Ten Exercises You Should Probably Avoid
This was taken from a lecture by personal trainer, Shaun Adamson, trainer emeritus, Powerhouse Gym.
- Sit-ups. Although usually performed for the purpose of working the abdominals, the primary muscles they target are the hip flexors.
- Leg Lifts. Another exercise usually performed for working the abs, yet the hip flexors (again) are the prime movers and shakers. This exercise can cause serious injury to the lumbar spine, especially when performed with momentum.
- Machine Leg Extensions. Arguably, one of the most popular leg exercises for strengthening the quadriceps, this exercise is potentially dangerous because when only the shin is in motion, the exercise draws the patella back onto the femur, increasing joint compression forces damaging connective tissue.
- Leg Press. Although this exercise CAN be performed without injury, many people use incorrect form and excessive weight, causing them to lift their hips off the bench. This flattens the back, and bends the knee to greater than 90 degrees – both no-nos.
- Behind the Neck Pulldowns. This puts too much strain on the rotator cuff muscles of the shoulder. The only safe way to perform this exercise is by lowering the bar in front of the head.
- Behind the Neck Shoulder Press. Same logic applies here as to the exercise given above.
- Stiff-Leg Deadlifts. This is a double whammy because when the spine flexes forward beyond 45 degrees, it is natural for the lumbar spin to flex forward as well. It is incorrect form to maintain this position. It cause hyper mobility of the hip joint and puts excessive stress upon the vertebra of the spine.
- Any Abdominal Crunch Machine. Using any sort of abdominal machine of bench to conduct ab exercises creates faulty motor engram programming. It also increases the distortion between the cervical (neck) flexors and the trunk flexors.
- Upright Rows. With this exercise, it is not a question of IF you will hurt shoulders, but WHEN. The position that your arms get placed in when doing the exercise causes what is called “impingment”. Essentially, this means that every time you raise the bar, the bones in your shoulder pinch the tendons in your rotator cuff.
- Squat on the Smith Machine. In a true squat, the bar doesn’t go straight up and down as it does with the Smith machine. When viewed from the side, the bar has some sway to it. On the Smith machine, the bar has no give, so it forces the body into disadvantageous biomechanical positions. People also tend to put their feet further in front of the bodies when doing squats on the machine, stressing the knee.
