Photographed by Jens Ingvarsson.The annoying thing about working out is that, to an extent, there's a right and wrong way to do most things, from push-ups to bicep curls. Even more aggravating? The fitness world is full of people who think they know what they're talking about — and are super eager to tell us how to do something, loudly and obnoxiously, no matter how wrong they might be.
The result, obviously, is that many (most?) of us who think we know what we're doing at the gym might be making mistakes that are seriously undermining all of our hard work. Fortunately, the folks at Time have come to our collective rescue, roping in some real, live fitness experts to point out what we're doing wrong as well as how to fix it.
Of course, some of these tips are rooted in basic facts of exercise physiology — like the no-swinging rule. (You'll only see results from lifting weights if you keep your arms still instead of using momentum to make the motion easier.) Similarly, it makes sense that holding on to the treadmill or elliptical will significantly decrease your calorie burn, as it takes a lot of the effort out of the activity. But, some of these are actually pretty surprising. For example, your treadmill's "fat-burning zone" setting may be tricking you into burning fewer calories, when a higher intensity workout, while burning fewer "fat calories" than carb and protein calories, will yield better results (as well as better cardiovascular fitness). Click over to Time for the full list. After all, you spend a lot of (very, very precious) time working out — might as well do it right. (Time)