By Caden Gilbert
There are many workouts that people do consistently to build up muscle and get stronger. However, some of these workouts can be bad for you, despite doing them a lot. One of the biggest workouts that is a prime example of this is sit-ups.
Sit-ups are believed to be the key to getting a six pack, but this is actually wrong. Excessive sit ups can be damaging to your spinal cord, and are not a functional movement of the human body. Doing sit ups can also ruin your posture, which could have long term effects on your health.
Pseudo pull ups are the next workout. Many people believe that, while doing a pull up, you have to raise your chin above the bar for the rep to count, but this is actually false. Your chin should naturally clear the bar. If you struggle to do this, then you should take a break and rest. Doing this can cause a lot of neck pain and, similarly to sit-ups, can promote bad posture.
The next workout we will talk about are chair dips. While doing these are traditionally a great exercise to do for the upper body, many people try to perform this without the proper preparation. What makes this a lot worse is that many beginner workout routines or programs recommend that beginners should do this exercise. Many people don’t have the right shoulder range to pull this off, which makes it a lot more difficult. This leads to excessive stress and tear on your shoulder joint from extreme internal rotation.
The last two workouts are the behind the back pull machine and the Smith machine exercise. Starting with the behind the back pull exercise. The exercise is meant to be pulled down to the chest, but for this exercise, you pull it to your back instead. Many people believe that doing this helps lat muscles, but in doing this exercise you have to lower your neck forwards. Lastly, your shoulders are in a very unnatural position. This puts you at very high risk of injury if you do this exercise.
The Smith machine exercise is the final workout. Many people believe that the Smith machine is a safer alternative to doing free weights, but this is wrong. The fixed barbell on the machine that can only move up and down is very dangerous and forces your body into very weird and strange positions that are not naturally achievable. This could very well lead to back issues. The main purpose of free weights is the ability to stabilize yourself while supporting the weight, but you are unable to do this with a Smith machine.
There are many workouts and workout machines that are perceived to be beneficial but can actually be bad for you. In reading this article, I want to provide information that people will be able to use for the better of their own health. Although these workouts may not be good for you, there are always safer alternatives that a person can follow.
beniciapaw.com 