Currently, women’s fitness is now more popular than ever, with the ‘girls that lift’ movement growing increasingly stronger by the day. Yes, more and more women are now showing an active interest in health and fitness than ever before, with many of them actually showing the men a thing or two about getting in shape. Despite women’s fitness becoming more popular than ever before, there are some women out there that aren’t getting the most out of their training, due to the fact that they’re making some fairly avoidable fitness mistakes. If your training and fitness routine is lacking and you aren’t seeing the results you were hoping for, perhaps you’re guilty of making one or two of the following fitness mistakes? Not lifting heavily enough – In the past, there were women out there who would avoid weights and resistance training at all costs, through fear that they would end up looking like a female version of the Incredible Hulk. Thankfully we’re now a great deal more clued up and we now know that lifting weights will not provide results anywhere near as dramatic as that. Despite this however, some women out there are still guilty of using weights which are far too light for them. Lifting weights burns fat, plus it helps tone the muscles and sculpt the body. When you’re lifting, you want it to at least feel semi-difficult, and if it doesn’t and you feel as if you could go on repping all night, the weights are too light and you aren’t going to benefit. Performing too much cardio – Every gym has its cardio bunnies, and cardio is indeed a very effective form of exercise. Cardio burns fat, it builds stamina and endurance, it builds fitness, and it’s great for the heart as well as the mind. The problem when it comes to women’s fitness however, is the fact that some women out there are simply doing too much cardio. Obviously it is beneficial to use the treadmills, the exercise bikes, the steppers, and so on, but you should try to vary your training and not base it solely on cardio. Too much cardio will leave you burnt out, physically and mentally, and that means your future workouts will suffer. Not taking in enough calories – This is perhaps the number one fitness mistake made by women pretty much everywhere. When trying to burn fat and tone up, surely the logical thing to do would be to cut back on your calories to speed up the weight loss? Well, this is partially true, it’s just that some women are guilty of taking things to the extreme and cutting their caloric intakes down way too much. You need calories to build and maintain muscle, and to fuel your workouts. If you aren’t taking in enough, your body will eat away at its lean muscle for energy, and you’ll constantly feel tired and lethargic, meaning your workouts will suffer. If you’re trying to lose fat, try to create a deficit of no more than 300 calories below maintenance per day, as that way you will still have enough energy to get through your workouts, and you’ll still gradually reduce your body fat in a safe and sustainable manner.