How To Break A Habit During Your Day-To-Day Training

Breaking a bad habit may sound easier than it actually is. After all, there’s a reason why they are called habits. There are times when our mind absolutely refuses to acknowledge a bad habit. Not to mention try and break it. Especially for the people who train a lot, bad habits can be an easy trap to fall into. That is why we have come up with a list of how to break a habit associated with training and sports.

Doing Too Much Too Soon

This is one of the most common traps in which you can fall while training. Maybe you haven’t been training for a while. Or maybe you never did and you want to start now. We understand the urge to want fast results, but this is not how you get them. You will get exhausted, and then you will have to recover, which will only slow things down for you.
What do you do then? How to break a habit of overworking? Try and stick to the rule of increasing your exercise time only 10% each week. That eliminates the danger of overworking your muscles.

No Training Variety

You workout every day. You love doing it. You work out your arms, biceps, triceps, shoulders. What can possibly be wrong with that? Nothing with the exercise itself. But the problem you have probably already identifies is that there is no variety in your exercise routine.
If you’re wondering how to break a habit of lack of variety, we have the answer. Working out only on the body part you like most, or the easiest one, is a mistake. Sure, it may be easier, but on the long run, you are not doing yourself a service. Your body will get used to the repetitive exercises and stop showing signs of change.
What you should do is remember to increase variation in your exercise routine. Think of your body as a well-oiled machine. In order for the machine to keep working, all its parts have to work properly.

Working out at Night

If you are a busy person, we understand that you might fall into the trap of working out at night. But here is why you shouldn’t. In the evenings or nights your metabolism rate drops, which means your body won’t burn as much calories during the workout. This can cause your efforts to be in vain.
Here’s how you break a habit of working at night: try working out early in the morning. That is when you burn the most calories. Plus, if you’re already awake and have time to work out, you will probably do it. After all, you are full of energy after a good night’s sleep. On the other hand, there are more excuses which you can invoke during the night so as not to work out.

Pacing Yourself Too Much

This may sound ironic considering the first piece of advice, but check this out. We are not saying you should overwork your body. But if you only do slow paced exercises, it puts no strain on your body. You are supposed to sweat and hurt a little during workouts. That is how you know you are doing it right.
Did you know that you burn the same amount of calories with a 5 minute sprint as you would with 30 minutes on the treadmill? What you should do is give the sprint a shot next time you are tempted to take it easy.

Skipping Your Stretches

Nothing worse than starting your exercise routine without stretching your muscles first. But here is what we advise you to do. You’re probably stretching one muscle group at a time. We think it’s better for you to try doing 5 to 10 minutes of cardio followed by some dynamic stretching. What do we mean by dynamic stretching? Things such as leg swings and arm circles. This type of stretching will warm up your muscles slowly but steadily.

Working out on an Empty Stomach

There is some debate whether you should work out on am empty stomach or not. However, we suggest you think about this. Before starting a long road trip with your car, don’t you make sure it has enough fuel? The same thing can be applied to training as well.
You need fat in your body before working out, and you also need blood sugar. Low blood sugar will make you tired and dizzy – the last thing you want while working out. So don’t fall into this common trap. Provide your body with some fuel an hour before starting the workout.

Working out to Make up for a Poor Diet

Another common bad habit concerning training is to train only so that you can eat whatever you want. The fact that you exercise 10 minutes more next time won’t counteract the effects of you having eaten an entire cake the night before.
What you should do is to also start eating healthy when you start exercising. And once you have a plan, stick to it. Even if you exercise more one day, don’t think this allows you to overindulge in food that is bad for you.

Working out Aimlessly

Usually, when you start training, you have a specific goal in mind. Or at least you should. If you turn everything into a routine without an aim, it can be counterproductive for long-term achievements.
How to break a habit of aimless working out? Remind yourself every once in a while why you started working out in the first place. Once you have that clear goal in mind, it will be easier to work towards obtaining it.

How to Break a Habit Summed up

No matter how good you are at training, there are bad habits even you can fall into. And once that happens, knowing how to break a habit can become a bit of a challenge. That is why we’ve created this short guide with the most common habits related to training and fitness. We hope it can offer you the solution for whatever bad habit you are trying to break. All that’s left to wish you now is good luck with your training!
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