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 1. Not doing resistance exercises. I don’t
care if you’re a man or a woman, if you’re 22 or 82, you should be doing weighted resistance exercises as part
of your regular program. That means weight training in addition to your cardio exercise. It’s now clear that there are
numerous health benefits associated with resistance training including increased strength and energy, healthy bone density,
protection against injury, and an increase in your base metabolic rate. The old myth that training with weights leads to a
bulky muscle-bound look has finally been put to rest by both the fitness and the scientific communities.
 2. Doing your cardio exercise first. This may come as
a surprise to some, but if you’re trying to get in great shape and stay lean, then you should do your resistance training
first and follow it with your cardio exercise. New studies suggest that even if your primary goal in the gym is to lose weight,
you’ll see better and quicker results if you start your program with resistance training and then follow it up with
some intense cardio exercise. Without getting too far into the details, it’s believed that doing your resistance training
first depletes your muscles of glycogen stores thus allowing you to burn more fat when you do your cardio. Sounds like a plan
to me.
 3. Letting your ego get in the way of your training.
I see it all the time: people load up the bar with plate after plate, ready to bench press, and then they bounce the thing
off their chest, lift their back off the bench, and just plain waste their effort all together. We need to remember why we’re
at the gym in the first place. If you want to be an Olympic power-lifter, well that’s one thing, but if your goal is
to sculpt a healthy physique you want to use proper form to train the muscles. Leave the ego at home and train smart!
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