12 dangerous exercise and how to make them safer
There are certain machines or exercises at every gym that are log jammed with people. Yet, they are considered dangerous exercises and may cause some really bad injuries.
If you are doing the following popular exercises, then read on and learn why they are dangerous and how to do them in a safer form:
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1-Squats
Squats are called “the kind of all exercises” for a good reason. It activates almost every muscle in your body, and it’s a fantastic exercise to strengthen your gluts, hamstrings, and quads.
But since this is an exercise involving heavy weights while standing – it’s very easy to put unnecessary pressure on the knees and other places such as your neck.
Also, if you squat too far down or waver with your center of gravity, injury is inevitable.
The safest form
1-put the bar on the trapizus muscle not your neck.
2-stand with your legs at shoulder width level, not too narrow or too wide.
3-as you go down, sit back with your hips and don’t push your knees forward.
4-don’t let your knees pass your toes.
5-keep your chest up and eyes looking forward.
6-keep your back straight through the full range of motion.
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2-Pull ups
Pull ups are one of the best exercises for building a strong and wide back. The problem with it that most people do it in a wrong form.
This exercise targets the lats, which is one of the most underused muscles in the body, especially for women. To get the benefits of a pull-up, the lats must be activated.
If your lats aren’t activated or just not strong enough, your body will compensate by using the upper traps and chest to do the movement. This can lead to short, tight pecs, or worse, shoulder issues.
The safest form
1-contract your lats before you start the movement.
2-use a shoulder width grip not too wide one.
3-pull with your elbows.
4-don’t swing back and forth with your trunk.
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3-Bench press
The bench press is one of the most iconic weight training workouts that are performed in the gym.
But it’s also one of the most dangerous exercises used at the gym. Why? Mostly because amateurs jump right into it wanting to build big pecs without learning the proper form.
For example, many people wrongfully use a wide exaggerated grip when holding the bar. This puts more stress on the soft tissue in the front shoulder and can cause a tear in your rotator cuffs.
The safest form
1-hold the bar using a grip that a little bit wider than shoulder width by an inch.
2-arch your lower back and bring your shoulder blades together.
3-contract your butt and lock your feet on the ground.
4-go down slowly and stop right before touching your chest.
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4-Upright row
The upright row (specially the narrow grip) is one dangerous exercise that I was stupid enough to do as a kid, and it likely caused me some of the shoulder pain that I had for years.
When people pull their hands (carrying the weight) up to their chin, they are going to compress the nerves in the shoulder area, impinging the shoulder which causes tremendous impingement in the shoulder joint.
I personally don’t recommend doing this exercise at all as there are other alternatives which will give you the same effect without putting your shoulders in danger.
The safest form
1-use a dumbbell not an EZ-bar.
2-don’t raise your elbows beyond 90 degrees.
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5-Shoulder press behind neck
Doing shoulder press behind the neck places your shoulders in a very weak position that makes it unstable and vulnerable to shoulder dislocation.
Also, lifting weight while having this poked neck posture also puts a lot of undue stress on your cervical spine (neck vertebrae).
These stresses can be a lot worse in people who have bad posture, lack shoulder flexibility and have poor control of their scapula (shoulder blades).
The safest form
1-do the movement in front of your neck instead of behind it.
2-keep back straight.
3-lock your feet on the ground.
4-go down slowly until you reach your chin level.
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6-Leg extension
Maybe it’s time to rethink using this piece of equipment just because everyone else is. It may actually be doing more harm than good.
The leg extension is a classic example of an isolated exercise. (Stimulates only one muscle). It is not a functional exercise that is performed in our daily activities.
The actual movement draws the patella (knee cap) back onto the femur (thigh bone) causing a grinding type motion. This causes anterior knee pain, which is the most common place for knee pain. A very good reason why this exercise should be avoided.
Tests have also proved that they aren’t merely as effective at stimulating the quadriceps as compound lifts, such as squats, leg press and lunges.
The safest form
1-never kick your legs as you go up.
2-don’t lock your knees at full extension.
3-keep your butt on the chair.
4-don’t arch your lower back.
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7-sit-ups
Sit-ups are far worse for your lower-back than crunches.
Think about the body-wide effects of crunching, a crunch trains the rectus abdominus by pulling the rib cage down. When we pull the rib cage down, we increase the thoracic kyphosis, thus losing thoracic spine extension.
This consistently puts our scapulae in a poor position, not to mention putting our shoulder joint at an increased risk for impingement as well.
The safest form
1-keep your chest up and eyes looking forward.
2-flex your trunk without curving your back.
8-Bench dips
The starting position and the range of motion of bench dips makes it one of the most dangerous exercises.
In order to achieve that much range of motion the scapula must tilt forward, which is a pretty unstable position. This also means that the shoulder joint is unstable and increases demands on the rotator cuff.
Over time this is a lot of undesirable stress leading to impingement of the cuff. This doesn’t even consider the stress on the AC joint.
The safest form
1-start by holding the edge of a bench.
2-keep your elbows close to your body through the full range of motion.
3-keep your knees slightly bent.
4-don’t go too deep at the end of range of motion.
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9-Kettlebell swings
Yes, kettlebell swing is one of the best strengthening exercises around. But It also can put your shoulders at significant risk of injury.
If performed incorrectly, the repetitive swinging motion could result in rotator cuff injury and/or inflammation of other structures in the shoulder.
So, it’s important to learn the correct way to move the weight before you start swinging it.
The safest form
1-keep your shoulders relaxed.
2-end the movement with your shoulders around your ears.
3-keep your head up and eyes looking forward.
10-Lat pulldowns
Lat pulldowns (behind your head) are very similar to the shoulder press. It places a lot of stress on the anterior joint capsule of the shoulder and can eventually lead to impingement or shoulder dislocation.
This exercise is also very easily performed incorrectly and if you lack flexibility in the shoulder joint. This can drastically increase the risk of injury to the neck and shoulders.
As a general rule, if something in your shoulder doesn’t feel right, stop and find another exercise.
The safest form
1-pull in front of your neck instead of behind it.
2-use a shoulder width grip.
3-keep your back straight through the full range of motion.
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11-deadlift
Dead lifts are great for strengthening your lower back, hamstrings, gluts, calves, and are an essential workout for bodybuilders. However, deadlifts are one of the easiest ways to hurt your back if you don’t know what you’re doing.
The problem with this exercise is that it can lead to incorrect bending of the spine. If you did hyperextension or rounded your low back while lowering and lifting weights, it could result in lumbar disc injury or muscular spasm.
A damaged spine and its vertebrae are incredibly dangerous injuries and should be avoided at all costs.
Related: You are doing your deadlift wrong!!
The safest form
1-grip the bar at shoulder width level.
2-bend and extend your knees as you go up and down.
3-stand with your feet in a neutral position.
4-keep your back straight.
12-preacher curls
While preacher curl position and movement activates the biceps muscle, you are strengthening in a bad position.
It puts the muscle in an active insufficiency, which means the muscle is already shortened, and there is no stabilization of your core or lats because your shoulder blades are out of place and you are in a forward posture.
This unpractical position could cause multiple injuries such as biceps tear, lat muscle injury and elbows injuries.
The safest form
1-do it in a kneeling position or use a machine.
2-keep your back straight.
3-don’t go all the way down.
4-stabilize your shoulders and bring your shoulder blades together.
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