1. Failure to set a goal is a common mistake. You need to have a clear goal in mind to be successful at weight loss and exercise. Keep a journal of your progress to help you see your improvements and hopefully to keep you motivated to obtain your longtime goal.



2. No Pain, No Gain is a common misconception you might come across. Your body tells you something is wrong by letting you feel pain. Never ignore these signs. You will feel uncomfortable when you start exercising and testing your body but you will need to overcome this. The beginning of a heart attack could start by heavy breathing because you are pushing your body too hard. You need to learn how to read your body. Exercise is very important and by doing it correctly you will be able to continue with it the rest of your life.

After you exercise you will probably notice that you will hurt. Make sure you start exercising gradually and take lots of time to rest to let your body heal properly. Two problems that beginner exercisers have are causing permanent damage to your muscles, tendons and ligaments if you continue to exercise while in pain without allowing enough time to rest so your body will heal. You will no longer be able to exercise if you end up hurting your body so badly.

You will probably wake up the morning after you exercise and realize that you can hardly get your sore body out of bed because everything hurts. If you feel this way you are going to feel less motivated to exercise in the future. Causing yourself constant pain is a definite way to end your exercise program for good.

3. Sacrificing Quality for Quantity is another common exercise mistake. When you feel you are ready to increase the number of reps you are doing and strengthen the surrounding muscles then try doing fewer number of reps in a set and do more sets. This will help you feel less tired and help you gain strength in your fast-twitch muscles.

4. Weight Training Makes Women Bulky is a common myth that you might have heard before. A woman will strengthen and tone muscle, burn fat and increase metabolism through weight training, not build mass. Because women do not produce enough testosterone they do not build muscle mass the way men do.

5. Over-Emphasizing Strengths is another common mistake. Instead of focusing on what you are good at focus on your weak points. Do this to help you balance things out. An example of this is when your upper body is stronger then your lower body than work only on this area on day a week.

Remember that it is important to keep your body healthy and coming up with an appropriate exercise program for you is a step in the right direction.