Exercises you must avoid if you want to avoid injury

pwd

This is interesting. My left shoulder hurts badly if I try either the first two, and I find it very difficult to put my shoulders back far enough to do the third: So I'd certainly believe what they say in this article.

http://bodybuilding.com/fun/betteru26.htm

pwd

http://www.gncproperformance.com/articles/article/Default.aspx?id=27&lang=en

This one I haven't read yet but seems interesting and related

joker77

I'd like to hear some discussion on this - are the first 2 really that bad? (I do them both...)

Degsy

Hmm,i agree with sit-ups being potentially harmfull,i used to do them by the thousand when i was in MA training but they dont agree with me now.I've also noticed people rolling shoulders backwards when doing trap shrugs..it seems to me that the trap is supposed to go up and down but not backwards so this may cause a problem.

Dragan

Hmmm…. The first three are so bad because it involves moving the tension from the primary movers, in these cases the deltoids, lats and traps to the smaller, weaker rotator cuff muscles.

The rotator cuff muscles are largely responsible for a very specific and small part of the ROM of the shoulder….they are not extremely strong mucles and if anything are underdeveloped in most people.

I'll use the analogy of getting something into the air with a strong machine, then changing to a weaker machine to keep it there. It's really just a bad idea!!!

joker77

Dragan wrote:

Hmmm…. The first three are so bad because it involves moving the tension from the primary movers, in these cases the deltoids, lats and traps to the smaller, weaker rotator cuff muscles.

The rotator cuff muscles are largely responsible for a very specific and small part of the ROM of the shoulder….they are not extremely strong mucles and if anything are underdeveloped in most people.

I'll use the analogy of getting something into the air with a strong machine, then changing to a weaker machine to keep it there. It's really just a bad idea!!!

So Upright Rows = bad, ok - it gives some examples of what to do instead, so I'll just drop them.

Are Lat Pulldowns really that bad? The machine in my gym doesn't actually have a bar - just to hand grips. The come to a stop a little in front, certainly not behind the head, so I'm assuming this would be ok seeing as pull-ups are ok

Dragan

To the front would be fine, even behind the neck are fine to a degree.

It's all about how far down you go!

amazingemmet

Leg extensions should be added to that list.

Behind the neck press i think can be done safely just needs a decent bit of shoulder flexibility.

joker77

Yea they feel ok.

The behind the neck barbell press ALWAYS just feels plain wrong for me, the movement is so unnatural. I see guys in the gym lifting fairly heavy weight though using the Smith for this one

joker77

guys who look like they know what they're doing that is

tribulus

I don't do upright rows or BTN lat pull downs. The first i think is just rubbish and the second has better exercises for the lats or variants of it.

I don't mind BTN presses so much once you know what you're doing.
I also don't like skullcrushers, again it's just a personal thing but i think there are better tri exercises available.

Oh and kneeling on a swissball doing lat. raises...

Vegeta

hey trib what free weight type exercises would you recommend other than skull crushers

Dips, close grip bench???

tribulus

Tate presses, rolling extensions - which i tried there the other day - are great, dips are good too.
Rope or band pushdowns too.

CG bench can be good but most people think that means putting their wrists together and doing it. I've found that to hurt my wrists and not give any more emphasis on the tri's than just having your pinky's a couple of inches inside the rings.

Like I said I'm not saying people shouldn't do skullcrushers just that i personally never liked them or found they hit the tri's as well as the above.

edit: noticed you said free weight exercises, still though rope and band pushdowns are good.

Hanley

Agreed on the skull crushers. Some can do em fine, but the majority seem to have pain in the tricep tendon (and some ever tear it, like I've done) when trying them.

I don't like upright rows because of the internal shoulder rotation.

Sit ups are fine provided you've a strong back and core.

BTN pulldowns.... never really bothered. Might do em once every 12+ weeks. As Trib said, better options available.

BTN presses... I like em. Not something I can go ultra heavy on but I think they can be good for shoulder health because they help increase ROM.

And the stiff leg DL's on a bench are only dangerous if you lose your arch. Which almost everybody without sick flexibility will do.

That's my take on it from my own personal exp. anyway.

The FitnessDock

Squatting whilst standing on a Fitball has to be the most dangerous "exercise" I've ever seen in my 10 years in the fitness industry. Pure insanity!

SpAcEd OuT

suprised the shrugs aren't there the amount of people I see rolling the shoulders back I've even heard the instructors to tell people to do it! It seems to be asking for trouble I always did them up and down after being told by a pro when I was in America that it was the ONLY way to do them and not to bother doing the roll the shoulders part.

O/T
On a side not there this kid in my gym can't be older than 17 and he does 5 sets of 15 reps each of 50kg dumbells either side its ridiculous he does them with ease his traps are stupidly big compared to the rest of his body don't want to name the gym but its in the southside and if your a member you'll defiently know the guy im talking about