The 5 Biggest Strength Training Mistakes (Or Areas of Opportunity)

Walk into any gym, health club, or basement workout room and you’ll see a lot of people strength training (and this is a good thing). Men, women, old, young, novices, and highly experienced- all tend to be guilty of making five significant mistakes in their training. Stated otherwise, these five “mistakes” represent both prevailing myths and opportunities to improve the results we see from our workouts. To be clear, Discover Strength clients are not guilty of committing these training errors, but they are still worth discussing. 

1. Not training hard enough. “Hard” does not refer to the amount of weight lifted, the length of the workout, or the number of sets performed. Instead, hard refers to intensity. Stated otherwise, most trainees don’t get anywhere near the point of momentary muscle failure (the point we can’t perform another perfect rep). The most important factor that influences the results we see from our workout is our intensity. We should take each set to muscle failure (or very close to failure) and often, beyond failure. Muscle failure also burns significantly more calories following the workout (and of course, everyone wants to burn more calories, but almost no one trains to failure). 
2. Performing multiple sets. Since the late 1940s, three sets of ten reps have been the standard recommendation. For over 25 years, the scientific literature has been overwhelmingly clear: one set (to muscle failure) produces the same benefit as multiple sets. Focus on doing one set and pushing harder on that set rather than performing two, three, or four sets of the same exercise. 
3. Moving too fast. Lifting a weight fast reduces the tension on the muscle (this is counterproductive) and increases the forces on our joints (this is dangerous). Going slow has a drawback: you can’t lift as much weight compared to lifting fast (and thus, our ego takes a hit). 
4. Missing out on eccentric work. It turns out that eccentric muscle contractions, lowering the weight, are far more beneficial than lifting the weight. And the vast majority of trainees lift the weight and then let it drop. In doing so, they miss out on the benefits of eccentric work. Lift the weight under control, and then lower it very slowly to expose the muscle to eccentric tension. If we were smart, we’d say, “Let’s go lower some weights!”
5. Assuming the weight lifted and reps performed is connected to our outcomes. Using a heavy weight and performing very few reps or using a light weight and performing a lot of reps does not preferentially improve our muscle size, strength, endurance, or tone. We have the autonomy to do five reps or 45 reps. Our results will be the same.