Emma Buryd
5 Dangerous Gym Exercises You Should Never Do Again
If you are a person who is starting to exercise and go to the gym, certain things can be very frustrating at first.
You're feeling motivated and energetic, you want to have the best workout clothes, gadgets, and accessories that the pros wear. You want to learn to use all the gym equipment and above all: you want to be properly educated about the exercises.
The problem is that there is too much conflicting information out there. When you are a newbie and you start researching, you will find that one study affirms one thing but another study denies the same thing. Who to believe?
It is the same with the exercises. An expert will tell you that the bench press is the most complete exercise to gain muscle, but another fitness guru will tell you that this is the most dangerous exercise.
I've heard that deadlifting is the exercise that causes the most injury. Meanwhile, other trainers claim that calisthenics causes more injuries.
If you are just starting and want to stop believing in false studies or gym myths, you should know one thing:
There's no such thing as a dangerous exercise.
You can do any exercise you want, you can stop worrying.
Of course, you can injure yourself doing any exercise, but it's not because of the exercise itself. The aspects that cause injuries are 5:
Technique
Exigency
Anatomy
Over-use
Too much weight
Any of these things can cause injuries, no matter what exercise you are doing. So I keep this in mind when hitting the gym:
1. Technique
The technique is the correct way to perform each exercise. This not only takes care that you obtain the maximum gain in your muscles, but that you don't injure yourself.
If you don't position your hands correctly when doing bench press or keep your back straight when deadlifting, you will end up in the infirmary.
Make sure to take care of your technique in every exercise you do, even the ones that seem the simplest.
2. Exigency
Some exercises are not for beginners. You can't start pistol squads in your first week.
As cool as certain workouts look, you should do your routines gradually. If you start with the most demanding, you are going to get injured without a doubt.
3. Anatomy
There are very particular cases and they are not too common, but your anatomy can limit you from doing certain exercises.
If you suffer from scoliosis, you should take care of the exercises that have more impact on your back.
I, for example, suffer from a condition in the knee ligaments. So a physical therapist advised me to avoid jumping rope, doing burpees, or any other high-impact training on my legs.
4. Overuse
If sitting in the same position for hours can cause injury, imagine doing the same exercise over and over again.
Sometimes people become obsessed with one type of exercise and do it too much. They avoid resting and they do too many sets and reps.
If you do push-ups every day over and over without resting, your wrists, arms, chest, and even your feet will start to hurt. Don't go too far with the same exercise.
5. Excess weight
This is one of the most obvious, but it is the most common cause of gym injuries.
Some rookies think of themselves as Superman and want to deadlift 300 pounds from the start.
The result?
You guessed it Injuries
So don't be afraid to do any exercise. Just keep in mind all the aspects that surround it.
You can vary, make your routines more entertaining, and that they are not monotonous and boring.
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