Exercise junkies beware.

[Frankie]

Healthy Living Sunday, April 10, 2011

The 6 exercise machines you must avoid

Walking into the gym and expecting a great workout is like walking into the supermarket and expecting a gourmet meal. The basic ingredients are there, but like they say in the infomercials, results may vary. With working out, as with cooking, a little bit of smarts, dedication, creativity and knowledge will make all the difference between perfect pasta and a gelatinous ball of mush.

For this list of no-no exercises, we consulted Stuart McGill, PhD, professor of spine biomechanics at the University of Waterloo, in Ontario; Nicholas DiNubile, MD, author of FrameWork: Your 7-Step Program for Healthy Muscles, Bones, and Joints; and trainer Vern Gambetta, author of Athletic Development: The Art & Science of Functional Sports Conditioning.


http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/healt...avoid-2470714/


1. Seated Leg Extension



What it's supposed to do: Train the quadriceps. What it actually does: It strengthens a motion your legs aren't actually designed to do, and can put undue strain on the ligaments and tendons surrounding the kneecaps.

A better exercise: One-legged body-weight squats. Lift one leg up and bend the opposite knee, dipping as far as you can, with control, while flexing at the hip, knee, and ankle. Use a rail for support until you develop requisite leg strength and balance. Aim for five to 10 reps on each leg. (If you are susceptible to knee pain, do the Bulgarian split squat instead, resting the top of one foot on a bench positioned two to three feet behind you. Descend until your thigh is parallel to the ground and then stand back up. Do five to 10 reps per leg.)


2. Seated Lat Pull-Down (Behind the Neck)



What it's supposed to do: Train lats, upper back, and biceps. What it actually does: Unless you have very flexible shoulders, it's difficult to do correctly, so it can cause pinching in the shoulder joint and damage the rotator cuff.

A better exercise: Incline pull-ups. Place a bar in the squat rack at waist height, grab the bar with both hands, and hang from the bar with your feet stretched out in front of you. Keep your torso stiff, and pull your chest to the bar 10 to 15 times. To make it harder, lower the bar; to make it easier, raise the bar.


3. Seated Hip Abductor Machine



What it's supposed to do: Train outer thighs. What it actually does: Because you are seated, it trains a movement that has no functional use. If done with excessive weight and jerky technique, it can put undue pressure on the spine.

A better exercise: Place a heavy, short, looped resistance band around your legs (at your ankles); sidestep out 20 paces and back with control. This is much harder than it sounds.


4. Seated Leg Press



What it's supposed to do: Train quadriceps, glutes, and hamstrings. What it actually does: It often forces the spine to flex without engaging any of the necessary stabilization muscles of the hips, glutes, shoulders, and lower back.

A better exercise: Body-weight squats. Focus on descending with control as far as you can without rounding your lower back. Aim for 15 to 20 for a set and increase sets as you develop strength.


5. Squats Using Smith Machine




What it's supposed to do: Train chest, biceps, and legs. What it actually does: The alignment of the machine—the bar is attached to a vertical sliding track—makes for linear, not natural, arched movements. This puts stress on the knees, shoulders, and lower back.

A better exercise: Body-weight or weighted squats. See "Seated Leg Press" above.


6. Roman Chair Back Extension


What it's supposed to do: Train spinal erectors. What it actually does: Repeatedly flexing the back while it's supporting weight places pressure on the spine and increases the risk of damaging your disks.

A better exercise: The bird-dog. Crouch on all fours, extend your right arm forward, and extend left leg backward. Do 10 seven-second reps, and then switch to the opposite side.

[Abinadom]

Yap buddies I also wanna say that always perform that one exercise which give you the better one results out there and make your body perfect and strong..... Other wise there is no benefit of wasting time in the gym....

[FAX]

For maintaining an enviable physique, I prefer the traditional squat thrust.

FAX

[Over-Head]

Originally Posted by CrazyPhuD

Which exercise has the greatest risk of me pulling my groin?

Humping the fat chick sitting beside the black guy in the `would you` thread

[Inspector]

Originally Posted by Inspector

So what about them bowflex machines? Are those bad for ya?

Do they work ok for old people if they use less weight?

Workout experts?

Any input?

Bowflex good for older folks?

[Saulbadguy]

Originally Posted by Inspector

Workout experts?

Any input?

Bowflex good for older folks?

I have no clue whether they work good or not, I assume they are better than nothing.

They are very expensive though.

[mlyonsd]

Originally Posted by Inspector

Workout experts?

Any input?

Bowflex good for older folks?

I'm 51 and have had my Bowflex for two years. I use it 5-6 times a week. It has held up very well, no breakdowns whatsoever.

You can change exercises very quickly. I do about 23 different exercises, 3 sets each, in about 40 minutes. I like it because I work out in the morning before work so time matters to me. I can get through a lot of different exercises quickly. The wife uses it too in a more limites scale.

I see it more as a convenience than a necessity. You can do almost every exercise without it using dead weights but not nearly as quickly.

As for older folks I don't think it matters much.

This is the one we have.

It has a pretty small footprint considering what you can do with it. But we had the luxury of turning an unused bedroom into a work out room so you need to think about where you're going to put it before considering any of the Bowflex series.

[loochy]

Originally Posted by Inspector

Workout experts?

Any input?

Bowflex good for older folks?

For that kind of money you can buy a set of dumbbells and an adjustable bench which is a much much wiser investment.

[luv]

Right now, I do the lat pull down and the leg press (among others things not mentioned in the OP). I know machines aren't the best, but they're something.

[loochy]

Originally Posted by luv

Right now, I do the lat pull down and the leg press (among others things not mentioned in the OP). I know machines aren't the best, but they're something.

Like the article (and everyone else) said, do pull ups and squats instead. It's a much more productive investment of your time.

For the record, I actually don't think lat pulls or leg presses are bad, but people make them the cornerstones of their workouts instead of doing the more difficult compound movements. I think those exercises do have merit as complimentary exercises though.

[Tytanium]

Originally Posted by eazyb81

The Smith Machine is absolute garbage, yet 90% of people use it because they are scared to use a standard power rack.

The only legitimate use of a smith machine (or any machine, really) is if you're working through or rehabbing an injury and lack the stability/balance of strength to use free weights.

A lot of people do squats with poor form anyway(if at all) and think that they need the machine support to do them without falling over.

[loochy]

Originally Posted by Tytanium

The only legitimate use of a smith machine (or any machine, really) is if you're working through or rehabbing an injury and lack the stability/balance of strength to use free weights.

A lot of people do squats with poor form anyway(if at all) and think that they need the machine support to do them without falling over.

Yeah I have to LOL every time I see people using that to do squats and bench. It locks you into the weirdest unnatural motion possible. People don't realize that the weights are supposed to move in an arc type motion instead of straight up and down.

[Inspector]

Originally Posted by mlyonsd

I'm 51 and have had my Bowflex for two years. I use it 5-6 times a week. It has held up very well, no breakdowns whatsoever.

You can change exercises very quickly. I do about 23 different exercises, 3 sets each, in about 40 minutes. I like it because I work out in the morning before work so time matters to me. I can get through a lot of different exercises quickly. The wife uses it too in a more limites scale.

I see it more as a convenience than a necessity. You can do almost every exercise without it using dead weights but not nearly as quickly.

As for older folks I don't think it matters much.

This is the one we have.

It has a pretty small footprint considering what you can do with it. But we had the luxury of turning an unused bedroom into a work out room so you need to think about where you're going to put it before considering any of the Bowflex series.

Thanks - yeah I've had mine for a little over 2 years and I use it about like you, 5-6 times a week. I'm older than you and thought it would be a good way to get resistance without the fear of free weights. I hurt myself when I was young over doing free weights (not knowing what I was doing) and developed a fear of them. If only I had Big Daddy around back then to make me do it right.

I have 4 different routines using everything that's in the book plus a few more that I made up. I've been extremely pleased with the results and have been able to correct a problem that I had with my back. I just rotate, A day, B day, C day, D day, then back to A day again....

I have the base (cheapest) model and find it does everything I need. Also good for my wife although she mainly just uses the eliptical for most of her exercise. We built a gym in our home.

Thanks for the input!

[NewChief]

Originally Posted by loochy

Yeah I have to LOL every time I see people using that to do squats and bench. It locks you into the weirdest unnatural motion possible. People don't realize that the weights are supposed to move in an arc type motion instead of straight up and down.

When I see people doing it on the Smith, it doesn't even look like squats. Their feet are planted like 2 feet in front of their shoulders, and they lean way back into the bar. It's bizarre and unnatural looking.

[loochy]

Originally Posted by NewChief

When I see people doing it on the Smith, it doesn't even look like squats. Their feet are planted like 2 feet in front of their shoulders, and they lean way back into the bar. It's bizarre and unnatural looking.

Yeah that's what they do! When your feet are out in front like that you end up pushing backwards against the bar, which is locked into place and will not be moving. So then you are not actually pushing up against the weight and gravity, you are pushing against a machine that won't move. WTF?

Or sometimes they stand like they would for a normal squat, but then they proceed to squat down about 3 inches. Then they decide "well, that was easy" and they put on more weight and do the same. Like this:

[loochy]