Mod Roundtable
Question - What's the biggest mistake you see made in the gyms today?

Starr
The biggest mistake I see in the gym is people who use bad form, compromising gains and increase risk of injuring themselves. I often wonder at whether there is any obligation on the trainers who work the gyms to correct these individuals. But then again, many of these trainers often fail to realize proper form and technique themselves.

LA
The biggest or the one that pisses me off the most? I'm going with the pisses me off the most reply. Can I say more than 1?

Guys doing cable flyes who weigh 150 pounds.
Guys being able to hold conversations during a set.
Any use of a cell phone on the gym floor. There, that'll hold me for about 5 minutes!

XChoke03
FORM !! Many attempt to lift more than their capacity and form goes out the Window. Highly Arched backs on bench, full body swings on standing dumbell curls, etc. etc.

Bleed Green
The biggest mistake I see at the gym today is without question people who are using all kinds of supplementary exercises(cable flyes, leg ext etc) and spending 1.5-2 hours per workout instead of using your real muscle building, mind blowing compound lifts(squats, bench or dumbell press, deads etc) They would benefit themselves not only from a muscle quality point but cut their workout time by 1/2.

weight77
Cheating on set and reps..Not only do they cheat with there form on the reps but they dont do there full sets..or they do one set of a given exercise and go on to another..

Sachet
The biggest mistake I see constantly is improper form while doing squats.

Scorpio
The Biggest mistake I see is overtraining. I see younger kids come into the gym and struggle with the same weight each and every week. They all have the same program. It consists of 30 sets for each body part.

midwtchamp
The one week wonders that come in and lift incorrectly and end up getting hurt from it! Urks the hell out of me!

Badgermoon
Way too much spandex on fat old men! LOL

Ok, seriously, this is a close one to call. I thought about people using too much weight and not getting good form on their reps, but maybe they are just trying to go super heavey that day and break through a plateu. Or using weight that is too light, but maybe they are trying to just get started or recover from an injury. Both reasons are unlikely, but possble. However, when I see guys doing reps that are about 1/10th of a normal range of motion for an exercise, I can't see how in the world there is any reason for that to be anything but just worthless. Invariably, they are using weight that it looks like they really can't handle, and the tiny mini reps are doing nothing but boosting their ego. So they may think, but it looks like a waste of time to me.

Who cares if you can't move as heavy a weight as the next guy. Do what will do you the most good for the time you spend in the gym. Doing a fration of a rep to impress people who don't give a f*** what you're lifting anyway does exactly what for you? Not even the spandex can make that look good.

Pudgy
The most common mistake i see is kids warming up with cardio , then immeadiatley starting to lift something upper body with cold muscles without doing a lighter warm up set of resistance training.

SEXYMAMA

FORM...

I see this time & time again in the gym with ladies...FORM... I go to an all ladies gym and there are many older women who mean well but grab som weights and just throw them around. I want to walk up and help them so bad and actually a couple of times I have. If you dont have the correct form you are not benefiting at all. If you are gonna start a weigth training routine please consualt with a fitness trainer before you begin so they can give you the correct program that will fit your fitness goals.

PRAETORIAN
One of the worst mistakes I see people make in the gym time and time again is performing exercises incorrectly. I don't mean bad form I mean not using the correct muscle to begin with. I have seen people doing wide grip lat pulldown and bringing the bar almost to their waists...doing stiff legged deadlifts, knees locked and back in a rounded position(not arched)unbelievable. Now the reason behind this is just pure ignorance...and in no way am i implying that I know everything about training etc but the first rule of thumb should be.."if you are not sure...ask!" and ask someone credible. There is nothing worse than getting absolutely useless or health damaging information from "Joe" the personal trainer.

bigshug
I think form is a huge one....but the biggest mistake i see is from people who train only the "mirror" muscles....
too many guys in my gym HAVE to wear pants or jeans to the gym because they have no legs...biiig ass arms and chest, but no back, lats or traps.
Too many people get caught up in one body part and forget the rest of the body and then end up looking lopsided and unsymmetrical

Auriflex
The biggest mistake I see are the people who are undedicated to working out. It's a lifestyle, not a hobby.

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