1. Rushing through routines.

   No one really wants to spend five minutes doing a routine they don’t like. This can lead to pushing and rushing to get it over with. In fact, many people just rush through their entire workout, which can be very disastrous to your muscle and joint health. The key is to relax and take the time that it takes to get everything done. Don’t rush in without stretching and take the time to cool down afterwards. If you don’t like the routine you’re doing, look for a new one that is more enjoyable.

2. Doing your exercises wrong.

   From a simple sit-up to complex cardio and lifting routines, it is all too easy to get it wrong. If you don’t have someone helping you, the chances of performing an exercise wrong are very high. If you can’t afford the services of a personal trainer, we recommend getting at least one lesson to learn the proper form for your exercises. You can go back from time to time to make sure that you’re still doing it properly. This is the easiest way to work on your form and reduce the potential for injury.

3. Pushing way too hard.

   If you’re already working out and starting to see results, the natural inclination is too work harder to see more results. However, this makes it very easy to get injured. Use the 10% rule as a guide to how you should amp up your workout. For example, if you do 10 push-ups a day, you can start increasing this by adding 1 extra push up for two days, two extra after four, etc…

4. Too much repetition.

   If 10 reps are good, then 20 must be really good, right? Wrong! Repetitious exercise can be very dangerous if you are doing too many. Find out how many reps you should be doing and stick to it. Add to it slowly if necessary, but realize that there is a balance and overdoing it can only lead to injury.

5. Improper stretching.

   You wouldn’t think that something like a stretch could incapacitate you, but it is also too easy. One of the most common stretch related injuries is a hamstring pull. Make sure you are stretching slowly and never, ever bounce during your stretches. This can lead to various injuries that are quite painful and slow to heal. If you can’t quite make the stretch complete, don’t push it. Work on your flexibility instead and gradually get into stretching further.

While there are many ways to hurt yourself in a gym, there are just as many techniques to use that will prevent injury. If in doubt, always ask for help before going out on your own.

Photo Credits: 1

From the Fitness Health Network this week were quite a few good articles in my opinion. Check them out:

• Did you know that One Pound of Fat = 3500 Calories? Journal of Healthy Living explains calorie deficits in relation to weight loss goals.
• Lazy Man and Health is looking into Hotel Friendly Food and not hotel food so much as food you can take on the road with you.
• FatManUnleashed is having a little contest this week. If you like Smoothie King you have until Wednesday the 9th of July to respond with a comment about the Smoothie King Chain or products.
• Walking 45 Minutes – The Ups And Downs by NCN is an interesting look at the mental state of a fellow blogger. Do you feel this way when exercising? How about in other areas of your life- like going to work?
• Nutrition Fitness Life presents Yoga Revisisted. Are you looking for a change of pace from the high intensity exercises? Yoga might just be for you.
• Drinking Water Only: A Month-Long Experiment in Self-Discipline by Get Fit Slowly is about habit breaking. Can you kick the sugar, caffeine, and alcohol addiction?

Now for the rest of blogosphere:

• MizFitOnline brings us a great interview with Tues Tip: Rocco style; from the personal trainer Rocco Castellano.
• How do you fight cravings? In Break Me off a Piece… at Weight Down, Money Up explores options such as moderation and learning to just say no. Who knew that simple phrase could do more than protect you from drugs?
• Andrew posts this week on Lessons learned: Exercise is not a dirty word. It really isn’t, but if you don’t believe me this is an excellent post to read.
• After my own scare with dehydration it’s imperative to remember to Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate! Sheamus informs readers that being 2% short on the fluids your body needs can result in a 10-20% loss in your body’s performance for exercise.
• Deflabbify brings us the killer hidden cost of weight-loss programs this week and for those who are looking to join a program might just think twice.
• As it is summer I thought this post from Fit36 was a great read: The Challenges of Living Healthy While on Vacation. What do you and your family do?
• Thinking to Thin brings us Baked Beef Ziti in Recipe Thursday and more… for only 5pts.
• In June Recap Laura from Pursuit of Healthyness examines her routine and life style changes for healthier living. Can you give her any tips?

What is the 100 Pushup Program?

You can find out more about the 100 Pushup Program at the official website. I’m not 100% sure if it’s scientifically proven to work. However, I checked with my doctor and she says I’m fit enough to give it a shot. (I didn’t have any doubts, but I like to check anyway, you should think about it as well before you start a health-fitness program.) The idea is to start off with a small amount of pushups and over the span of six weeks gradually build up to the time where you can make a good run at 100 consecutive pushups. Where do I start? You start with an initial test to see how many pushups you can do to start the program. On my initial test, I got to 20 before I tired. My muscles weren’t particularly tired, but my breathing was off and I just had to stop and breathe better to continue. I think I probably could have done another 6 more, but I’m okay to start with 20. With that information I was ready for day one. Day one Yesterday was day one. I did 5 sets of push-ups. The sets had 10, 10, 8, 6, and 16 push-ups in them. The first four sets are dictated by the program, while the last one varies from person to person. That last one is supposed to be the most you can do before tiring. I was very happy to be able to hit that 16 number. It gives me confidence that I’ll be able to get through this week – though the end of the week looks difficult with repetitions of 15, 13, 10, 10, and 15+ on the docket. I will try to continue Monday, Wednesday, and Friday workouts. I will supplement that with some juggling for exercise, and follow that up with some Wii Fit.

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I attribute missing the goal for the same reason as missing last week’s goal… a later than normal and larger than normal (for a 1200 calorie diet) dinner last night and missing my regular movement this morning. I except that there are normal fluctuations in the weekly number as even on a daily basis I can fluctuate 5 pounds from morning through evening with the ups and downs of water loss and water consumption with the Ketosis and exercise.

Here is a graph of my weight loss (if you are reading this in the future this graph will have updated for future weigh ins as well)… Clicking the image will open to a larger image.

So if I am to believe my claim that 1.5 pounds is within a normal fluctuation and that I am still maintaining a 5 pound a week average weight loss (from missing my goal last weigh in.) Then I need to set my weekly goal for 5 pounds plus the pound and a half that the scale failed to recognize lost in previous weeks. So my goal for next week is to end the week at 345 or to have lost 6.5 pounds for the week.

I played 2 hours of basketball twice and 2 hours of volleyball twice and went of several walks and played 9 holes of golf at Harding Park Golf Club. I did not get a chance to swim… My plan is about the same for this week, only with more swimming.

I was able to drastically reduce my fat free cheese intake and plan to continue with more lean meats instead… I feel more satiated and frankly they taste better too. I ran out of sugar free Metamucil (non water soluble) and switched to benefiber (water soluble). If Metamucil is an orange cream shake, benefiber is like dirty water (in plain water) and noticeable but ignorable in crystal light. I plan on switching back as soon as my current container is used.

Here is a graph of my weight loss (if you are reading this in the future this graph will have updated for future weigh ins as well)… Clicking the image will open to a larger image.

So if I am to believe my claim that 1.5 pounds is within a normal fluctuation and that I am still maintaining a 5 pound a week average weight loss. Then I need to set my weekly goal for 5 pounds plus the pound and a half that the scale failed to recognize lost in the weigh in. So my goal for next week is to end the week at 350 or to have lost 6.5 pounds for the week.

My plan to accomplish the goal is to stick to the diet, reduce my fat free cheese intake and replace those proteins with more lean meat. My plan to address the lack of a normal movement is to continue to consume a 2 regular servings of sugar free Metamucil.

I had a good week for an exercise perspective… I played almost 2 hours of basketball twice and almost 2 hours of volleyball twice. I went for a short swim and several walks. My plan is about the same for this week, only with more swimming.

In talking with the doctor about my long term goal, he was hesitant to talk about a final weight number. Instead he focused on Body Fat percentage. At this week’s weigh in we did the electroanalysis again and my body fat percentage was 36% (down from 39% when I started). He thought he first goal is to get the BFP below 25% and ideally below 20%. At that point my actual weight is irrelevant. So, even though I have a number in mind for my final weight (230-260), I am now officially making it my goal to get to under a 20% body fat percentage. If I can continue to lose 5 pounds a week I should be able to reach my goal by the end of the year.