If you are just starting out on your bodybuilding journey, we say congratulations to you in taking this right step to improved fitness, health and wellness. But as a beginner, you are still considered raw and experienced.
Maybe you have read loads of bodybuilding magazines, watched many YouTube shorts on bodybuilding tips and have a more than average idea of how, what, when, and why you should workout.
That’s good and your efforts must be applauded, however, as a novice, you are more likely to make mistakes in bodybuilding, especially if you embark on this journey on your own without proper guidance from a qualified trainer.
So without further ado, let’s look at 7, yes, seven mistakes EVERYBODY makes in the beginning.
Why Fitness And Workout Plans Are Important
Before we get into the 7 mistakes in bodybuilding by beginners, you need to understand why fitness is important. It’s no secret that fitness is a lifestyle that helps you in living a healthier, more productive life. Fitness can provide both physical and mental stability.
Fitness promotes skeletal muscle growth, stamina, strength, and endurance while at the same time relieving you of depression and feelings of anxiety. Fitness is indeed a drug to elevate your mood and keep you upbeat despite the challenges of the world.
These are just a few of the benefits and importance of fitness in your life, but in order to thoroughly take advantage of these fitness pros, you also need to understand the importance of having a workout plan.
A workout plan is simply a plan of action designed to help you stay on track with your fitness routine. A typical workout plan is designed with fitness goals which drive you daily to put in the required effort to succeed.
Having a fitness and workout plan is crucial to any bodybuilding regimen. But even workout plans with the best of intentions can be flawed if you make the seven common mistakes explained below.
Beginners Mistake #1: You Take On Several Things At The Same Time
It is understandable that in all your excitement to begin a fitness and bodybuilding program, you pile on too many activities and work schedules at the same time. This can be tedious, overwhelming and can literally wear you down before you even begin implementing your workout plan.
It is important to keep things simple at the start, you can begin with 2 to 3 days per week of light exercises to get used to the habit of working out before increasing your workload. Thread carefully at the start and gradually, but surely work towards achieving your fitness goals.
Beginners Mistake #2: You Have No Clear Goal Set
As mentioned earlier, you need to have a workout plan before you start bodybuilding. Your workout plan will not only define your fitness program by stating the type of exercises, days and time for workouts, and dietary requirements, it will also clearly indicate the end goal.
A fitness plan should be driven towards an objective which could be to cut (shed fat and lose weight) or to bulk (add muscle mass). Without a clear goal set, you wouldn’t know if you are on the right track of your fitness routine or not.
This can lead to frustration and disappointment along the way. But a fitness goal gives you clarity of purpose which drives you each day to succeed.
Beginners Mistake #3: You Don’t Get Back On Track If You Skipped A Workout
Another mistake beginners make is that they often don’t get back on track if they miss a workout day. It is important to follow your workout plan to the letter and where you have to skip a workout for whatever reason, you need to take note of it, and with the help of your coach, find a way to make up it.
Remember that your workout plan is designed to help guide you towards achieving a set fitness goal and every workout session you partake in or miss will either take you a step further to achieving your goal or hampering your efforts altogether.
Beginners Mistake #4: You Aren’t Easy On Yourself
It is not uncommon for beginners to get so worked up to the point of obsession. The problem with this is; your desire to improve your fitness will sooner or later become a chore rather than fun. It is all about having fun and be happy with waking up in the morning to do what you love doing which is working out and bodybuilding. To this end, you need to try as much as possible to take it easy and enjoy your fitness routine.
For you to do this, try not to be too hard on yourself, especially if you are not seeing instant results (most people rarely do). Understand that you are raking steps towards a fitness goal and your ability to reach that goal is based on your consistency, hardwork, commitment and dedication to your daily workout routine.
Every individual reaches their goal at their own pace for a variety of reasons. It vould be due to genetics, age, current health issues, and so on. What is important is that you understand that you cannot witness a transformation overnight.
There is no magic pill that will turn you into early 1990s version of Arnold Schwarzenegger overnight. It takes a tremendous amount of patience and above all, don’t be too hard on yourself as you run your workout plan.
Beginners Mistake #5: You Can’t Take Your Eyes Off The Weighing Scale
It is not unusual for beginners to constantly look at their weighing scale while running a cutting program. The truth is, constantly looking at the weighing scale isn’t goingto suddenly make you lose body fat and drop some pounds.
You need to spend less time obsessing over your weigh and more time focusing on actually following your workout plan to achieve the results you desire overtime.
Beginners Mistake #6: You Try Fad Diets Or Starve
If you are one to try out any diet fads that makes its way to your various social media accounts, well, you might end up disappointed along the way. What you should know is that diet is a truly personalized, but very important aspect of bodybuilding. So, you really should see a dietician to draw up a diet plan that will not only agree with your food preferences, but also meet the caloric demands of your workout. That’s right, your workout plan is unique to you and you only.
So you need a dietary plan that will match up perfectly with your training program. This is the only way to be truly certain that you are eating the right amounts of macros (carbohydrates, fats and proteins) to help you achieve your training goals.
Another thing that is quite common with beginners is starvation. Yes, some newbies think that the vest way to lose weight is to literally starve themselves.
The truth is, starvation does more harm to your bodybuilding goals than good. Stick with a diet prepared for you by a dietician and nutritionist, and never Starve yourself in an attempt to lose weight, it really isn’t helpful.
Beginners Mistake #7: You Don’t Ask For Help
One of the most common mistakes in bodybuilding by beginners is a failure to seek help when they clearly need one. No man is an island, and this is even more so when it comes to bodybuilding.
Even the most experienced bodybuilders ask for help from time to time, because you really can’t know it all. You shouldn’t be shy, timid or reluctant to consult with experienced bodybuilders.
That advice, kind word, scrutiny or criticism may just be all you need to improve your form, Stat motivated, and commit yourself to seeing your workout program through.
A Final Word
As a bodybuilding beginner, you need to first consult with a coach that would listen to your bodybuilding needs and guide you towards achieving them by preparing workout plans that include a training regimen and dietary plan to match. You should stop bothering all the time about your weight and working yourself up to the point of obsession.
Your fitness is important alright, but you should go about it the right way and that means getting fun out of it. If you need help setting up a workout plan that meets your fitness expectations, our fitness coaches can help out with that today.
