3 Exercises To Stop Doing Now
As a personal trainer I try to focus a lot on technique with my clients. If I notice they are doing something wrong it is important that I correct it early before it becomes a habit, of course one of the advantages of having a personal trainer.
Obviously most people dont have personal trainers and many people in gyms up and down the country perform the right exercises but due to poor technique they reduce the physical gains, as well as increasing the chance of injury.
There are also a few extremely popular exercises which many people do which could cause you to regress rather than progress!
It is tempting especially with males to sacrifice technique for weight, it is a terrible idea. Just drop the weight slightly, get your technique spot on and then start to build it up.
So Ive come up with a little list of common technical faults which ruin the gains that people make in the gym.
Here are the top 3 exercises you should stop doing immediately.
1. Any exercise that causes rounding of the lower back
No matter what exercise you are doing then you should avoid doing it with a rounded back at all costs, persisting in doing this could lead to a big injury which could keep you off training for a long time.
Things such as deadlifts, bent over rows and squats are brilliant exercises but they are very common ones that people will perform with a rounded back.
You should focus on bringing in (activating) your abdominal muscles, be nice and straight, chest out and keep a neutral spine throughout the movement.
Same applies when you are lifting the weights from the floor, you could do yourself a big injury picking a weight up from the floor. Just remember to bend your knees, keep the weights close to your body and lift them like you would with a deadlift.
2. Sit ups to get ripped abs
There is a common belief that all you need to do to get a 6 pack is dedicate 10 minutes at the end of every gym session doing sit ups and crunches. In truth the most important thing in getting that flat stomach is through your nutrition. It takes well over 20,000 crunches to burn a pound of fat so dont bother doing it just for fat loss.
A strong core is important Im not disputing that I am just saying that if you do sit ups to rid the fat around your stomach it will take a long long time.
But back to sit ups and crunches, they could actually lead you to looking fatter. Doing too many sit ups on the floor pulls the rib cage down which will eventually cause postural problems plus too many sit ups can cause the stomach area to look bigger.
I would recommend eating well and sticking to ab exercises such as leg raises and planks, also try using a stability ball for a more efficient and safer ab workout.
3. Anything behind the neck
These exercises just put your shoulders at risk when you can get as good a workout from normal exercises. So I wouldnt recommend risking a shoulder injury by using the behind a neck technique.
So there you have 3 exercise techniques to take out of your gym workout immediately, removing these will help to prevent injury and maximise your muscle building potential.
Thanks for reading,
Jamie Stedman
Obviously most people dont have personal trainers and many people in gyms up and down the country perform the right exercises but due to poor technique they reduce the physical gains, as well as increasing the chance of injury.
There are also a few extremely popular exercises which many people do which could cause you to regress rather than progress!
It is tempting especially with males to sacrifice technique for weight, it is a terrible idea. Just drop the weight slightly, get your technique spot on and then start to build it up.
So Ive come up with a little list of common technical faults which ruin the gains that people make in the gym.
Here are the top 3 exercises you should stop doing immediately.
1. Any exercise that causes rounding of the lower back
No matter what exercise you are doing then you should avoid doing it with a rounded back at all costs, persisting in doing this could lead to a big injury which could keep you off training for a long time.
Things such as deadlifts, bent over rows and squats are brilliant exercises but they are very common ones that people will perform with a rounded back.
You should focus on bringing in (activating) your abdominal muscles, be nice and straight, chest out and keep a neutral spine throughout the movement.
Same applies when you are lifting the weights from the floor, you could do yourself a big injury picking a weight up from the floor. Just remember to bend your knees, keep the weights close to your body and lift them like you would with a deadlift.
2. Sit ups to get ripped abs
There is a common belief that all you need to do to get a 6 pack is dedicate 10 minutes at the end of every gym session doing sit ups and crunches. In truth the most important thing in getting that flat stomach is through your nutrition. It takes well over 20,000 crunches to burn a pound of fat so dont bother doing it just for fat loss.
A strong core is important Im not disputing that I am just saying that if you do sit ups to rid the fat around your stomach it will take a long long time.
But back to sit ups and crunches, they could actually lead you to looking fatter. Doing too many sit ups on the floor pulls the rib cage down which will eventually cause postural problems plus too many sit ups can cause the stomach area to look bigger.
I would recommend eating well and sticking to ab exercises such as leg raises and planks, also try using a stability ball for a more efficient and safer ab workout.
3. Anything behind the neck
These exercises just put your shoulders at risk when you can get as good a workout from normal exercises. So I wouldnt recommend risking a shoulder injury by using the behind a neck technique.
So there you have 3 exercise techniques to take out of your gym workout immediately, removing these will help to prevent injury and maximise your muscle building potential.
Thanks for reading,
Jamie Stedman