Common Bodybuilding Mistakes : We all want that sculpted physique, but sometimes getting there can feel like navigating a minefield. Don’t worry, nobody expects perfection, but there are some common mistakes (sins!) that can slow your progress. Let’s tackle a few of the big ones
Table of Contents
Going Through the Motions
Lifting weights is awesome, but just showing up isn’t enough. You need to push yourself with proper form and focus. Imagine going to school but just staring at the textbook – you won’t learn much! Challenge yourself, track your workouts, and aim to improve each time.
Ditching the Diary
Your memory might not be perfect. A training journal is your best friend. Note down what exercises you did, how much weight you lifted, and how you felt. This helps you see progress and adjust your workouts for better results.
Comparing Yourself to Everyone Else
Social media can be a great motivator, but comparing yourself to others is a recipe for discouragement. Everyone’s body is different, and we all progress at our own pace. Focus on your own journey and celebrate your personal victories.
Forgetting Fuel
Your body is a machine, and just like a car, it needs the right fuel to function. Don’t skip meals or skimp on protein. Eating healthy and enough will give you the energy to build muscle and recover properly.
Sleepless Nights
Sleep is crucial for muscle growth and repair. Aim for 7-8 hours a night. When you’re well-rested, you’ll have more energy for your workouts and recover faster between sessions.
Bodybuilding Sins” That Cause Back Pain and Missed Workouts
It’s one thing for someone who sits at a computer all day and never exercises to have back pain, but for a bodybuilder, someone who spends hours and hours each week pouring everything they’ve got into building muscle, it should be criminal!
The reason we say this is because, if you are going to spend so much time, money, and energy trying to build the “perfect body”, you have to make sure that you not only look good, but also feel good…
Choosing the WRONG Exercises
Get ready, this is gonna hurt! The exercises most bodybuilders focus on the most, are the ones that cause the most problems… hopefully, you’re different
But before we share with you what those exercise are, let’s talk real quickly about what bodybuilding is…
The goal of bodybuilding isn’t to get as big as you can, or at least to us it isn’t and shouldn’t be, but to build a balanced body that is as strong as possible in every way. For example, while being freakishly big may get people’s attention, it serves you no purpose at all…
while on the other hand, what if you were not only big, but also extremely strong and powerful, lightning fast, flexible, and agile enough to kick ass if needed?
So many bodybuilders build massive amounts of muscle yet are so unbelievably weak and inflexible… for example, we know a guy who can bench press over 350 lbs but can’t do a measly 50 push-ups!
The point is, the exercises you choose and how you perform them not only determine how big, strong, and flexible you are, but also affect how your body functions and whether or not you suffer from aches, pains, and injuries like back pain and sciatic pain.
Ok, here they are… the exercises that create the most problems and are most likely to lead to back pain:
There are several reasons why these exercises made our list of the “worst bodybuilding exercises”. First, all of them target areas that already tend to get worked a lot in everyday life and often times are overdeveloped…
and by focusing so much on these exercises you end up creating muscle imbalances, or worsening existing muscle imbalances, which pull your bones and joints out of their normal position…
and this leads to uneven pressure and wear and tear on your muscle, ligaments, tendons, bones, and joints and will sooner or later lead a break down or injury.
For example, chronic overuse of the bench press, coupled with little or no exercises targeting the upper back, leads to an over development of the chest and a lack of strength and development in the upper back…
This all too common combination leads to what we call “Turtle Back”. You know what we’re talking about, when the shoulders are pulled so far forward, lats are as wide as barn, and from behind, their back looks like a giant sea turtle shell!
This “Turtle Back” posture can create neck, upper back, and shoulder pain and injuries faster than you can pop an Advil!
So hopefully you can see how important it is to choose your exercises wisely. We strongly recommend you cut out these exercises, or at least cut back on using them and add in targeted exercises for the opposing muscle groups and targeted stretches for those tight, overdeveloped muscles.
