You're Doing It Wrong

This post is brought to you by one of my dearest friends, whom I met through the most unfortunate circumstances, but without her I would have crawled into a hole and died. She brings me life, joy, and much laughter. AND she is THE BOMB!!! Here is to you Tiff!

To get the most out of your workout — and avoid an injury — after talking to a few different trainers at my gym and little research on my own, I've come up with 6 common mistakes that you should avoid to make the most of your workout.

1. Jerking to lift weights: Make sure your lifts are slow and controlled. Use your muscle to hoist the weight, not momentum. If you're having to put your back into it just to get those weights up...your weights are too heavy. Try lifting a lighter load and see how you feel.a

2. Leaning on the handrails of the stair climber, elliptical trainer, or treadmill: This makes the workout less challenging and can injure your wrists and back. Stand up tall and instead barely brush the handrails for balance.

3. Not getting enough rest: Working out when you're fatigued can lead to sloppy technique and an injury. It's always better to do less reps and have proper form than doing the usual in a schloppy manner! So don't forget to get your Zzzzzzz's!

4. Locking your knees: Always keep your knees slightly bent to prevent an injury.

5. Not warming up: Don't try to shave time off your workout by skipping the warm up could leave you hanging out on the bench instead of using it to power through your work out.

6. Getting stuck in a rut: If you're just going through the motions during your workout, shake things up by changing up your routine. I LOVE the results I get from doing P90X, but can't STAND to listen the guy on the videos. He drives me BONKERS! But his philosophy works...you should switch things up every 30 days or so so that your body doesn't get used to the same ole same ole!

Hope these little tips will help you improve and give a little direction so you can make your fitness goals a reality! Happy Living!