Don't' Get Hurt With These Exercises
Ever done or seen other people
performing these exercises in the gym?:
- Chin-ups / Pulldowns behind
neck
- Sit-ups of any form, especially
decline sit-ups
- Shoulder presses behind neck
- Upright rows
- Deep knee squats
- Smith machine chest presses
- Leg raises with feet near the
floor
Do you know the similarities in
these exercises? Answer: they place unnecessary stresses on your joints and parts (i.e.
shoulder, wrists, elbows, low back) and that may injured you.
These movements are not
functional in nature and your joints are placed at very dangerous positions,
subjecting to heavy weights. These when combined with fast, forceful actions (another
discouraged exercise technique), place you in potential injury state.It is like
speeding your car around a sharp corner. You MAY get away with it, but you are
certainly toying with danger.
Our joints are not meant to with
stand heavy loads at such abnormal positions, like what the above exercises do. As a
result, the connective tissues may become overstretched, develop micro tears and
become inflammed. In the worst case, they can be ruptured.
Some hardcore exercisers may
argue that these exercises yield better results. You will be disappointed to know
that none of these exercises work better than the safer alternatives (e.g. chin-up to the
front, half squats). In fact, theses unsafe exercises exert very little direct
effect on the targeted muscles. Reason being, you are not able to subject heavy loads
at the weakest link, when at these abnormal positions. Your muscles get worked the
most when you are exercising when the joints are placed at the strongest
positions.
While you may not feel you have
injured when you are executing them, you will certainly feel the effects later, especially
when you are older, when you are far less flexible at these joints. Look at the old-time
lifters. Check out their knees or shoulders. Case closed.
