5 Common Mistakes in Cardio You Should Avoid

May 2, 2022

Cardio training is the most effective way to burn fat, achieve and maintain fitness. Cardio exercises are necessary for any effective training program, because they encourage fat burning, but they are also good for the overall health of your body. The most common cardio exercises are walking, running, running on a treadmill, swimming, skipping rope, etc. Most people, however, make cardio training mistakes when performing these exercises.

A girl has a training jump rope outside.

In one of our previous articles, we wrote about mistakes in fitness. This time, we will deal specifically with the mistakes that people often make during cardio exercises.

Of all the mistakes in cardio exercises, we will list six of the most common ones.

1. Poor cardio training timing

Many take the opportunity to do strength training at the same time as cardio. Most often, people start training by running for 30 minutes, and then switch to strength training (weights, equipment). This is bad for the body, because you start your strength exercises when you are already tired, so the body will not adapt well to any type of training.

An example of cardio training mistake - a tired guy is preparing to lift weights.

These three things are very important to note:

It is recommended to go at least 6 hours between exercises of different qualities
Strength and endurance training on the same day is not recommended
For neuromuscular adaptation, a 24-hour recovery is ideal

2. High impact cardio

If you do exercises in which you have too many landings and blows to the ground, you are giving your body a huge, difficult task. The consequences of such movements are too risky even if they don’t result in an injury, they can impair your recovery process after the workout, and will delay the possibility of effective further training.

Avoiding cardio training mistakes - Walking slowly on a treadmill.

Instead of, for example, skipping a rope or jumping for a long time, we recommend to mix it up with walking slowly on a treadmill or outdoors.

3. Too much cardio training

Cardio training is a great way to increase consumption and remove fat deposits, but you must always keep in mind how intensely you approach this training. Namely, it can happen to you that if you neglect strength training, the amount of fat stagnates, and you will not have an improvement in strength and muscle mass. For example, muscle strength and power decline after 30 minutes of intense cardio exercise if we exercise them more than 3 times a week.

4. Treadmill adjustments

Many people adjust the treadmill when performing training to achieve the maximum effects on the highest possible uphill that the treadmill supports. However, if you perform each workout in the same way, the same muscle groups will be activated each time. In order to avoid that and to exercise all the muscles, change the difficulty during each training.

5. Neck strain

A girl is making cardio training mistake by neck straining on treadmill.

If, while walking on the treadmill, you turn your neck to the side to communicate with the person next to you, or to watch TV, you are making a big mistake. Twisting the neck can lead to incorrect body position, which can cause serious injuries and consequences.

Final words

We hope that by listing these six most common mistakes in cardio training, we have managed to draw your attention to the need to perform cardio exercises properly. It’s important not only for your progress on your fitness journey, but also for your overall health and wellbeing of your body.