The Top 20 Fitness Mistakes Beginners Make

[WebMD]

The Top 20 Fitness Mistakes Beginners Make

Don't let exercise errors stand in your way

By Leanna Skarnulis
WebMD Weight Loss Clinic - Feature

Reviewed By Kathleen Zelman, MPH, RD/LD

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."

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