FIVE EXERCISES TO AVOID

You wouldn’t think that some exercises are bad for you. After all isn’t the point of exercise to improve your overall health and promote weight loss? However, depending on your goals, fitness levels, health and your gym equipment knowledge, some exercises can do more damage to your body than good. Or in other instances is a complete waste of your time.

How can you identify the right exercises for you?

Now it is important that I make it clear that the exercises I am about to describe aren’t unsafe or ineffective for everyone. As mentioned above, your own personal factors will affect their effectiveness, which is why it is important that you:

1. Speak to your doctor before you undertake any exercises so you can recognise your weaknesses and enter the gym with a complete knowledge of what you are capable of.
2. Receive proper instruction from a gym instructor on how to use all the gym equipment so you don’t injure or re-injure yourself.

Once you have done this, you should use the following guidelines to help you identify which exercises you are safe to use. For instance, the next time you go to the gym or attend a class, ask yourself the following questions before you embark on a workout:

• Is there any unusual/unnatural movement pattern to the exercise?
• Is the exercise/movement causing you any pain or discomfort?
• Is the exercise making your existing muscular imbalance worse? (this question is particularly important if the exercise is putting more strain on an existing back problem)
• Does the exercise require more joint flexibility than you are able to offer?
• Is your risk of injury greater than the benefits this exercise offers?

If you have answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, then it would be in your best interest to steer clear of this exercise or speak to a professional first who can advise you on the best course of action.

What exercises should I definitely avoid?

Bearing all the above information in mind, the following 5 exercises have got a greater chance of causing an injury or hurting you, than other exercises.

1. Behind the Head Lat Pulldowns This type of exercise used to be really popular amongst gym experts as it requires you to pull the bar behind your head. However, unless you have got extremely flexible shoulders then it is nearly impossible to do this exercise safely and without letting the bar hind the back of your neck.Instead consider pulling the bar down in front of you, keeping your back straight and leaning your torso back slightly before pulling the bar down towards your chest.
2. Squats/Leg Presses with a Deep Knee Bend Both squats and leg presses are safe to do as long as you don’t bend your knees more than 90 degrees. The problem is, when you bend them too much, your spine is unable to maintain its proper alignment.As a result this causes your pelvis to tilt and your lower back to take over, increasing your chances of straining your lower back muscles or even damaging your spinal discs.
3. Seated Leg Extensions This exercise is particularly goof for targeting the muscles in the front of your thighs; however like squats, leg extensions can damage your knees as you are essentially lifting heavy weights with all the resistance being focused at your ankles.Because of this, I recommend doing simple squats and lunges instead as it helps to workout your thighs, and ensures your knees are not feeling the pressure of these weights.
4. Inner and Outer Thigh Machine Exercises You will find a few pieces of equipment at the gym which workout your inner and outer thigh muscle. Now the problem with machines such as the adduction machine is the fact that these exercises run the risk of straining your tiny thigh muscles as well as aggravating your lower back and hips.Instead of using this machine sitting down, I recommend adopting a standing position or doing abduction exercises as both of these will help to workout these muscles.
5. Upright Rows This particular exercise involves holding a weight at your centre, having your hands close together and then bringing your hands up towards your chin. Simple, right? Well, this simple exercise can compress the nerves in your shoulder, impinging them.To avoid this, bend forward from your hips (creating a 90 degree angle) and lift the weights towards your chest.

Now whilst each of these 5 exercises comes with risks to your knees, shoulders and back, you can easily swap these out for alternative forms of exercise. So keep safe and make sure you know exactly what you doing before you try any form of exercise.