Top Mistakes Weightlifters Make

Here are the most common “mistakes” that we see women make in their health and fitness pursuits.

• Not warming-up/stretching enough:

Warming up is one of the most important things any athlete can do. If your muscles are warm, they’ll perform properly. If they’re not, your performance suffers and you increase the risk of injury. I know that most WODs have a warm-up, followed by strength and conditioning set-up, but if you are like me (very tight shoulders/upper back and stiff neck), I would suggest getting to the gym 10-15 minutes before the class starts and do your own warm-up/stretching. Only you know what areas of your body need more attention.

• Not pushing yourself because you don’t wanna be 

I don’t blame you for thinking that lifting will make you bulky, especially if you are new. I was one of those women. I was afraid of getting big, so lifting heavy weights was out of question. It took me around one year to understand that adding more weight to my barbell will not make me bulky, but a beauty! Look around your gym. Do you see that woman with the body you would love to have? Well she lifts weights and…you don’t. Cut it out! This excuse will keep you from reaching your full fitness potential. The truth is that to look like many elite fitness women, you’d have to follow a strict nutritional diet (eat enough to gain muscle mass) and train like an elite athlete (many hours per day dedicated to lifting) and that isn’t who must of us are.

• Not understanding the benefits of weightlifting  

This is related to the previous point, but let me be more specific about why lifting weights is such a good idea for women. First, we all want to lose fat and to do so the most important factor is making sure we burn off more calories than we consume on a day-to-day basis, right? Well, guess what, by weightlifting you build muscle, and muscle burns body fat because it requires energy (calories) to sustain itself. Weightlifting has been proved to be more effective than cardio when it comes to fat loss. Second, adding weights to your workout increases bone density and in consequence decreases the chances of developing osteoporosis. This means that our bones will grow stronger with less probabilities of getting fractured in our aging days. Lastly, you get a massive confidence boost. How awesome is to smash your men colleagues at arm-wrestling without ruining your manicure?! However, all this doesn’t mean you need to load tons of plates on your barbell on tomorrow’s workout. Try starting with a weight that you think tests the limits of your capabilities and build on that.

• “Punishing” & “rewarding” yourself

Raise your hand if you’ve ever used Monday’s WOD as a “punishment” for weekend indulgences? Or maybe it’s the opposite and you’ve used food as a “treat” for breaking your record while doing a benchmark workout. We all have been there before. My advice is to avoid making your rewards too food-focused. Choose rewards like: treating yourself to a spa-night at home with scented candles or getting a massage! Try to stay consistent in your training (this includes your nutrition) and remember that there is a purpose behind your sacrifices and commitment. As my coach says, “You’re not a dog, don’t reward yourself with food.”

• Not eating enough

You might be wondering, “What’s the problem with eating less? Isn’t that good?” For lots of women, eating smaller portions, counting calories, skipping meals, consuming less carbs (and the list could go on and on) has been the go-to method for weight-loss since forever pretty much.

However, under-eating can contribute to excess cravings as well as hindering muscle growth. As athletes, we need the right fuel to power our training. Eating the right balance of carbs, protein and fat at the right time can help with our energy levels and recovery. Good quality food can keep us fit and healthy for the long-term. We believe in a food-first approach, that good nutrition is MORE important than fitness/athletic training. We also believe that food should make you feel good – mind, body and soul – and it is the optimal way to fuel your performance as an athlete. Consider talking to your coach or a nutritionist to find out how much you actually need to be eating, so that you avoid this mistake.

• Sacrificing Form for Reps

Lifting can be, by nature, competitive; we all get that. But that doesn’t mean you should sacrifice your form to get more reps than the girl in front of you. If you are rounding your back during deadlifts, doing a cobra pose to get another push-up or your knees are going inward while squatting, you are sacrificing form for no good reason. What’s worse is that, by neglecting technique, you will cause all sorts of problems with your body and, in the worst scenario, get injured. Be smart, work on your progressions and technique, and most of all listen to your coach!

• Overtraining

Can lifting be addictive? I’m not talking about the kind of addiction to buy cute outfit to dress to kill in every WOD, but the one that can make you mentally and physically sick. It’s a fine line between wanting to better yourself and causing yourself harm through overtraining. Carleen Matthews (3-time CrossFit Games athlete) talks in this intimate article about her addiction to CrossFit. Like any training regimen, CrossFit needs to be done in moderation because overtraining can lead to burnout and injury. Every athlete is different.  Some can endure doing two training sessions per day, 5 days per week, but maybe the right amount for you is one WOD, 3-4 days per week and that is totally fine! 

So, how do you know if you’re overtraining? Fatigue, anxiety, depression, disturbed sleep, irritability, change in appetite, lack or irregular menstruation and loss of motivation can all be potential signs of overtraining. To avoid crossing that line, schedule rest and active recovery days in your week. Foam rolling, gentle yoga, light bike riding and massages are all great way to spend a recovery day. Listen to your body. You have the freedom to adjust your workout routine to your own needs.

• Not getting enough sleep

Sleep is the most underrated key to fitness performance. We need a solid amount of quality sleep to ensure that our bodies fully recover. But getting good sleep is more than just sleeping more, and it does a whole lot more for you than make you feel fresh during the day. Athletes who sleep around 10 hours per night improve their strength, speed, agility and reaction time, plus they develop a better muscle memory for movements learned the day before.

Final Lesson:

Learning from your mistakes does not happen automatically—it requires thinking and reflection. The truth is that your performance at the gym is the result of small decisions you take in every workout. You are what you do every day. Choose to work on one mistake at a time. Start with the one that will have the greatest impact on your life as a badass CrossFitter. And what if you keep making mistakes? Don’t get fixated! Just make sure you are always moving forward and aim to do 1% better every day.