5 Dangerous Gym Exercises To Kick Out Of Your Program

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

If done incorrectly, you can kill your joints.

Any exercise with a barbell or on a machine can lead to injury if you do it incorrectly, are not ready for the weight, or have problems with joints and spine.

However, there are movements that require particularly good flexibility and do not forgive mistakes in technique. Below we will tell you how to reduce the risks when performing them, and explain when it is better to refuse them altogether.

1. Barbell pull to the chin

This exercise pumps the trapezium well and all three bundles of deltoid muscles that cover the shoulder joint. At the same time, the pull of the bar to the chin is often called dangerous for the shoulders, and not by accident. One study found a link between this exercise and impingement syndrome, a disorder of the muscles of the rotator cuff in the shoulder.

When you lift your shoulder to the side above 90 ° and at the same time twist it inward, as during the pull to the chin, the gap between the acromion - the bone process of the scapula - and the humerus narrows.

As a result, tendons of the rotator cuff muscles and the long head of the biceps can be injured, leading to inflammation and pain.

How to reduce risks

Grasp the bar with a wide grip. A grip twice as wide as the shoulders puts more stress on the trapezoid and delts and provides less stress on the shoulder joints and wrists. In addition, do not raise your elbows above your shoulders and make sure that at the highest point, your shoulders are turned outward, not inward.

Thus, you will remove the risk factor for impingement syndrome. If you are having trouble doing deadlifts in this technique, exclude it from your workouts. According to the research by Bret Contreras, published on T-Nation, there are more effective trapezium and shoulder exercises: standing chest press, shrugs, arm extension on the block machine.

2. Press from behind the head

The press behind the head is used to develop the shoulders and triceps. Unlike the chest press, it allows you to evenly pump the deltoids without a strong emphasis on the front beams. In addition, during the press from behind the head, the bar moves along the optimal trajectory - exactly above the center of gravity, so that in the lifting phase it provides less load on the lower back.

However, exercise is often cited as hazardous to the shoulder joints. Indeed, it can harm, but only for those who lack mobility in the shoulders. If you have a sunken chest and sloping shoulders that are pulled forward, you will not be able to perform the overhead press technically correctly: the shoulders will curl forward, reducing the subacromial space and increasing the risk of impingement syndrome.

To check if you can do this exercise, pick up a stick, raise it on straight arms and take it behind your head. If you manage to do this without pushing your chest forward, there is enough mobility. If the chest rises after the arms and it is not possible to take the barbell behind the head, it is worth working on the mobility of the shoulders.

How to reduce risks

Until your shoulders are ready for the overhead press, you can do the chest press instead and work on shoulder mobility at the same time. You can find some good stretching exercises in the article below.

3. Deadlift on the block behind the head

This exercise develops the lats and biceps of the shoulder. At the same time, in contrast to the pull to the chest, it better loads the posterior bundle of the deltoid muscles.

It is often called dangerous for the cervical spine, since at the lowest point many people stretch their necks forward to reach the trapezoid with the handle. In this case, heavy deadlift can really be dangerous.

In addition, it can hurt the shoulders for the same reason as the barbell pull to the chin with a narrow grip and the press from behind the head. If during this exercise the shoulders are turned inward, the subacromial space narrows, which increases the risk of impingement syndrome. But if you turn your shoulder outward, the space under the acromion will be much wider.

Again, many people lack the mobility of their shoulders to keep their shoulders from pivoting inward while pulling over their heads and not pulling their necks forward. As a result, poor technique combined with heavy weights makes the exercise dangerous.

How to reduce risks

Check without weight to see if you can do this exercise correctly. Sit on a bench, grab the handle twice as wide as your shoulders and pull it until it touches the top of your trapezoid. If you managed to do this by leaving your shoulders without turning inward and only slightly tilting your neck, as in the video below, you can add the exercise to your workouts.

Otherwise, it is better to do chest pulls for now and at the same time develop shoulder mobility.

4. Good morning

Good Morning (GM) is used to work the hamstrings and back extensors. If performed correctly, the exercise does not harm the back, increases mobility in the hip joint, perfectly pumps the muscles of the back of the thigh and reduces the risk of injury to this group of muscles.

The problem is that not every person can do it correctly: with straight knees, bend to the parallel of the body with the floor and at the same time keep the back in a neutral position.

If the lower back is rounded, the extensor muscles of the back, located along the spine, relax. As a result, all stress from weight is transferred from the muscles to other structures of the spine: thin ligaments, fascia and intervertebral discs.

Excessive stress can result in pain and injury, even in healthy people, and aggravate the condition in the presence of diseases such as spondylolisthesis. Here are some reasons why many people cannot keep their backs in a neutral position.

• Poor stretching. The shortened muscles of the back of the thigh prevent you from bending over with a straight back - you have a pull under your knees, and your lower back is rounded.
• Excessive deflection in the lower back, or hyperlordosis of the lumbar spine. With this posture, the extensors of the back are stiff and tense, while the buttocks and muscles of the back of the thigh, on the contrary, are weak. Since the leg strength is not enough, and the back muscles are already in tension, in order to raise the core, the extensors first need to stretch and only then contract again to produce strength. Therefore, a person rounds the lower back before lifting - he simply has no other choice.
• Weak mid-back. This is a common problem for modern people. Lack of mobility and sedentary work constrict the upper back and weaken muscles. If during GM the weak thoracic extensors fail to cope with the load, the body compensates for this at the expense of the lower back. She gets more stress and you get spinal problems.

How to reduce risks

If you are unsure about the health of your spine or have problems with posture, exclude GM from the program. Exercise is not valuable enough to risk back health for it.

Do deadlift, hyperextension, back squat and chest squat. These multi-joint exercises will pump your back and hamstrings.

To strengthen your mid-back, try wide-grip deadlifts and bent-over barbell rows. At the same time, develop the mobility of the thoracic spine and stretch the muscles of the back of the thigh.

5. Extension of the legs on the simulator

It pumps the quadriceps - the muscle on the front of the thigh - and works especially well on one of its heads - the rectus femoris. In fact, squats, lunges and other multi-joint exercises for pumping the hips practically do not use this head, but leg extension does it to the fullest.

However, this exercise is often described as dangerous for the knee joints, and these assumptions did not grow from scratch. So, in one interview, Brad Schoenfeld, Ph. D., trainer and scientific author, identified two factors that make leg extension not the safest exercise:

1. The knees get more stress during the leg extension. The fact is that the load on the lower leg is perpendicular to its axis, which creates a shear force in the knee joint. In squats and other multi-joint movements, on the contrary, it is parallel to the axis of the lower leg, which creates more compression. And since the joints tolerate compression much better than shear, knees get more negative impact during leg extension in the simulator than in the same squat.
2. Exercise increases stress on the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), which is located inside the joint and keeps the knee from rotating inward. When you extend your legs in the machine, the tense quadriceps moves the lower leg forward, and the ACL resists this action and experiences stress. In squats and other closed circuit exercises, tension on the quadriceps also shifts the lower leg, but joint tension in the hamstrings prevents this movement and reduces stress on the ACL. In the extension of the legs, these muscles do not work. As a result, the load on the ligament increases, which in the long term can lead to its damage.

At the same time, Schoenfeld mentioned that, despite such effects of the exercise, it is safe for people with healthy knees and can be used for isolated work on the quadriceps. Another question is whether you are confident in the health of your knees and whether you need isolated work with an emphasis on the rectus femoris.

How to reduce risks

First, think about whether you need this exercise at all. Leg extension only pumps your performance in this movement and does not carry over to others. That is, if you straighten your legs in the simulator, hoping that it will help you squat better or perform other strength exercises, then you are greatly mistaken.

If you want to pump your legs and not risk your joints - squat with a barbell, do lunges, leg presses and other effective exercises. Maybe you will lose a little in the thickness of the quadriceps, but you will keep the health of your knees.

If you need isolated work on the rectus femoris, you can reduce the risk to the knees by limiting the range of motion. The knee joint is most stressed when you lift your shins to a 45 ° angle. To reduce stress on your joints, extend your knees between 45 ° and 90 ° (full extension).

Alternatively, you can swap out the exercise machine for a version with weights on your legs - it puts less stress on your knee joints. Sit in a chair, attach the weights to your ankles, and move within a safe range of 45 ° to 90 °.