Going Through the Motions:

I see people at the gym and for the most part they show no signs of improvement yet they are at the gym all the time and seem to have a basic good understanding of what they are doing. Often times these people are simply making the mistake of assuming that by being at the gym X days per week for X hours per day will get them the results they are looking for but end up asking why they are not making any progress anymore?

The reason is their bodies have now adapted to the current level of fitness they are subjecting it to and even if they saw results at first they now have hit a point where the exercise they re doing is keeping them at the level of fitness they are now experiencing. In order to see an improvement in their fitness they will need to stimulate their body in a different way which may require more effort but can often simply be achieved by changing their training program a bit.

• Change your split days.
• Change or add in some new types of exercises.
• Change your workout set amounts and rep ranges.
• Even try changing your diet a bit. 

The Over and Under Achiever:

I see a lot of people at the gym “similar to going through the motions” but with an even bigger problem, they are barely pushing themselves. They pick up a set of say 10 pound dumbbells and do a bunch of arm curls then switch to some overhead press with the same weight, then again switch to another exercise using the same weight and at no time do I see them really exerting themselves at all. Sure they are getting their heart rate up a bit and burning some calories but in terms of challenging their muscles enough to actually active muscle growth, not going to happen until they really start push themselves.

Likewise I see the opposite people that grab a much too heavy weight and try to perform some sort of functional exercise but usually end up using horrible form and partial rep ranges with very few reps per set. If you are a power lifter and know what you are doing you can grab a super heavy weight and do sets of 1-5 reps. But for the average person this will only lead to bad form and possible injuries.

The Zig Zag Workout:

Another type of gym user I see are the Busy Bee Zig Zaggers, they jump from exercise to exercise generally doing one long set with a short amount of rest time between and then go over on to another machine and usually there is no real rhyme or reason to it, they hit arms, then back, then calves, then legs, then abs and so on…

This type of workout is for sure going to burn calories and be what I would consider more of a cardio workout but in terms of building muscle it is not going to work. You really need to focus on a muscle for at least 3-4 sets and really fatigue it before moving on to a new muscle to achieve muscle growth.

I Have No Idea What I’m Doing:

I feel bad for the people that come in and you can tell they have no idea what they are doing. I am sure they probably know it and feel self conscious about it and I know they are doing their best under the circumstances but I really want to emphasis the concept of properly educating yourself on what you should be doing in the gym for you’re personal fitness goals.

You could spend an entree year in the gym doing it all wrong and that could amount to 5 day per week at 1 hour per day so 5 hours per week or 20 hours per month which works out to close to 250 houses per year. Why not invest in yourself and get some training from either a knowledgeable friend or even a fitness trainer. That time and money will be well worth it in the end and you will be fast tracked into your health and fitness journey rather than wasting years of your time.

The Partial Repper:

This one kind of falls into the not knowing what to do although I see people with very poor technique doing all the right exercises, they even seem to push themselves fairly hard, maybe too hard and that’s why their technique is poor. 

Yes their are situations where one can not use a full range of motion, most commonly when a person has a limitation in a joint or body part that does not allow them to use full range of motion or it simply just hurst if they go all the way up and down and so avoiding the area that hurts is a good idea.

In most cases, poor range of motion is caused by going too heavy so I suggest grabbing a slightly lighter more manageable weight and using full range of motion until you are store enough to use that heavier weight with full proper range of motion. 

The Distracted:

We have all seen that person at the gym staring at their iPhone or talking on it while they sit at their workout station. It is especially frustrating when the gym is busy and all the machines are being used and that person is spending most of their time being distracted and very little time actually training.

I suggest putting your phone in your workout bag or pocket and not reverting to looking at it every time you have a short break between sets, you are at the gym to train, not be distracted by your phone. People are usually waiting to get on the machine you are using so be respectful of others in the gym.

The Tasmanian Devil:

There is always that one person, well usually several people at the gym that seem to be fixated on only training upper body. You can generally pick them out because they will be wearing baggy sweat pants or super long shorts and high socks. I guess if this is the look they are going for then by all means go for it but I think most people want a balanced body not only because it looks good but it is also more functional in real life. Maybe some kind of body dysmorphia is going on here or perhaps they simply hate training less? I don’t know?

This can also go the other way, I sometimes see people at the gym that look like they overtrain their legs and forget about working on their upper body but this is way less often.

Put Your Shit Away:

This is simple, if you use a piece of equipment then put it away, your mom does not work at the gym and follow you around picking up after you!