27 Sep Things you shouldn’t do at the gym: Part I

The other day I was working out a gym where I train and couldn’t believe my eyes.
A middle-aged woman was doing lat pulldowns on a machine and also talking on a cell phone at the same time. She had her neck angled to the left shoulder to hold the phone in place.
Let’s count the ways that was so wrong:
1. Injury factor – If you perform any lift wrong there’s the potential for injury. Having your neck cranked to hold a cell phone is certainly about as bad of form as someone could have.
2. Focus factor – It’s important to concentrate while weight training and talking on a phone is not going to help one focus. Lifters should focus on their breathing and form and avoid other distractions.
3. Little things add up – The little things in life add up to big results over time, whether it’s diet, exercise or even how you treat people. They shape what kind of people we are. Talking on a cell phone while weightlifting doesn’t say to much about that individual’s focus on health.
I would hope people can set aside a half hour or so a few times a week where they can focus solely on exercise and put away the cell phone. Leave it in the car and when you get done return any missed calls.
The cell phone / lat pulldown lady was probably the worst of the worst that I’ve seen in a gym as far as what not to do.
In Tuesday’s blog, I’ll give some more good examples of things you shouldn’t do while working out. I’ll count down the top 10 things people should not do at the gym.

At Home Fitness consultant Aaron Dorksen’s blog deals with a variety of fitness topics, ranging from workout tips, motivational ideas and feature stories on how exercise impacts people’s lives. E-mail him with comments, questions or ideas for future blogs at aaron@athomefitness.com