Top 5 Weightlifting Mistakes Killing Your Gains (According to Reddit)

The Counterintuitive Truth About Your Training Plateaus

If you've spent any time on r/fitness or r/weightroom, you've seen the same questions a thousand times: "Why am I not getting stronger?" or "How do I break this plateau?" The advice is scattered across countless threads, often contradictory and buried in memes. The biggest mistake isn't just one thing-it's a collection of subtle, persistent errors that compound over time. We've done the work for you, synthesizing the most common weightlifting mistakes Reddit users discuss into a single, easy-to-read guide. Forget scattered advice; this is your consolidated roadmap to fixing what's broken.

Here are the top 5 mistakes that are likely holding you back, and exactly how to fix them.

Mistake #1: Focusing on Weight, Not Volume

The most upvoted advice for breaking plateaus isn't about ego lifting; it's about its smarter, more insidious cousin: focusing only on the weight on the bar. Progress feels simple when you just add another 5 lbs. But this one-dimensional approach is the fastest way to stall. The real driver of muscle and strength gain is total training volume.

Volume is the total work you perform, calculated as Sets × Reps × Weight. By tracking and systematically increasing this number, you guarantee progress. Let's use a real-world example. Say your bench press is 200 lbs for 3 sets of 5 reps. Your volume is 3 x 5 x 200 = 3,000 lbs. Next week, you could try for 205 lbs for 3x5, a volume of 3,075 lbs. Or, you could stick with 200 lbs and aim for 3 sets of 6 reps, a volume of 3,600 lbs. That's a 20% increase in total work versus a 2.5% increase. This is the core of progressive overload.

How to Fix It:

1. Calculate Baseline Volume: For each main lift, calculate your current volume. This is your starting number to beat.
2. Apply the 5% Rule: Aim to increase your total volume for each major lift by about 5% each week. You can do this by adding one rep to each set, adding an extra set, or making a small weight increase. The method matters less than the result.
3. Track Everything: You can't improve what you don't measure. Use a notebook or a spreadsheet to log every set, rep, and weight. This can feel tedious. While a notebook works, it requires manual math after every workout. If you want to automate the calculations and focus purely on lifting, an app like Mofilo can be a useful shortcut. It calculates your volume instantly, but the principle of beating your previous numbers remains the same.

Mistake #2: Catastrophic Form on the “Big Three”

Poor form doesn't just risk injury; it robs you of gains by shifting tension away from the target muscles. Reddit is filled with form check videos showcasing the same classic errors.

• The "Good Morning" Squat: This happens when your hips shoot up faster than your chest on the way up. It turns the lift into a lower back exercise, putting your spine at risk and neglecting your quads. The Fix: Focus on driving your shoulders and hips up at the same rate. Think "chest up." Lower the weight by 20% and drill the movement pattern.
• The Bouncy Bench Press: Using your chest as a trampoline to bounce the bar up uses momentum, not muscle. It negates the hardest part of the lift and can injure your sternum. The Fix: Control the weight on the way down (a 2-3 second negative), pause for a full second on your chest without relaxing, and then explode up.
• The Rounded-Back Deadlift: Pulling with a rounded lower back (spinal flexion) is the most dangerous deadlift mistake. It places enormous shear force on your spinal discs. The Fix: Before you pull, engage your lats by thinking "pull the slack out of the bar." Keep your chest up and your back flat throughout the entire lift. If you can't, the weight is too heavy.

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Mistake #3: Neglecting the "Unseen" Muscles

Everyone wants big arms and a big chest-the "mirror muscles." But as any experienced lifter on Reddit will tell you, a strong body is built from the back. Neglecting your posterior chain (glutes, hamstrings, and back) and legs creates muscular imbalances that lead to injury and stalled progress on major lifts.

How to Fix It:

• Program Your Pulls: For every pushing exercise (like bench press or overhead press), you should have at least one pulling exercise (like rows or pull-ups). A 2:1 pull-to-push ratio is often recommended for posture and shoulder health.
• Prioritize Leg Day: Don't skip it. Your legs are half your body and the foundation of your strength. Heavy compound movements like squats, deadlifts, and lunges trigger a significant hormonal response that aids overall muscle growth.
• Add Hinge and Row Variations: Incorporate Romanian Deadlifts (RDLs) to target hamstrings and glutes. Add different rowing variations like Pendlay Rows and Dumbbell Rows to hit your back from multiple angles.

Mistake #4: Skipping the Warm-Up and Ignoring Mobility

Jumping straight into your heaviest set is a recipe for disaster. A proper warm-up does more than just prevent injury; it activates the central nervous system (CNS) and primes the specific muscles you're about to use, allowing you to lift more weight, more safely.

How to Fix It: The 10-Minute Dynamic Warm-Up

1. General Warm-Up (3-5 minutes): Light cardio like jumping jacks or stationary bike to raise your core body temperature.
2. Dynamic Stretching (3-5 minutes): Focus on the joints you'll be using. Examples include leg swings, arm circles, cat-cow stretches, and torso twists.
3. Activation and Ramp-Up Sets (2-3 sets): Before your main lift, do 1-2 light sets with just the bar to groove the movement pattern. Then, perform 2-3 "ramp-up" sets, gradually increasing the weight towards your first working set. For a 225 lb working set, it might look like: Bar x 10, 135 lbs x 5, 185 lbs x 3.

Mistake #5: The Nutrition Miscalculation

You can't out-train a bad diet. Reddit's fitness forums are littered with stories of people who train hard for months with zero results because their nutrition is off. The two most common errors are extreme opposites.

• Not Eating Enough: To build muscle (hypertrophy), you need to be in a slight caloric surplus (eating more calories than you burn). You also need adequate protein to provide the building blocks for new muscle tissue. The Fix: Aim for a modest surplus of 300-500 calories above your maintenance level. For protein, a widely accepted target is 1.6-2.2 grams per kilogram of bodyweight (or about 0.7-1.0 grams per pound).
• "Dirty Bulking": The other extreme is eating everything in sight to gain weight. While you will gain weight, a large percentage of it will be fat, which you'll have to work hard to lose later. The Fix: Focus on whole, nutrient-dense foods. 80% of your calories should come from lean proteins, complex carbs, and healthy fats. Use the remaining 20% for more flexible options. This ensures you're fueling performance and recovery, not just adding body fat.

Visual Guide: Correct vs. Incorrect Form for Key Lifts

Reading about form is one thing; seeing it is another. Here’s what to look for on the three main lifts.

Squat

• Correct Form: The barbell rests on your traps, not your neck. Your chest is up, and your back is straight. You initiate the movement by breaking at the hips and knees simultaneously. Your hips descend below the level of your knees (breaking parallel). The bar travels in a straight vertical line.

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• Incorrect Form (Knee Valgus): Your knees collapse inward during the ascent. This puts extreme stress on your knee ligaments.

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Bench Press

• Correct Form: Your feet are planted firmly on the floor. Your shoulder blades are retracted and squeezed together, creating a slight arch in your upper back. The bar touches your lower chest, and your elbows are tucked at about a 45-75 degree angle, not flared out to 90 degrees.

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• Incorrect Form (Flared Elbows): Your elbows are flared out perpendicular to your body. This puts your shoulder joint in a compromised position and increases the risk of impingement.

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Deadlift

• Correct Form: Your feet are about hip-width apart. Your back is perfectly flat from your hips to your head. You engage your lats to keep the bar close to your body. The lift is initiated by driving your feet through the floor, and your hips and shoulders rise together.

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• Incorrect Form (Rounded Lower Back): Your lower back is rounded before the pull even begins. The lift is initiated by yanking with your back instead of pushing with your legs.

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You read this far. You're serious.

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