Lifts are incredible strength building exercises. They improve your core and strengthen your muscles. But their impact can be reduced by some simple, but big mistakes you might be doing, including the following four.
1. You are not drinking water
Your body is made up of more than 70 percent water. This water is important for cells and muscles tissues to function properly, reactions that provide energy for your workout, needs water or they slow down, muscle tissues need water as lubricant so they do not tear and wear out quickly and water itself generally gives you the mental boost to go on.
Your body can also lose up to 10 percent of its total water content in just when one workout session. So getting your water supply is vital for workouts. Do not just drink when you are working out, but drink throughout the day.
2. You have short sleep hours
Sleep is very important for your muscles when lifting or doing any other workout especially intense workouts. Your muscles start developing micro tears, when lifting that are repaired during your sleep. It is during this repair that muscles are made stronger and bigger. But if you skip on sleep, you skip on making your muscles bigger and you probably will damage your muscles as those micro tears may develop into major muscle complications.
3. You overeat before a workout
Eating something small, like a snack, or even a whole meal is okay before a workout. But eating a huge amount before your workout is outright wrong.
Lifting on an extra full belly, increases the chances that gastrointestinal complications will develop, such as acid reflux, gas and bloating. This is especially so if you eat food high in spices or in acids, high in fiber and dairy foods. Fibrous foods may cause you to develop gas, spicy or acidic food promotes indigestion and acid reflux, while dairy makes it more likely that bloating will occur.
4. You neglect warmups
Even if you are a regular at the gym, you cannot just come first thing in a day and start lifting. Your muscles and your mind need to be made ready for task ahead, by stretching and doing other smaller exercises that work on your joints like biking.
Image courtesy of: rd.com.
