Though working out and physical exercise is a necessary component of health and wellness, its also important to do the correct exercises in order to progress you to the goals that you envision for yourself.
There are many flashy workouts/ exercises which look amazing, but lack the functionality which makes them “good” exercises. Let me know if you have done these exercises that I am bout to list, and if you agree with them being “bad” for you overall:
1. Behind the Neck Lat Pull Downs
2. Heavy Upright Rows
3. Sit ups
The Lat pull down is an amazing exercise that is used to target the Latissimus Dorsi muscles, and actually is considered one of the best to maintain the necessary amount of tension in order to grow the muscle. The behind the neck Lat Pull down is believed to increase activation upon the linear plane that the movement is on, however due to the external rotation of the shoulder joint while pulling heavy weight puts your shoulders in a very unnatural position. Not only are your shoulders being put in an unconventional position, your neck is also positioned unfavorably while moving your head forward. It would be best to stick to normal Lat Pull Downs and or pull ups (while keeping your neck neutral)
Upright Rows are actually an exercise I enjoy doing, this is why I put the emphasis on “heavy” Upright Rows being more of a negative exercise for you to participate in. Unlike the previous exercise that I dissected, in order to correctly do this movement your shoulders must go into internal rotation. This paired with very heavy weight once again puts a lot of unnecessary weight/ stress on your rotator cuffs and can either lead to injury or after some time, wear and tear of the ligaments and muscles within your shoulders. If you do enjoy this exercise (like I do) the best way to perform this is with lighter weights, and a slow/ controlled technique. Or you can also perform a controlled DB/BB overhead press, or Arnold Press, which hits your anterior delts as well.
Lastly we have a beginner’s favourite, the sit up. When even a student from Harvard University writes a paper on why the sit up is a bad exercise for you, your definitely doing something wrong! Though this exercise does target your abdominal muscles (pretty much the only part of the muscles that are effectively activated), other than getting out of bed or getting up from a lying position, when do you ever do this type of movement. In other words its not only a non-functional movement but the absolute negative strain it puts on your spinal cord should make this move obsolete. What makes this movement worse, when sit ups are conducted, a lot of the times the person doing this will inadvertently pull on their necks to assist them with achieving additional reps. This puts extra strain on your neck/ spine and the risk to reward ratio is not worth it at all. Exercises that you can participate in that will help you build your core/ abs would be things like planks, leg lifts and knee raises to name a few.
There are many great exercises, and even more exercises which are not as effective or functional. Knowing exactly what results you are expecting from the workout and also educating yourself on how to do it properly will propel you to higher levels! If you have hit a plateau in your weight training or just beginning your journey, follow me on Instagram @spartan_alliance25 or Join the Alliance on Facebook (search Spartan Alliance Fitness) and shoot me a DM for more fitness information!
References:https://whitecoattrainer.com/blog/worst-exercises
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