One way I used to entertain myself while I was at the gym, was by watching the way other people are doing their exercises. This provides hours of entertainment, because there are comparatively few people who do them correctly. In my more cynical moments, I feel like walking round with a bunch of business cards and handing them out with a “here, you’re going to need this” warning (what can I say…I’m cranky in the morning!)
I decided, though, that a slightly more reasonable approach would be to help out by posting a few tips on how to avoid injury and get the most benefit from your workout. So here’s a run-down of my top-10 exercises which are done incorrectly…and how to get them right! The notable exception on this list is the dead-lift. This is because it really deserves a whole article to itself, and while it is an excellent strength exercise for the lower back it is so difficult to do correctly that for most people it is not worth it. If you are serious about your weights and training, and want to include dead-lifting, I strongly recommend you have a professional teach you how to do it properly and always have a spotter keeping an eye on your technique.
Biceps curl – the usual sin with weights is trying to lift too much too quickly, and the curl is no exception. Keeping your elbows tucked against your waist, you should aim to move only your forearm, through your elbow joint. Start with your arm slightly bent, a nice straight posture and unlocked knees. Slowly raise the weight, so your elbow is bent to at least 90o but the rest of you doesn’t move. I have watched many people who swing through their whole body to give the weight momentum as they lift it, actually requiring less effort from the biceps and therefore being less effective. It also puts a lot of strain on the lower back when you swing like this.
Triceps Extensions – the counter-exercise to the biceps curl, this works the muscle at the back of the arms, popular for cutting back on the “bingo-wing” look. There are loads of ways you can work this muscle, but there is one fault that is fairly common to all of them. Not using your triceps to do the movement. I have watched people use their upper back, abdominals and various other muscles instead, all through poor technique. As a general rule, your upper arm should be almost motionless. All of the action occurs as you straighten your arm at the elbow – any other movement in your whole body is just cheating! So hold those shoulders still, refuse to let your back curl over to give you a helping hand and watch the triceps muscle build.
Stomach crunches/sit-ups – first off, don’t do full sit-ups. Total waste of time, very bad for your back, and more likely to work the muscles in the front of your hips then your abs. Half sit-ups are much better. Lightly rest your hands by your ears while lying on your back with your knees bent and feet on the floor. Squeeze your stomach muscles to lift your upper body off the floor slightly, breathing out as you do so, and then slowly lower yourself back down. You should feel no strain in your neck – all the work comes from your stomach, so try not to haul yourself up with your neck or shoulders.
Bench/Chest press – another candidate for the too-much-weight competition. Everyone seems to want to impress their mates with how much they can “bench”. Usually, the technique starts to slide most when people are using dumbbells rather than a barbell – although good for making sure you are not using one side more than the other through the movement, there is a tendency to lose form as the weights are being lowered. The biggest one I see, though, is recruitment. This happens when the target muscle is simply unable to lift the weight, so other areas of the body start to help – in this case, low back, buttock and legs. If your back is bent like a banana off the bench, you are going to hurt yourself.
Squats – it seems that most technique-failures hit the lower back, and this is no exception. In an effort to lift weight, and sink deeper into the squat, the tendency is to round through your lower back, flattening it out rather than maintain that nice gentle curve. Sometimes, this is accompanied by the upper body collapsing forward slightly. To start squats, leave the weight off altogether – get the movement sorted, then worry about adding weights. Place your hand in the small of your back, and do your squat – there should be no movement under your hand. None. Sometimes it also helps to have a friend film you from the side as you do the squat, so you can check your technique. You also need to keep an eye on your knees – make sure they don’t travel further forward than your toe, or start to fall in towards each other.
The Plank – I love this exercise. It’s great for really making you feel that you are working hard, and have achieved something by the end of it. Basically, you are face down, propped up on your forearms and toes with your body forming a rigidly straight line, with only the correct spinal curves allowed. There are two common “fails” here – one, when people really are struggling to do this exercise at all, they tend to lift their hips towards the ceiling and form an inverted V; the other fault is as someone gets tired towards the end of their hold they get tired and their hips start to sink towards the floor, forming a U. The first is just ineffective, and won’t help you improve your strength at all, but the second puts a lot of strain on your low back. Again, having a friend watch you from the side or occasionally glancing at yourself in a mirror can help make sure you don’t fall into these traps. For the majority of the exercise, though, you must have you head facing forward, looking down at the floor with your neck in neutral alignment with your spine.
Bent over row – a simple one to point out where the error comes. The “bent” part of the title comes from your hips, not your upper back. Always keep your spine in neutral, so that it’s nice and straight with just the natural gentle curves it always has. If you are curling over with your upper body, you’re doing it wrong.
Leg Press – this is a machine-based exercise, aimed at working your legs and gluteal muscles in a similar way to the squats. It’s all about control. You should have absolute control of the weight at all times – again, wanting to impress their mates, people tend to overload on weight and let the plates bounce off the stops at the end of the movement, using the rebound as a head-start on the next press. Not only is this minimising the effectiveness of the exercise, but it is also risking some pretty painful injuries. Also, the effort of pushing against the plate sometimes makes people push against the support with their lower back – not a good idea. Keep that neutral spine at all times, and remember slow and steady, and you should avoid most pitfalls.
Lunges – have pity on my knees, and do your lunges correctly. I swear, watching other people doing lunges wrong makes my knees hurt in sympathy! There are a lot of things to watch for, but the basic rules are 900 and in a straight line. Your leading leg, in front, should form a 90o angle at both the hip and knee, with your body being kept upright. The trailing leg, behind, will therefore form a straight line through your hip, and a 90o angle at your knee. If you take a sneaky glance down, you should note that your front knee is not going any further forward than the tip of your toe, and is in line with your second toe. There is a strong tendency for the knee to collapse inwards, and the twisting force this puts on the joint is going to cause pain in fairly short order.
Side arm raises – this exercise is supposed to target the deltoid muscle, particularly the middle deltoid. The idea is to stand upright with your arm by your side and a weight in your hand. You then raise your arm out to the side, to about shoulder height, maintaining just a slight bend at the elbow. It can be done one side at a time, or both arms together. BUT there is a nice big muscle right there in your shoulders that just loves to take over this movement – the trapezius. That muscle that goes rigid across the top of your shoulders whenever your tense. The last thing this muscle generally needs is a workout, and especially when your aiming for your deltoid. To avoid recruiting your traps, try to keep your shoulders pulled down and your neck relaxed as you slowly raise the weight. It’s also easier to avoid recruiting when you do the exercise one side at a time. Doing it on one side also allows you to just rest your free hand across the top of the active side’s shoulder, which will let you monitor whether the muscle under your hand is activating – it shouldn’t be. Again, if you find you simply can’t lift the weight without using your trapezius muscle, drop the weight right back down to something that feels very light and increase the weight more gradually.