Fitness training is a great way for people to stay in shape and improve their health. Since the fitness industry is so diverse, there are always people claiming to be experts who know nothing about health and fitness.
These people give wrong tips and tricks to their clients, and these tips get passed around to the point that they're considered legit.
These tips aren't only bad for workouts, but they cause more harm to the body and posture in the long run. This is why certified personal trainers need to know the difference between healthy fitness tips and wrong ones. If they don't, it can demotivate their clients and affect their reputation. Here is some fitness advice that is pretty common but also bad for clients.
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Working Out In The Morning Is The Best
Working out in the morning has its unique benefits, but it's not for everyone. The best time for your clients to work out is the time that works for them. So, for some, morning might be ideal, but for others, working out before going to bed is the way to go.
Regardless of the time of exercise, the results depend on the client's level, exercise intensity, and diet, and there's nothing magical about the AM hours that might increase the results somehow. Picking a time based on the client's routine and lifestyle is the way to go if you want them to see good results quickly.
Pain Should Be Tolerated
Exercising for the first time leads to pain, as the muscle groups are stimulated more than their regular capacity. This pain lasts a few days, and it's recommended that clients keep working out to prevent muscle fatigue.
However, there should be no issues with regular workouts after some time, and the pain should be under tolerable levels. But if the body is pushed beyond the limit, the pain is an indication that things might go bad if the client keeps pushing. A lot of back injuries happen because people work out too hard, and their muscle groups aren't capable of handling the immense stress. So always listen to the clients and tone down their exercises if they can’t handle the pain.
Workout Every Day
This is probably the most commonly heard bad tip. Workouts should be balanced with the client's lifestyle and shouldn't be done each day. While people can do small things like running and going for a jog each day, full workouts should have breaks to let the body heal. If the body doesn't have time to rest and recuperate, the workouts won't be effective.
As a result, people will just get exhausted without seeing any proper results. Ideally, working out 3 times a week is good for the body and helps people steadily achieve good results. People can go from 3 to 4 days if they feel fit enough, but anything more than that will lead to exhaustion.
Eating Less Will Help Lose Weight
There is some truth to this statement. Overeating does lead to more fat deposits, but starving yourself to look fitter isn't the right approach. Most people are under the impression that they only need to eat less to be fitter. But this isn't true in the slightest.
Fitness and a proper diet go hand in hand, but people need a balanced diet that's not too heavy on calories combined with regular workouts to see results. Skipping out exercise will only lead to nutrient deficiencies and an unhealthy and exhausted body.
Abs Workout Will Give You Six-Pack Abs
Getting those toned six-pack abs requires a lot more effort than just exercise, and not all self-claimed trainers understand that. Defining muscles has a lot to do with the body's fat percentage, which is dependent on the diet people consume. While workouts do play an important role, without cutting fats from the diet, there won't be any meaningful results. Instead, the client would be disappointed and might stop working out.
On the other hand, they might start pushing themselves too hard, and this can lead to injury or long-term health issues. So, no matter how hard the client workouts, it's important to tell them they won't see any visible abs unless they remove the subcutaneous fat deposits.
Keep Pushing No Matter What
Each person has different limitations, and as a trainer, it's your responsibility to ensure their exercise routine doesn't cause them harm. Sadly, many people go for the keep pushing approach, which is detrimental to the client's health, especially if they struggle to keep up with regular workouts.
Pushing beyond the limit will lead to serious health issues for the client and a poor reputation for you. So always make sure the clients get the proper resting time and that the workouts aren't too hard for them. Moderate exercises with long-term goals are the right and healthy approach.
HIIT Workouts Are Essential
There's no denying that high-intensity (HIIT) workouts yield better results and help people get fitter fast. However, that doesn't mean that these workouts are suitable for everyone. For example, if you have an elderly client, you know they're not at their peak and have weaker muscle groups and bones.
So, it won't be wise to recommend them HIIT workouts. But a lot of times, trainers don't check for the client's limitations and push them too much to follow a HIIT workout, that might work for them to some extent, but in the long run, it'll lead to other health issues and fatigue.
There's No Age Limit to Working Out
This may be true to some extent, in the sense that people should maintain an active lifestyle no matter what age they are. But this doesn't mean that people of all ages can do the same workouts without any side effects. A good trainer will not be got for the one size fits all’ approach.
Instead, they'll see the fitness levels of each client and recommend relevant workouts that are appropriate for them and meet their fitness needs. Even people within the same age group can have different fitness levels, so it's easy to imagine how vast the differences would be in different age groups, especially senior citizens.
Straighten Your Spine With Exercise
Planking, squats, and other similar exercises are great for conditioning the back muscles and keeping the spine aligned. But clients need to know that these exercises are more geared towards preventing spinal damage and might not be effective in realigning it.
For that, they need to consult a doctor who’ll give them the direction for physical therapy combined with medication to realign the spine. It can’t be done in a 45-minute workout session. However, some fitness gurus swore by it and claimed to have helped people.
Deadlifts Are Good
Deadlifts are great in increasing the functional strength of the body, as it stimulates the lower body muscles and improves posture. But there's a common misconception that the more deadlifts a person does, the more they'll be. This isn't true at all. Improper form and too much strain can lead to back issues for the clients. Additionally, deadlifts also impact the knees and pelvic muscles, and in the worst-case scenario, they can lead to back injuries that might limit a person's movement. So, when done in moderation, deadlifts are great for conditioning the muscles, but doing too much is wrong.
Take Shorter Rest Days
It's a common belief that the more you work out, the better results you get. This is true to some extent, but untrained fitness gurus believe that rest days aren't as important and therefore, shouldn't be encouraged. This leads to clients pushing themselves to their breaking point, and at that stage, their body stops showing any meaningful results. This prompts them to try even harder, causing their health to deteriorate further. In reality, rest days are just as important as exercise. A successful fitness routine includes proper test time after each exercise and a longer rest time after the workout. This helps the body recover and promotes muscle growth.
Use Protein Powders
In essence, protein powders aren't bad for clients. They're made from whey and contain concentrated levels of nutrition. These powders also help people speed up their fitness training and achieve better results. However, usually, people go overboard with protein supplements like they're some miracle cure to achieve quick fitness.
As a personal trainer, you don't have much of a say in what people eat, but you can educate them and make sure they learn that too much of anything is bad. Promotional campaigns from these protein supplements also lend a hand in this. So, you should let them know that too many protein supplements will lead to health issues like kidney problems and calcium secretion.
Workout Even If You're Not Well
This is one thing commonly found in trainers who have a gym bros mentality. They believe that no matter what happens, a person can work out, and if they don't, they're weak. In reality, this isn't the case at all. A person is working out to improve their overall health and well-being. So, if their body isn't well, they need rest, and as a trainer, you shouldn't force them to keep going. This will delay their recovery and cause more muscle pain for them.
A good idea would be to tell them to make small movements like strolling or walking so their body remains in movement. This will help in fast recovery without causing any strain on their body.
If It Worked For One Person, It'll Work For You Too
This mindset needs to end. It leads to unsatisfied and exhausted clients, which ultimately affects the trainer's reputation. People go to personal trainers because they need personalized training based on their requirements. If you're not offering a personalized approach, how will the clients see good results?
You might have a great workout routine that works for people with a hectic lifestyle, but will it be enough for someone with a more laid-back routine? The answer is no because these people need more to work out the muscle groups to the same level. So, the bottom line is that what worked for one client might not for the other. This doesn't mean you have to design a routine from scratch. Instead, you can make a few changes to make the routine fit different clients.
Muscle Growth Happens During Workout
It's a common misconception that the more you exercise, the more muscles you'll build. While exercising is a way to trigger muscle development, it's the resting period that builds the muscles. Once the workout is done, the muscles end up with micro-tears that require healing. During the healing process, the body generates new muscle fibers and patches the tears.
As a result, the existing muscle mass increases, and people gain defined muscles. None of the development happens while working out. In fact, the workout part is actually the so-called damaging parts which generates the tears and triggers the body's healing process.
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