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What do you think is a begginers major error?
PowerBuilder
New member
All of those for sure. The lack of consistency, the using of exercises such as tricep kick backs, leg extensions, & 'flyes'. Not taking advantage of the concept of 'progressive overload'. Another big error that begging guys & girls do is not planning out their workouts, not having a goal at the end. I"m at a stage where when i walk into the gym i know what i'm going to do & have mini goals. what get's measured gets improved
PowerBuilder
New member
every day i wish to god that i'd be turned into a 17 year old kid again (with the knowledge of what i know now) & start again! i wouldn't be 10 years behind the 8-ball!
minithemeezer
New member
I don't know if some of these are mistakes or just ignorance that we all deal with when entering any new pursuit. I'm sure all of us look back with the rose-tinted glasses on: "Gee, I wish I knew then what I know now and I wouldn't have wasted so much time on the leg press machine or doing con curls."
Even say from 10 years ago when I was at a physical peak, to now, the swing has been massive from diet theory (we can eat fat now, woot!) to training (a bodypart a day was *the* thing and now full body is where it's at) to equipment (where'd all the free weights go in an average gym?) that a beginner has almost no likelihood of not making a shitload of mistakes over a prolonged period of time and giving the game up.
Our government is still telling us five veg and two fruit a day and go walk 10,000 steps and all that, so if daft messages are coming from the policy makers, many of the commercial gyms' PTs put newbies on machines, and commercial TV makes celebrities of the big losers who shed kilograms unsustainably every week on the tele for our entertainment, it's not going to stop any time soon.
To answer the question, I think the biggest mistake is to accept the fear of the scary free weights rather than go conquer it.
Even say from 10 years ago when I was at a physical peak, to now, the swing has been massive from diet theory (we can eat fat now, woot!) to training (a bodypart a day was *the* thing and now full body is where it's at) to equipment (where'd all the free weights go in an average gym?) that a beginner has almost no likelihood of not making a shitload of mistakes over a prolonged period of time and giving the game up.
Our government is still telling us five veg and two fruit a day and go walk 10,000 steps and all that, so if daft messages are coming from the policy makers, many of the commercial gyms' PTs put newbies on machines, and commercial TV makes celebrities of the big losers who shed kilograms unsustainably every week on the tele for our entertainment, it's not going to stop any time soon.
To answer the question, I think the biggest mistake is to accept the fear of the scary free weights rather than go conquer it.
PowerBuilder
New member
65kg trainers are great.... For marathon runners. I can't believe you can work in a gym on such a small amount of education and even better minimal time with an "experienced" trainer. For my clinical exercise physiologist accreditation I need a minimum 500 hours under a supervisor and they are strict and I think for a PT that would be a good time limit. But anyway back on topic I guess they make a mistake by not training at PTC.
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trofius
Member
I guess the pay package would be a reflection of the educational requirements to be a PT. MOst dont get paid very well in a commercial gym context..Usually the smarter ones have more experience and more brains and usually operate from home or a PT studio, private business situation.
Shrek, alternatively you could suggest that they all complete a bachelors of human movement science, (3-4 years, full time study, and 6 months plus of work placement.)
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Even exercise science students need more practical experience than the 300hrs they need to complete. A one year graduate trainee program would be fantastic but there are not many (closer to none) of these around.
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Also I agree with Shrek 1 day a week for 4 years would be more schooling an the practical experience would be the best way to learn technical and practical skills needed in the gym.
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Also I agree with Shrek 1 day a week for 4 years would be more schooling an the practical experience would be the best way to learn technical and practical skills needed in the gym.
I started as a gym instructor in 1980.
Back, then gyms were owned mainly by people who trained, the one I started at was.
I was taught by a senior gym instructor. They had record boards at the gym and I held all the U20 ones, so they gave me the oppurtunity to work there.
It was all on the job training, young inexperienced instructor on the floor with senior instructors. I sat with them and learnt how to write programs, measure clients etc.
Second gym job, I was the senior instructor, same goes with my third and last gym.
Very few machines and electronic rubbish back then. Just the basics.
This system gave me the foundation to grow and learn.
I feel all gyms should offer gym instructors, not fill the floor with competing PT's that are not as competent as they should be.
There is no way this is EVER going to happen. Instead of paying instructors, they charge PT's rent, win win for the gym.
The system is a disgrace and can only be fixed by boycotting PT's firstly, the gyms that dont provide instructors as part of the service. Not towel boys and clean up boys, instructors.
We had to write programs, check them every month, spot clients, instruct on proper technique, basicly make their gym experience better....FOR FREE.
Back, then gyms were owned mainly by people who trained, the one I started at was.
I was taught by a senior gym instructor. They had record boards at the gym and I held all the U20 ones, so they gave me the oppurtunity to work there.
It was all on the job training, young inexperienced instructor on the floor with senior instructors. I sat with them and learnt how to write programs, measure clients etc.
Second gym job, I was the senior instructor, same goes with my third and last gym.
Very few machines and electronic rubbish back then. Just the basics.
This system gave me the foundation to grow and learn.
I feel all gyms should offer gym instructors, not fill the floor with competing PT's that are not as competent as they should be.
There is no way this is EVER going to happen. Instead of paying instructors, they charge PT's rent, win win for the gym.
The system is a disgrace and can only be fixed by boycotting PT's firstly, the gyms that dont provide instructors as part of the service. Not towel boys and clean up boys, instructors.
We had to write programs, check them every month, spot clients, instruct on proper technique, basicly make their gym experience better....FOR FREE.
chrisp
New member
In my experiance the biggest mistakes made by new lifters is the overtraining of (mirror muscles) ,lead by a handfull of stupid articles in magazines. Ive seen guys only train and over develope chest and arms for years in the vain miscoception there going to look like that cover model , then wonder why they stop growing. So to get back to the question , i think the biggest mistake new guys make is to many isolation exercises , using different wieghts ,bar positions rep amounts i try and get my guys to do no less than 80% compound moves for atleast the first 3-6 months
Z
Zarkov
Guest
Chrisp and PTC, great posts which sum it all up.Luckily here all of the gyms are staffed with instructors/PT`s and no outsiders.But,the Japanese have a certain way of doing things and it happens in the gyms as well.If you read a book called "Things Japanese" it explains it at length but in a nutshell it is form over content.That is, the appearance of doing something is more important than actually doing it and you can see it everywhere and gyms are no exception.
Except for one or two great gyms I have been to the staff just hang around and offer no assistance and even if they do (only when asked) you can clearly see it is all book learned stuff.
I`m no expert but IHOMO one of the biggest mistakes made is getting hung up on numbers.Every workout has to be 5X5 or 3X12 or whatever.No variation.
Except for one or two great gyms I have been to the staff just hang around and offer no assistance and even if they do (only when asked) you can clearly see it is all book learned stuff.
I`m no expert but IHOMO one of the biggest mistakes made is getting hung up on numbers.Every workout has to be 5X5 or 3X12 or whatever.No variation.
haz
Member
sometimes the pt's and gym instructors sorta have to give shit machine workouts to people. usually the untrained, elderly or female.
unless the trainer will be there for all the session, he cant prescribe squats, benches and deadlifts to some mother, or 50 yr old, or overweight dude. they will have bad form, not use enough weight, feel uncomfortable(and probably stop coming), be confused etc.
i know its not the best thing for them but its better than nothing. after 4-8 weeks of lat pull down and leg press the client will have the hang of pushing themselves, body awareness and see the benefit to Resistance training and then you can prescribe deads, squats etc. its not right but sometimes you don't have much choice.
but pt's who training their clients using only machines all the time are lazy retards, who don't know the power of resistance training.
you also have to remember that we all enjoy working out, we're lucky that we love to do something that is so beneficial to us.
biggest mistake beginners make - not using enough effort
unless the trainer will be there for all the session, he cant prescribe squats, benches and deadlifts to some mother, or 50 yr old, or overweight dude. they will have bad form, not use enough weight, feel uncomfortable(and probably stop coming), be confused etc.
i know its not the best thing for them but its better than nothing. after 4-8 weeks of lat pull down and leg press the client will have the hang of pushing themselves, body awareness and see the benefit to Resistance training and then you can prescribe deads, squats etc. its not right but sometimes you don't have much choice.
but pt's who training their clients using only machines all the time are lazy retards, who don't know the power of resistance training.
you also have to remember that we all enjoy working out, we're lucky that we love to do something that is so beneficial to us.
biggest mistake beginners make - not using enough effort
Shrek
Fucked up Kunce
Dunno. I see them strain until blue in the face with benches and barbell curls, but when it comes to major lifts (aside from benches) they are like pansies in a forest. Pissy leg extensions for quads or half hearted leg press, never deadlifting or power cleaning. They try hard but only in the easy lifts.
Never in my entire gym career have I seen anyone perform 20 reppers on the squats, never.
Dancelot
New member
The undisputed biggest mistake a beginner makes has to be: QUITTING!
If they stay in the game, at least they still have a chance to correct their mistakes and get on the right path. If they quit, game over.
The next two, of equal standing, are:
* Underestimate the importance of diet & recovery.
* Lack of effort / misdirected effort.
By misdirected effort, I mean they train hard on exercises that motivate them i.e those that they already do well at, and stay away from the ones that reveal their weaknesses. This is why we have one dimensional lifters.
If they stay in the game, at least they still have a chance to correct their mistakes and get on the right path. If they quit, game over.
The next two, of equal standing, are:
* Underestimate the importance of diet & recovery.
* Lack of effort / misdirected effort.
By misdirected effort, I mean they train hard on exercises that motivate them i.e those that they already do well at, and stay away from the ones that reveal their weaknesses. This is why we have one dimensional lifters.