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Choosing the WRONG Exercises
 The
exercises most bodybuilders focus on the most, are the ones that cause the
most problems. But before we share with you what those exercise are, let’s talk
real quickly about what bodybuilding is…
The
goal of bodybuilding isn’t to get as big as you can,
or at least to us it isn’t and shouldn’t be, but to build a balanced body that
is as strong as possible in every way. For example, while being freakishly big
may get people’s attention, it serves you no purpose at all… while on the other
hand, what if you were not only big, but also extremely strong and powerful,
lightning fast, flexible, and agile enough to kick ass if needed?
So many bodybuilders build massive amounts of muscle yet
are so unbelievably weak and
inflexible. The point is, the exercises you choose
and how you perform them not only
determine how big, strong, and flexible you
are, but also affect how your body functions and whether or not you suffer from
aches, pains, and injuries like
back pain
and sciatic pain.
Ok, here they are… the exercises that create the most
problems and are most likely to lead to back pain:
-
 Bench Press: This exercise
causes anterior shoulder tendonitis and rotator cuff injuries, overtime. The
bench press is the single greatest destroyer of the rotator cuff in lifting. Its
been proven that the floor bench press or 1/2 range of motion bench press guards
against rotator cuff injuries while making you just as strong as the full range
of motion exercise. Who knew?
-
 Leg Extension:
Physiologists at the Mayo Clinic determined that leg extensions place
significantly more stress on your knees than squats. Why? Because the resistance
is placed near your ankles, which leads to high amounts of torque being applied
to your knee joint every time you lower the weight. What’s more, Auburn
University scientists found that people who squat long-term have tighter,
stronger knee ligaments than those who don’t squat at all.
-
Behind the Neck Military Press:
rotator cuff strain can occur with this exercise. Besides, the deltoids
stop working at 90 degrees of abduction. The muscle worked are some of your
upper
back, and major
triceps.
Your deltoids act as fixators; muscles that support the joint and allow
movement to happen. But they do not act as prime movers or even agonists (in
other words the deltoids don't do much here at all).
-
 Stiff-Legged
Deadlifts. One of the worst
strength training exercises ever devised. This exercise causes excessive
motion in the sacroiliac joints which leads to pre-mature joint wear and
tear. Straight-legged deadlifts also cause a crushing, shearing action on
the lower spinal discs.
-
Chin-Ups: palms should remain facing you incase of ignorance you are
bound to trash out your
shoulder. Avoid wider grips as they endanger the rotator cuff of the
shoulder as do the palms facing away (pronated) grip. Your palms need to be
facing you to properly position your elbows. Turn your palms away from you
and all of a sudden you are working on the transverse plane where the lats
only have a 60 to 80 degree ROM.
There are several reasons why these exercises made our
list of the “worst bodybuilding exercises”. .
-
First, all of them target areas that already tend to
get worked a lot in everyday life and often times are overdeveloped and by
focusing so much on these exercises you end up creating
muscle imbalances, or
worsening existing muscle imbalances, which pull your bones and joints out of
their normal position and this leads to uneven pressure and wear and tear on
your muscle, ligaments, tendons, bones, and joints and will sooner or later
lead a break down or injury.
For example, chronic overuse of the bench press, coupled
with little or no exercises targeting the upper back, leads to an
overdevelopment of the chest and a lack of strength and development in the upper
back…
-
This all too common combination leads to what we call
“Turtle Back”. You know what we’re talking about, when the shoulders are
pulled so far forward, lats are as wide as barn, and from behind, their back
looks like a giant sea turtle shell!
This “Turtle Back” posture can create neck, upper back,
and shoulder pain and injuries.
-
Plus, how many times during your day are you forced to
lie on your back and push up a bar loaded with weights? There are so many
better
exercises for chest development that not only stimulate more muscle,
but also build more usable strength.
Now let’s talk about the fabulous thigh builder, the leg
extension…
-
Not only does it place an unbelievable amount of strain
on the knee joint, but it also will quickly overdevelop the quads, which are
already getting far more work than their counterpart, the hamstrings. An
imbalance between the quadriceps and hamstrings, which is also extremely
common in bodybuilders, is a key contributor to back pain. This imbalance is
easily identifiable by what people often call “Bubble Butt” or “Ghetto Booty”.
So hopefully you can see how important it is to choose
your exercises wisely. We strongly recommend you cut out these exercises, or at
least cut back on using them and add in targeted
exercises
for the opposing muscle groups and targeted
stretches for those
tight, overdeveloped muscles.
 The key to eliminating back pain, or any other ache, pain
or injury for that matter, is to bring your body closer to balance…
What good is muscle if you can’t use it? How many more
workouts are you going to miss because of back, neck, or shoulder pain? How much
bigger and stronger could you be if back pain and other injuries weren’t ruining
your training?
Just imagine how bad things will be 10, 20, or 30 years
from now if you don’t make changes to your training now… but don’t take our word
for it, ask some of the older bodybuilders who are paying the price now... you
can spot them easily at the gym because they limp around trying to find
something they CAN do.
-
WF Team
Dated 08 December 2011
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