood flowing and your heart rate up.
If I’m doing legs, I also like to incorporate some mobility exercises in order to warm up my hips and joints.
Additionally, after you work out, it’s important to do a nice cool down.
This helps get your muscle moving and drain the lactic acid that builds up when you workout. Because lactic acid is what makes you sore, if you do a cool down that helps remove the lactic acid, you’ll find your muscles less sore.
Some simple stretches can help your muscle cool off and relax after an intense workout.
You’re not resting enough
Rest days are extremely important for muscle growth in your body.
It becomes super easy for us to get caught up in the hustle of working out everyday. It’s great to work out everyday, but a lot of times we end up forgetting that our bodies need rest. And they need a lot of rest.
Especially as someone who lifts weights, we need a lot of rest. Rest is when our muscles grow.
When you workout and lift heavy, you’re actually making a bunch of tiny little tears in your muscles.
When you rest, this is when your muscles recover and all these little tears heal. As they heal, your muscles heal bigger than they were before. This is what leads to muscle growth.
So, if you’re not allowing your body enough time to rest, your muscles won’t be able to heal and won’t be able to grow.
Additionally, over exercising can lead to a lot of other issues to your health.
For example, it increases your risk of injuries and can lead to hormone imbalances. These are things that you definitely don’t want happening to your body.
You aren’t eating enough of the right foods
As a woman who lifts weights, it’s extremely important you’re eating enough food and you’re eating the right foods.
I know that many women are conditioned to eat as little as possible because of societies norms, but this can be seriously harmful for your body.
When you’re lifting weights, your body needs a lot of energy in order to perform the workout and to recover from it.
This energy comes from calories, which comes from food.
If you’re not getting enough calories, your body won’t have the energy to workout and you won’t be able to heal.
This will decrease your results as well as put you at risk for other health issues.
When your body doesn’t have enough energy and you’re putting it under a bunch of additional stress everyday by lifting weights, it starts to deem some processes as unimportant.
These bodily processes get put on the back burner and aren’t prioritized. Because your body is using the little amount of energy to prioritize more important processes.
This is why it’s so common for women who workout and don’t eat enough to lose their periods.
The women’s body stops putting energy towards processes to support your period and starts putting more energy towards something more important. Like your heart or your brain.
However, having a period is essential for a women’s health. Even though it’s deemed as less essential, it’s still extremely important for you to be a healthy woman.
So yes, it’s extremely important for active women especially to eat a lot of food as well as a balance of macro and micronutrients.
You’re not listening to your body
I’m a firm believer that in order to make the best results in the gym, you have to listen to your body.
Your body will tell you everything you need to know about yourself. You just need to tune in a listen.
For example, you can begin by paying attention to how your body reacts to certain movements. Then, you can find what exercises work for you and what feels the best.
You can then use this to create a gym routine where you’ll make the most progress.
Planning a workout routine to build muscle is extremely important for us to make progress in the gym.
Another way your body may communicate with you is through your energy levels.
Evaluating your energy levels throughout the day can be a great indicator of things like if you’re eating right or if you’re over training.
If you find yourself tired often or fatigued during your workouts, the chances are you’re not eating enough or not eating the right foods.
Or, maybe your tiredness comes from over training. Some tell tale signs my body gives me that I’m in need of a deload week are that I become extremely irritable, really tired, I can’t lift as heavy in the gym.
By listening to your body and what it’s telling you, you can become really successful in learning what works for you in the gym.
But remember, it will take a lot of time and a lot of being honest with yourself.
Takeaways
If you’re a woman who lifts weights, awesome! I think weightlifting is one of the best things a woman can do for herself and the benefits are endless.
However, in order for us to get all the benefits from our training, we want to make sure we’re doing things right.
All of these common mistakes are mistakes that are easy avoid, as long as we bring them to our attention.
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