Imitating Others Can be a Great Way to Learn How to Do Things the Wrong Way
I remember when I first worked out at a gym. I was probably a sophomore or a junior in high school. I went into the school’s weight room without a clue as to what I needed to do.
There were older guys in there, wearing weight belts and pushing heavy weights around. The place was practically all concrete and metal.
I remember seeing someone do triceps dips and thinking, “I guess I’ll do that!” Much to my surprise, the exercise was a lot harder than I thought. In fact, after about 3 repetitions, I had to quit and immediately felt light-headed. Clearly, I was in over my head.
But this is how the majority of people learn to exercise. Whether in the gym or on T.V., we have few options other than to imitate what other people are doing. This can be a problem.
Why You Shouldn't Work Out Out Like Everyone Else
Copying others in the gym can be risky. So it’s important to remember that exercise, like nutrition or medicine, must be applied according to each person's needs.
Imitating someone else’s exercise program ignores your own level of conditioning, physical needs, and goals. The following are 3 issues that can arise when we imitate others in the gym:
1. Doing too much too soon.
This is especially true for beginners. People who are new to strength training, long-distance running, yoga, or any other form of exercise have to progress at an appropriate rate.
Failing to do so can cause physical injury and lead to overtraining effects. Too much exercise can be just as harmful to your health as too little exercise.
2. Developing Bad Exercise Habits
As an exercise professional, I’ve spent a lot of times in gyms and wellness facilities. I can always find people doing exercises with poor form—potentially causing harm and instilling bad exercise habits.
Motor engrams are cognitive processes related to completing a specific task. By repeating a movement pattern, your nervous system establishes a motor engram.
Doing exercises the wrong way leads to faulty motor engrams. In other words, you get really good at doing something incorrectly.
3. Failing to Reach Your Goals
Exercise routines that are based on what others are doing in the gym can keep you from achieving your goals.
A person’s experience, goals, abilities, and skills all come into play when determining what exercise program will lead to the results they’re after.
So your exercise program must be aligned with your goals…not those of anyone else around you. This doesn’t just apply to exercise either.
Nutrition is another area where people often follow trends and imitate what others are doing. This can lead to similar issues by reinforcing bad information, not being able to achieve your desired results, and potentially doing harm to the body.
Start With the Basics
When it comes to exercise, the best approach is to begin with the basics. The complex workouts seen in magazines and in the gyms have their time and their place.
But if you’re just starting out, and if you aren’t sure where to begin, start by learning the basics first.
Learn how to squat, lunge, press, and pull correctly. Invest in a session or two with a personal trainer to learn proper form. You don’t need to commit to a long series of sessions if you don’t want to.
A good exercise coach should give you exactly what you need to help you implement a customized routine on your own.
Follow the Progressive Overload Principle
The principle of progressive overload is essential to getting the most out of your exercise program. Progressive overload is the strategic application of increased intensity levels over time.
For example, if you’re new to running, you might begin with a 2-mile run to let the body adjust to the new activity.
As you progress, you can slowly increase the distance of your runs (or the speed, intensity, etc.). Progressive overload leads to progressive adaptation.
It gives your body the time it needs to strengthen the muscles, bones, and connective tissues needed for a given activity or sport.
You can definitely learn from watching others. But just remember that you aren't them…and they aren’t you. So your exercises should be tailored to meet your goals so that you get the best results efficiently and without the risk of injury.
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Image Source: By Gordon Firestein (Seacology USA) [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons