You’re getting to the gym regularly—good for you. But don’t you want to make sure you get the most out of your workouts? To help you avoid sabotaging your fitness goals, the American Council on Exercise (ACE) identifies the most common mistakes made during three popular workouts, and shows you how to fix them.
The Workout: Plyometrics
Big mistake: During plyometric exercises, landing on the heel or ball of the foot, increasing impact and injury risk.
Solution? Plyometric workouts involve hopping, jumping and skipping movements designed to increase muscular power and explosiveness. ACE experts suggest landing on the mid-foot and pushing off the ball of the foot, and avoiding excessive side-to-side motion to prevent knee injury.
The Workout: Kettlebells
Big mistake: Not engaging your lower body, limiting benefits to your core, butt and quadriceps and sets you up for back and shoulder injury.
Solution? Kettlebells are ball-shaped weights with handles that you swing, pull and press to work multiple muscle groups. You’ll get the most benefit by engaging the core and gluteal muscles and generating power from the hips throughout the workout.
The Workout: High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
Big mistake: Skimping on rest during HIIT workouts, leaving you prone to burnout and intense post-exercise muscle soreness.
Solution? HIIT focuses on alternating speed intervals and recovery intervals. ACE experts emphasize the importance of recovery for generating more energy to get you through the workout and removing metabolic waste from the muscles that can lead to soreness.
