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Exercising is pretty much the best way to reach all of your health and fitness goals. Whether you focus on cardio to benefit your heart or strength training to build muscle tone, working out is always something your body will thank you for.
Unless you don’t work out properly.
Any exercise done improperly can be harmful to your health, either overworking or hurting your muscles – or even tiring you out without actually benefiting your body at all. Plus, there are some exercises you should avoid altogether because trainers say they’re not worth your time.
So while there are many ways to find out the best exercises you should do to lose weight or improve your health, we’re going to tell you what you shouldn’t do. Read on to find out what workout trainers say to avoid.
5 Exercises You Should Never Do
1. Crunches
We all know of crunches as an excellent way to strengthen abs, but in reality this exercise may do more harm than good. Physical therapist Dr. Jenny Prewitt warned that this type of ab exercise doesn't provide much benefit to the deeper core muscles.
She said in a blog, "What people still don’t know is that we have TWO different groups of abdominal muscles. The Superficial Set (the Rectus Abdominis primarily) and the Deep Set (the Transversus Abdominis). Because the Rectus Abdominis literally only covers the front of your belly, it is leaving the rest of your core (your middle) unspported. The Transversus Abdominis wraps around from back to front like the body’s natural corset and can help support everything."
2. Russian Twists
Similarly, Russian twists are typically done to strengthen the abs and the obliques for a trim and tone waistline. But doing this exercise improperly will cause more harm than good.
Personal trainer Robert Herbst told Best Life, "Russian twists and their variations are bad unless you do that movement in a sport because of the stress they put on your lumbar discs. It is better to do exercises where the core is working statically, such as squats, lunges, and planks."
3. Superman
Performance Specialist Matt Cheng told the publication that you should stop doing the superman stretch, too. This exercise is intented to strengthen the lower back, but in reality it can actually hurt your back.
"This exercise forces our lower back to overextend repetitively and only contributes to bad patterns and more back pain," he said.
4. Shoulder Press
Also called an overhead press, a shoulder press involves lifting weights overhead to work your chest, back and triceps. But according to Dr. Prewitt, there is a strong chance that this exercise can cause injury.
She said, "The position that you end an overhead press in is a vulnerable position for the shoulder. When you add significant weight and then perform the action repetitively, you are putting significant tension on the biceps as it attaches to the labrum. Ultimately, the biceps can “pull” the top of the labrum (in whole or in part) off of the top of the socket (of your shoulder joint)."
5. Tricep Dips
Also called a reverse pushup, tricep dips are intended to work the muscles in the back of your arms. You do this exercise by pushing your body up and down with the use of your arms. But it can potentially cause har, to your wrists and arms, rather than strengthening muscles.
"It's a risk to lift your body weight when your upper arms are behind your torso," Certified Strength and Conditioning specialist Lou Schuler told Shape.
