Breathing Mistakes to Avoid When Working Out !!!

   Proper form is a must whether doing cardio, strength training, or flexibility training, but how you breathe is also really important. Here are some common breathing categories people fall into when exercising — sound familiar?
Which one are you??:)
 

• I'm the Big Bad Wolf: When doing sprinting intervals or pushing yourself really hard, huffing and puffing comes with the territory. There's a level of intensity though that you shouldn't surpass, so if your labored breathing is causing you to feel dizzy or light-headed, take it down a notch or take a rest to get your breathing back to normal.
• I'm underwater: Lifting heavy weights, or doing challenging strength training or balancing yoga moves can be so strenuous and require so much attention that you don't even realize you're holding your breath. Aside from your muscles needing oxygen in order to perform their best, holding your breath can cause major headaches or nausea, so try to focus on inhaling and exhaling evenly, without pausing. You can even watch yourself in a mirror to help you remember.
• I'm in labor: If you're not a breath holder, you may pucker your lips and be a short quick breather instead. While this does do the job of bringing oxygen in and releasing carbon dioxide out, avoiding full, deep breaths can also lead to dizziness and headaches.
• I'm a bunny: This refers to people who only breathe through their noses. While this is great for allergy sufferers (your nose hairs can help filter out allergens), if you're doing intense cardio, it's tough to get in big gulps of oxygen through your two tiny nostrils. It also makes it hard to release carbon dioxide quickly. When kicking up the intensity, don't forget to breathe through your mouth.
•  

  5 Workout Mistakes to Avoid for Better Results

     When you stick to a routine, it's easy to become, well, stuck. If you're not trimming down, toning up, or feeling any fitter, it's likely due to one of the following exercise errors. 
   Mistake #1: You Rely on Cardio to Peel Off Pounds
  
  For most women, sweaty aerobic exercise alone isn't enough. "Research shows that weight loss is minimal if it isn't accompanied by dieting,"  "We may compensate for the extra energy we're burning during physical activity by doing less the rest of the day, or more commonly, we feel famished after working out, so we eat more." 
  
     The Solution: Keep your diet in check. To drop a pound, which is 3,500 calories, in one week, aim to eat 300 fewer calories every day (300 x 7 = 2,100) while burning 300 calories from exercise five times a week (300 x 5 = 1,500)."You plan for exercise. You need to plan what you're going to eat afterward,Drinking lots of water helps too. 
  
  
    Mistake #2: You Race Through Your Reps
  
  Two things could be going on here: Either your weights are too light, which is often the case for women, or they're too heavy, and you're letting momentum or gravity take over. Either way, your muscles aren't being sufficiently challenged, which is why they're not getting more toned. 
  The Solution: If you don't believe you've done just about all you can do by the end of a set, pick a heavier weight. "You want there to be a bit of strain on the second-to-last and last repsReach for a lighter dumbbell when you aren't moving the weight with steady control as you lift and lower
  
  
   Mistake# 3:You Overcrunch Your Abs
  
  If you're doing more than three sets of 15, you're wasting your time. "Extra crunches aren't going to cinch your waistline,"  "You're working the rectus abdominus, which is only one of four muscles in the abdominal wall. But it's the other three deeper muscles [internal obliques, external obliques, transverse abdominis] that give you a leaner look by helping you with your posture."
  
  The Solution: Take a temporary break from your usual crunches and try these Pilates-based moves: (1) the plank (balance on floor on forearms and toes and hold for 30 seconds), (2) double-leg stretch (lie on your back, knees bent 90 degrees with feet in air and shins parallel to the floor, shoulders off the floor with arms loosely hugging knees; extend your legs and arms out in a wide V, then return to start), (3) the side plank (lie on the floor on your right side, propped up on right elbow, feet stacked; lift your hips up, using your left hand on floor in front of you for support. Hold for 5 counts, then lower. Do 10 reps; switch sides and repeat). Do 10 reps of each move, three or four times a week.
    Mistake #4: You Aim to Stay in the Fat-Burning Zone
  
  It's no wonder you think you need to do this to lose weight: Many cardio machines tell you when you're above and below the zone. But this reason for sticking to low-intensity exercise has been completely debunked. "Because fat takes longer than carbs to be converted to energy, you burn a higher percentage of it when you're sitting or walking than when you're running. So the old thinking was that with low-intensity exercise you could torch body fat and lose weight,"
   The Solution: There's nothing wrong with low-intensity exercise, particularly if you have joint problems. "But to lose weight, you'll probably need to do it for longer than half an hour. Just for general health, the recommendation is 30 minutes five days a week,"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
   Mistake #5: You Skip the Warm Up
  
  You may think you're saving time, but you're actually just compromising the first 5 to 10 minutes of your workout. "Your body literally needs to warm up so that blood flow increases, the nervous system wakes up, and the body starts to use energy and oxygen more efficiently
  

  

    The Solution:best warm-up is to do your chosen exercise at a low intensity. Runners, for example, should walk, then jog. Keep at it until you break a sweat,"Alternately, you can try "dynamic" stretches, which are moves that take your body through the range of motions you're about to do. For a runner, that can mean high knees, butt kicks, and forward, reverse, and side lunges. "Avoid static stretching, where you're holding poses for several counts. That actually calms the system down and can impair performance!!!!!!!!!!!