I have been wanting to ask this question for a while now. Leave us a comment and tell us:
“What is the worst bodybuilding or fitness mistake that you have ever made?”
I would love to hear all of your large or small fitness errors. I know I have made so many mistakes in my training career and I am sure you guys have some fantastic war stories too. Let’s share our own experiences in the hope that others might avoid a similar plight.
So I’ll open up the floor and let the comments role in.
April 7th, 2008 at 5:28 am
Christ where do i start?
I think the worst mistake I have ever made was thinking that light weights tones muscles. I spent years working with really light weights thinking that it would make me buff. Nope. It wasn’t until I started lifting heavy weights and dieting properly that I started to get cut.
Hamish
April 7th, 2008 at 5:30 am
Hi RT.
The worst mistake I ever made was thinking that I could go into a deadlift cold without warming up. I was a fit volleyball player and thought that warm ups were for newbies. One popped disc later I know the error of my ways!!!
Can’t wait to read the rest!!
Sarah P.
April 7th, 2008 at 5:32 am
Hey,
Interesting post. The worst mistake I made was dancing for 10 years in high heels and then getting into running and cross training without preparing properly. I got a lot of injuries because my body just wasn’t ready.
Peta
April 7th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
RT-
The absolute worst thing I did was overtrain…for EIGHT years! I learned to listen to my body and check my ego at the door…
April 7th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
I think my worst (and ongoing) mistake is not giving it enough consistency. That and trying to bench a weight that was too heavy without a spotter. That could have really hurt, but luckily the bench had a lower rack point!
April 7th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
good read so far. i think the worst thing that i ever did was think that weight lifting was about weight lifting and had nothing to do with diet. i didnt grow properly for years.
james
April 7th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
Hey RT!
My worst mistake ever was training through an elbow injury that I had. I now have a chronic elbow that will never get better and it hold me back in almost every fitness activity that i do.
Lucy
April 7th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Worst mistake - thinking that training the biceps slows down my punches. Say hello to my uneven freak arms.
April 7th, 2008 at 8:39 pm
Some great stuff here guys. Funny thing is I have made almost all of these mistakes!
RT
April 8th, 2008 at 9:05 am
My worst mistake was bench pressing when I was angry and having a bad day. I tried to do too much w/o proper warm ups and hurt BOTH rotator cuffs. I could workout for 2 months.
April 8th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
Worst mistake was not warming up enough as I got older. It takes longer every year, but it does help keep injuries down.
April 8th, 2008 at 6:41 pm
Ouch Tony!
April 9th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
My biggest mistake was watching everyone else - people who had been going to the gym for a long time. When I started going back to the gym about 2 years ago, I saw a woman doing 80 pound preacher curls. I wanted to use the machine next but couldn’t be shown up - mind you this was about the 3rd week I was back at the gym, so I go to 100 pounds. I pumped out about 3 reps and my arm got a shooting pain and I had to stop. I went to the doctor - I had naturally pulled my bicep muscle and was absent from the gym for 3 weeks.
April 12th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
My worst mistake was doing dumbell flys without proper technique and too much weight. Next morning I couldn’t move my right arm and shoulder and had a messed up rotator cuff for many months after. That is one injury you do not want to have since healing takes months and months.
April 12th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
Dan - Thats a really good tip.
Tom - That sounds painful man. Good tip.
RT
April 13th, 2008 at 12:39 am
I took a day off.
And the power of compounding worked the rest of it. I later figured if I am too tired to lift weights or go for a run, I might as well go for a walk or even a small jog. I train with a lot of guys at the gym and if they miss one day, they’re usually out for a week or two. It’s sort of sad, considering a lot of these guys are trying their best to do something along the lines of lose weight.
Even though I go to the gym, I have some small weights at home. So if I don’t feel like going there, I usually variate the barbells into a workout I would do and continue the following day. Walking for running, etc.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:34 pm
the worst mistake i ever made while lifting was ignoring pain, i was doing curls with a straight bench bar and a vein or artery in my wrist burst, my wrist was black for weeks
April 25th, 2008 at 8:49 pm
Bennett that sounds awful.
April 29th, 2008 at 6:50 am
I think the worst mistake I ever made was lifting too much for too long when I first started using free weights. For about four days afterwards my whole body ached and I couldn’t go near the weights for almost a week.