Gym Limbo: Doing the same exercises and/or routine because you’re too scared, lazy, or narrow minded to learn and do other exercises.
The consequence: an imbalanced physique.
Have you been there? If you have it was most likely when you first started lifting. I know it was at least for me.
I would learn an exercise, become familiar and comfortable with it and then do the same exercise repeatedly through out the week. The problem is that in doing so I would isolate certain muscles and neglect to build others. So now I am having to play “catch-up,” because some muscles are more developed than others. For me this is my hamstrings and glutes.
I use to not do isolation as often and at a higher intensity for hamstrings and glutes, which means now I am working them hard 2-3 times a week because the muscle I have built on my upper body is more advanced than my lower body. This is partly because I don’t enjoy doing legs/glutes as much as I do back and arms. When I do work back or arms, I work at a higher intensity and push myself because to me these exercises are more “fun.” I occasionally enjoy doing legs, but for the most part I don’t, so I use to just go through the motions and not push myself. My attitude towards doing legs was bad, so I would perform the exercises apathetically and be like “Okay, I did that. I can check that off.” I didn’t put as much effort into them as I did other exercises I enjoyed, and this eventually caught up with me.
It’s natural to be more enthusiastic about things that seem more fun to you. But in fitness, you can’t allow this to effect your workouts, because it will affect your physique. Your attitude is everything in the gym. It plays a huge role in how your workout is going to be. Psych yourself up and do the things you don’t want to because they will pay off.
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Hannah Miller Fitness Blog 
That’s interesting, because women usually prefer lower body exercises. It’s men who often end up with bulky top halfs on match-stick legs. I only recently got into working my upper body, but I can’t say there was ever a noticeable difference. My legs were definitely much stronger than anywhere else from being worked all the time, but my top half didn’t look neglected, because of my body type. Body type is important. Some people do need to focus on some areas more than others, and some not at all. I have friends with abs who never work out and have never spent a day in the gym. That’s just their body type. Go figure…
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Alexis, thank you for sharing. 🙂 You’re right. Many women prefer to do legs and glutes, and neglect to do upper body. I think that this is why their legs and butt appear to be bigger (and it may be), but having muscle in your arms and back definitely makes your legs and glutes appear smaller.
In the very beginning of lifting I loved doing legs and worked them the most. Then I realized I needed to do more upper body exercises (because my legs were getting too developed in comparison to my upper body), so I learned shoulder, back, and biceps exercises that I enjoyed and started to slack off with legs. Plus, I injured my lower back about a year ago and it was during this time that I was not able to do squats, deadlifts, etc., so I kinda put my glutes and hams on the back burner. Then, eventually when my back healed, I incorporated glutes and hams more but dreaded it and didn’t push as hard as I do now. People tell me that I don’t look disproportionate, but it’s just one of those things that you feel when see yourself in the mirror. Sometimes I think we are our hardest critics. 🙂
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I must be a weird woman then. Lolll!!! Because I absolutely love working out my upper body more than my lower half. I joke that I’m the girl who repeatedly skips leg day. For me, I’d rather have toned arms and back than legs and glutes. I actually don’t like the whole squat look your booty gets. But to each their own. I do have to consciously make myself workout my lower half. Plus I also fell into gym limbo and am trying to claw my way out with the help of my bf. He’s a bodybuilder and a personal trainer. It is so true when you mention the intimidation factor!
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Haha, you’re not weird! 🙂 I get what you’re saying, I really do. Having a boyfriend that can support and push you in and outside the gym to do things you don’t want to do but need to, is a really great thing. Thank you for sharing! 🙂
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Often I see people repeating same exercises over and over again.. and I never got it. But it’s pretty much all over people’s lives – by nature, by modern nature, we are lazy to educate ourselves, so we repeatedly do same things, yet we expect some magic to happen so different results will arrive. Do you feel it as well?
This might be my drawback, but i never tried following any strict exercise schedule/plan, however I follow a pattern of body split and do not skip parts. I am more comfortable having exercise repository in my head and working out stuff I feel like for that day. Nevertheless, I know that one day this attitude will hit the limit and I will be determined to try out something new – the natural progress of body and mind will require it.
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Yes, I see it all the time! I think you hit it on the head- it comes down to being too lazy to gain additional knowledge and then actually taking action on it.
I think it is good to follow some sort of organized plan, for it leads to greater results in my experience and opinion. I do understand what you’re saying though when referring to the repository of exercises in your head.
It’s always good idea to change it up ever now and then. The body likes to adapt, which can be both a good and bad thing.
Thanks for sharing, Vladimir!
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