Although it is true that there are no such things as `bad’ exercises, certain faulty techniques can make an exercise useless and compromising.
While some of these exercises aren’t optimal for fitness, some others should be avoided as they can easily lead to injury. Read on to know more about these common red flags…
SPOT REDUCTION EXERCISES:
An ineffective method of `burning fat’ followed by many people is spot reduction. The popularity of this belief can be largely attributed to the many exercise gimmicks that we often see in infomercials regarding localised weight reduction. But always keep in mind that weight loss can never be isolated to a particular area.
Localised strengthening and toning exercises will only help to firm muscles but will have no effect on the fat content of the target area.
LEG EXTENSIONS (SEATED):
A very popular exercise for working the anterior thigh muscles, seated leg extensions are actually one of the most dangerous exercises in the gym. This is because the exercise places an unhealthy amount of stress on the knee joint. According to a research individuals who worked on the leg extension machines found no benefit during functional tests. This can be particularly dangerous for those who have any kind of knee problems.
LEG PRESS:
Another form of exercise that should be avoided is the leg press as this can place undue amount of stress on the lower back. This can thus predispose a person to low back injuries. Although, many claim that seated leg press exercises can train your hams, quadriceps and gluts, in reality , it does not engage these mus cles at all. All it does is force the spine into a flexed position.
SEATED ABDUCTION OR ADDUCTION:
Just like leg press, seated abductionadduction movements can place great amounts of stress on your spine. Also, such movements only train these muscles as prime movers. But, in reality , during actual physical activity , they are used only as stabilisers and not as prime movers.
LEG CURLS:
According to strength and conditioning coach, Charlie Weingroff, exercises like deadlifts are more effective than leg curls. This is because the latter trains the hams only as knee flexors while, during activity , they are used mainly as hip extensors.
SIT UPS:
As per the recommendations by experts, a person should never apply more than 3400 newtons of force on his back at a time.Crossing this limit would place unnecessary stress on the back muscles leading to stress or injury . On an average, a regular sit-up program contributes around 3413 newtons of force on the back muscles.
LAT PULLDOWN EXERCISES (BEHIND THE HEAD):
This is a big “no-no” without proper form, as this may affect your shoulder j
