Although regular exercise is good for body and soul, diving head first into an advanced exercise program is not encouraged. It can even be dangerous if you don’t avoid some common mistakes.

If you’re a beginner, your body isn’t prepared for the types of strains exercise can place on it. As a result, engaging in an exercise program with little foresight and planning can lead to burnout, frustration and injury.

If you want to maximize your workout, it’s going to take a combination of motivation and the correct information. So let’s review the 10 most common mistakes that can be easily avoided.

1. Skipping the warm-up. Muscles need time to adjust to the demands placed on them during exercise. Before hitting the gym or jumping into your regular cardio workout, you should take a few minutes to gently walk, cycle or whatever you choose to prepare the body for heavier activity. Breaking a light sweat will get your blood pumping, warm up muscles and ligaments, greatly reduce your risk of injury and increase the effectiveness of your workout.

2. Skipping the cool-down. Due to time constraints, many people head straight to the showers after their last repetition or as soon as the timer on the treadmill dings. Instead, take a few minutes to lower your heart rate close to its resting rate. This will reduce your risk of injury and give you a few minutes to incorporate some relaxation into your routine.

3. Not stretching. Flexible muscles are far less likely to be pulled than tight ones. Stretch before a heavy workout or after your workout as a warm-down. Never stretch a muscle without warming up first to reduce your risk of injury even further. Regular stretching greatly increases your flexibility

4. Lifting too much too fast. Placing demands your muscles are not prepared to handle is the best way to injure yourself. Gradual, progressive resistance is a far more effective and safe way to increase muscle strength. You should select a weight that allows you to do 10-15 repetitions. If you can’t do 10 reps, the weight is too heavy. If you can easily do 15, then increase the weight by five percent.

5. Using too light a resistance. If you are doing over 15 reps or have not increased your resistance in over two weeks, it is time to progress. If you want to improve, you have to keep your muscles stimulated. If you continue to do the same weights with high reps, you will maintain your current physique and not advance.

6. Being a Weekend Warrior. The mistake of the person who tries to fit a week’s worth of exercise into a Saturday afternoon! For weight loss, it’s more effective to sustain a moderate workout for longer periods of time than to exercise intensely for only a few minutes. For others, the expectation that a workout must be intense to be effective can lead to burnout or injury while others abandon their training altogether.

7. Waiting until you are thirsty to drink. Only camels can go without water! For the rest of us it’s a necessity! Don’t wait until you feel thirsty because you are already dehydrated at that point. Drink plenty of fluids before, during and after your workout.

8. Using bad form. It’s much more effective to choose a lower level, speed or weight and perform the exercise properly than it is to go too fast or too heavy and use poor form and momentum. Lower the intensity to the point at which you can maintain good posture. An example of poor form would be leaning on the Stairmaster handrails or swinging the dumbbells during a bicep curl.

9. Resting too much. While it’s true you don’t want to overdo it, taking too much time in between exercises can decrease the training benefits and set you up for injury. Allow for about 30 seconds between toning exercises — which is usually just enough time to move to the next station and set up. You should exercise intensely enough to work up a light sweat, get your heart beating and feel a sense of satisfaction for having completed your workout.

10. More is better. It’s not necessary to spend over an hour doing cardiovascular exercise. Studies show that the risk of injury outweighs the benefits after 60 minutes. Sessions of around 45 minutes most days of the week are recommended for weight loss.

Remember, exercise is only one link to a complete program of well-being. Mental, spiritual and psychological “workouts” are just as important. Your body will repay you! The only thing left is to just do it… safely.

Before we talk about boosting your metabolism, let’s define metabolism. Metabolism is the amount of energy or calories your body burns to maintain vital functions. Regardless of what you are doing, eating, drinking, sleeping, cleaning etc., your body is constantly burning calories to keep you going.

Here are some tips to boost your metabolism:

1. Eat Breakfast
If you don’t eat breakfast, you slow down your metabolism because your body thinks it’s starving (after 8 to 10 hours or more without food) and goes into ”hoard mode.”

2. Be active: The average person burns about 30 percent of calories through daily activity. Sedentary people only use about 15 percent. Taking every opportunity to move can make quite a difference to the amount of calories you burn.

3. Don’t Eat Too Few Calories: Dropping your calorie intake below 1,000 calories a day will signal to your body that you are in starvation mode, and will slow down your metabolism.

4. Eat smaller meals more frequently:
Smaller, more frequent meals keeps your blood sugar stable and provides a steady source of energy to fuel metabolism. Eating healthy small regular meals will keep your metabolism going faster than larger, less frequent meals.

5. Aerobic exercise: high-intensity exercise makes you burn more calories during
exercise and for several hours afterwards.

6. Build muscle.
For every extra pound of muscle you put on, your body uses around 50 extra calories a day. So you should add weight training or progressive resistance exercise that builds muscle 2-3 days per week. Muscle burns more calories than fat, and the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn, even at rest!

7. Drink Water!!
Water, Water, Water!! Drink those 8, 8-ounce glasses of water every day. The body needs water to work efficiently and process calories.

8. Take the stairs: Stair climbing provides a cardiovascular workout for your heart and is also a weight bearing exercise so it may help strengthen your leg and hip muscles as well. Some studies have shown that you can burn 10 calories a minute by climbing stairs

9. Get a good night’s sleep
There is research that shows that people who do not get sufficient sleep tend to gain weight. This may be because the body uses sleep to heal and regenerate itself, including its muscular system.

1O. Eat spicy foods: Some spices, such as chili and red pepper flakes, can raise the metabolic rate by up to 50 percent for up to 3 hours after you’ve eaten a spicy meal.

We’ve all heard that we should be drinking six to eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day, but why?

Well, water accounts for 50-60% of our overall body mass. It is a part of every body cell, tissue and organ. Without water humans would die within a few days. Water also plays an important role in the following functions of the body: transporting of blood, sugar, oxygen & fats to muscles, eliminating waste, regulating body temperature and lubricating joints.

So if an adequate amount of water is not consumed, body fluids will be out of balance, causing dehydration, which can be life-threatening if it is a severe case. If you wait until you are thirsty, you may already be dehydrated, so it is important to drink before you become thirsty.

Signs of dehydration include:

Muscle cramps

Intense thirst

Weakness

Dark colored urine

Headache

Nausea

Fatigue

Dizziness

Confusion

We can also get water from fruits and vegetable as well as other beverages. However, avoid caffeine because it is dehydrating. Sports drinks provide electrolyte replacement but that is not necessary during short-term exercise (less than 60 minutes), and just provides extra empty calories. Sodas and fruit juices provide small amounts of fluid, and again often add extra calories. So instead of sodas, try seltzer water with a splash of fruit juice.

Rebecca LeSaffre is the owner of Lynnfield Boot Camp, and is an ACSM Certified Personal Trainer, a Fitness Nutrition Coach and a Physical Therapist Assistant. She is qualified to assess what types of exercises will be most beneficial for meeting personal fitness goals, while also helping assure that you use proper form for maximum results and injury prevention. You can contact her via her web site www.lynnfieldbootcamp.com