Fitness & Exercise

The Top 20 Fitness Mistakes Beginners Make

Are you exercising regularly, yet not seeing the results you want? Or getting sidelined by pulled muscles and other injuries? Feeling tempted to drop out because you're so bored?

Don't give up your fitness program just yet. Maybe the problem isn't the exercise itself but the way you're exercising.

Exercisers (especially beginning exercisers) often make mistakes that keep them from getting the most from their workouts. Fitness experts spoke to WebMD about 20 of the most common exercise mistakes, and how you can keep them from derailing your fitness program.

Cardio Uh-Ohs

1. Doing the "gym slouch." "We see many people in the gym leaning on equipment," says Debi Pillarella, MEd, a spokeswoman for the American Council on Exercise. "We call it 'gym slouch': They're on the Stairmaster, [elliptical cross trainer], or treadmill, leaning over, and hanging on for dear life."

When your back is rounded, your spine doesn't get enough support. So stand erect when you're working out on one of these machines.

2. Getting a grip. Holding on too tightly to the cardio equipment lets you "cheat" and contributes to slouching. It also keeps you from moving your arms -- which can boost your heart rate and burn extra calories. If loosening your grip makes you feel insecure, try this technique Pillarella teaches at Community Hospital Fitness Pointe in Munster, Ind. "Instead of gripping, just rest your fingers, from your index finger to the pinkie, on the bars. As you get more comfortable, drop a finger. Eventually, you may have just the index fingers resting there for security."

3. Catching up on your reading. If you're doing lots of reading on the elliptical machine, you're probably not getting a good workout, says Julie Isphording, host of the radio shows Fitness Information Talk and On Your Feet.

"If you must read, stop about every three minutes and do a four-minute focus interval," she says. During this interval, "concentrate on picking up the pace, dropping your shoulders, breathing, and using your arms."

4. Walking with weights. Carrying hand weights when you walk might seem like a good way to add strength training to your cardio workout, but it compromises your stride. "You lean forward, and it stresses the quads, ankles, and shins, and can cause stress fractures," Isphording says. "Keep your cardio and strength training separate."

5. Thinking cardio is enough. Many people think they need only a cardiovascular exercise program. "We begin losing muscle at age 30," says Isphording. "Strength training builds muscles, which increases metabolism and burns more calories."

Strength-Training Slipups

6. Rushing your reps. Doing weight-lifting repetitions too fast raises your blood pressure and increases your risk for joint injury. It also compromises your results.

"The safest way to use strength machines or dumbbells is: in lifting phase, exhale for two counts and hold briefly at the top of the contraction, then return as you inhale for four counts," says Pillarella. "Always exhale during the hardest part of the work."