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In the same way that’s it’s super frustrating when sneaky unhealthy health foods sabotage your best eating intentions you want to absolutely avoid the work-out mistakes that prevent you from achieving your goal.

If you’re going to spend the time, money and effort in the gym you want the results right?

In todays training show I’m covering: 6 Work-out Mistakes That Keep You Stuck.

The things to AVOID if you want to see maximum bang for your fat burning buck.

#1. Doing only what you’re good at. 

This is something I can absolutely fall victim too. However luckily I know what needs to be in my program so I’m not going to do only lunges and step downs and plank leg raises. Although they are 3 fun and effective exercises you also need to include the stuff that challenges you, that tests your balance and co-ordination and gets your heart rate up.

Most importantly your program needs to be balanced in that it looks after every part of your body – not just your problem areas or the bits you can see.

So here I’m especially referring to vanity exercises like bicep curls… those things are low value exercises and unless you lift weights 5 days a week I don’t believe they deserve a spot in your program. Actually I lift weights 5 days a week and can’t remember the last time I did a bicep curl.

Not because I don’t like biceps, I LOVE biceps, however wasting time on low values isolated exercises will keep you stuck by stealing from the time you could otherwise be spending on a high value compound exercises that’s equally awesome for your biceps like a reverse grip lat pull down.

#2. Not focusing. And not working hard enough.

I know I’ve covered this one before however it’s probably the number one mistake I see in a gym.

If you’re not focussing I know you’re not working hard enough. When I’ve got dumbbells above my head or a barbell across my neck there’s no way I’m paying attention to anything except that weight and my form.

Every repetition counts… as either getting you closer to that fit and firm body OR a waste of your time.

And every single repetition or every single time you bend over to pick up or replace a weight is also the potential for an injury if you’re not focused.

Your long walks along the beach are the time to daydream, reflect and zone out… not your weights sessions.

#3. Ignoring unilateral exercises.

I was a squatting, dead-lifting and leg press queen for a lot of years. Ok, YES I’ve always been addicted to lovely lunges however most of my lower body work was bilateral. There’s nothing wrong with bilateral movements which use both limbs in unison to move a load however it does leave some super awesome benefits on the table if you neglect your friendly unilateral movements.

So I introduced the movements that require each limb to work independently of each other and I recommend you do too.

Exercises that test your balance, elicit more core function and ensure the stronger limb can’t cheat for the weaker one. My fav unilateral friends are step downs, single leg swiss ball curls, pistol and split squats.

#4. Focusing only on the numbers or the time. It’s quality not quantity.

In the same way that 100 crouches will not earn you a six-pack… and neither will 1,000 (!) it’s never about how many repetitions or how long you exercise for rather it’s always about quality over quantity.

Choosing quality exercises to execute at a high intensity with quality form and 100% focus is the safe, effective solution.

#5. No plan. 

To know those quality exercises you need a plan right?

When you wing it you’ll just return to your favourites or to the easiest… or even worse you’ll slink across to cardio land where you get to zone out and watch the time count down punishingly slowly.

#6. Lollie water. You fuel your body like an athlete and yet your goal is to lose some fat.

That fluro water is like my red towel to a bull… it’ll have me charging across the studio to inspect the macro-nutrient break-down on the back of the label quicker than you can say you’ve-just-WASTED-45-minutes-of-sweat-guzzling-up-to-50+grams-of-zero-value-carbs-in-a-300mil-bottle-to-get-you-through…

Unless you’re an athlete and your goal is to MAINTAIN your current body composition while working out for hours a day, that sugar water needs to be evicted from your routine.

Regular old H2O rocks. Or even my personal fav the gorgeous liquid gold – that’s black coffee – which got a show of it’s own in #038.

If I had to pick the one mistake work-out mistake you really want to avoid it’s absolutely #2. Not focusing. And not working hard enough. So, if you know you could improve on this one (and this week I decided I could improve on this one!) then that’s the action step for today.

The mindset I bring to this – the mindset I’ve RE-instated this week (!) – is that training time is precious, even self-indulgent ME time. It’s a chance to switch off from the 101 other things racing around in your mind and just focus on something you are doing for you and your health.

That’s it for today, tomorrow I’ll be back with the FAQ show: Emotional Fitness – 5 Things To Believe About You.

If you liked this you’ll also like: Fat Loss Moves To Choose Your Curves:

If you’re yet to share the Healthification love – just click here to zip over to iTunes and leave an honest rating and review. It’d help me out big time. With gratitude, Kate.