Exercise is the driver to burning calories so you do need to exercise to lose weight. Regular exercise has both immediate and long-
lasting effects. In addition to helping you lose weight, exercise can make you feel better, give you more energy and perhaps even help you live longer.
Everybody needs some type of physical activity on a regular basis in order to stay healthy. But many people start off a new exercise regime with good intentions only to give up after a few weeks or even days because of injury, lack of results, boredom or any number of excuses.
Here are 7 common mistakes that everyone usually makes when they start to exercise to lose weight.
Free Report: Top 5 Exercise Mistakes
7 Mistakes To Avoid When You Exercise To Lose Weight
1. Doing Too Much Too Soon
If you are just starting to exercise to lose weight, you should start off light and slow. If you do too much too soon you run the risk of giving yourself an injury or getting so exhausted that you have to wait days before you have the energy to start again. If you have not done any activities for a long time, start with a gentle exercise to lose weight like walking and increase the distance, time and momentum as you feel ready.
2. Not Warming Up
Always stretch your muscles first before you exercise to lose weight. If your muscles are not warmed up and you strain them, you’ll cost yourself several days of exercising and you’ll end up back at square one. Don’t forget to do some cool down stretching exercises too.This helps you relax the muscles after a good workout so they’ll be ready for your other daily activities and not be as sore.
3. Thinking That Sit-ups Will Burn Belly Fat
There are many good ways to exercise, like resistance and cardio interval training, that will help you lose unwanted fat around your waistline. But trying to do lots stomach exercises to lose weight, like sits-ups and crunches, will not burn off belly fat. Sit-ups and crunches tone your abdominal muscles, but you need to burn off the fat that covers those muscles first.
4. Not Including Resistance Training In Your Workout
Resistance, or strength training, is one of the good ways to exercise to lose weight because muscles burn more calories, even while they are at rest. Focus on training the largest muscle groups of the body like the legs, back, and chest. Women sometimes worry that this type of exercise will turn them into a bulky bodybuilder. But it won’t, as big bulky muscles are created by a very particular, and very hard, exercise regimen.
5. Only Doing Long Cardio Sessions
You do need to include some cardiovascular activity to increase your heart rate, condition your lungs, and burn fat. The best cardio exercise to lose weight is interval training. This is where you alternate between high intensity exercise with low intensity recovery periods. Doing both interval training and resistance training are good ways to lose weight quickly and improve your lean muscle tissue.
6. Eating Whatever You Want Because You Exercise Regularly
If you have started daily exercises to lose weight it does not automatically mean that you can eat what you want. You can exercise as hard as you want, but if those calories that you’ve burned are being replaced with with unhealthy foods and extra fats, it is very unlikely that you will reach your fat loss goal. To lose weight you need to cut back on fatty and sugar filled fast foods and eat more fresh fruit and vegetables.
7. Trying To Do Exercises You Don’t Like
Exercise is something many people dread when they want help losing weight. But there are hundreds of good ways to exercise and by giving some of them a try, you’re sure to find at least one that you enjoy. Once you add a few different types of exercises to your routine, you can alter the days you do them or combine them in different orders to add variety and avoid boredom. Consider exercising with a friend or family member. It’s always helpful to have someone to chat with to pass the time while you exercise to lose weight and it gives you someone to help keep you focused and on track.
Top 5 Exercise Mistakes (Free Download)
Knowing what not to do is as important as knowing what to do when it comes to exercise. Being healthy is about taking action to do more of the right things, and fewer of the wrong things every day. Did you know your exercise routine may actually slow down your weight loss? There are certain mistakes that are easy to make which can even cause you to gain weight! Download my free report, Top 5 Exercise Mistakes to help you avoid more common fitness mistakes so you get the results you deserve.