Exercises you’re doing… and should’nt be.

Let’s face it, the gym can be an intimidating place… period. What with the skewed population of health conscious people (e.g. that girl with the toned legs and arms or the guy with biceps bigger than your quads). I applaud anyone who is willing to take the time and effort to get in there and do work. Unfortunately, that drive isn’t always channeled in the most efficient or safe way. Take for example the guy sitting at the lat pulldown machine and bringing the bar down behind his head in a jerking motion. I give his rotator cuffs 3 weeks. But today’s post isn’t so much about performing exercises in a safe manner… although I’ll get to that one of these days. It’s more about what exercises/machines are just not worth your time. Because hey, you’re busy! So why waste your valuable time on a machine or exercise that is less effective at getting you to your goals when there is a perfectly good exercise just waiting for you to try it out? I’ll segway here by busting out an old saying in the fitness industry… “The best exercise for you is the one you aren’t doing.”

Now there are plenty of “not-quite-worthless-but-not-far-from-worthless” exercises that I could point out, but I’m going to choose the top 3 or 4. Here they are:

1. The Seated Preacher Curl Machine— I don’t know who invented it, but I do know that whoever invented it didn’t have much going on upstairs. Let’s take a quick look at why it sucks. First, you are seated. This completely eliminates any core benefit you might have received had you been standing and bracing your midsection to prevent swaying. Secondly, you are seated. Yes, you read that right. I want to get this point across. By sitting and curling a bar towards you (and your arms are even braced!), you are working a muscle group the size of oranges… expending almost 0 calories. By standing and curling a bar towards you (or better yet, doing a pullup or chinup) you engage your core, back, shoulders, and chest in addition to your biceps.

2. The Calf Raise Machine— Similar to the preacher curl, you are working a rather small muscle group. If you are on this machine, you are probably looking for really defined calfs, right? Here is an alternative that will get you there quicker. You see, in order to have defined calfs (or defined ANYTHING) you need to clear away that layer of fat. And you do that by burning off more calories. So, try bodyweight or barbell squats and when you reach the top, simply do a calf raise and then repeat back into the squat. Or try out squat jumps. You can YouTube it for how to do it. Squats aren’t your thing? Might I suggest running stairs?

3. The Seated Leg Extension / Leg Curl Machine— The problem with these machines is that you are not only seated… again, but you are working your muscles in a way that they don’t function in the real world. Seriously, how many times have you found it necessary to lift an object by curling your feet up towards your body? The 2 best alternatives, by far, are the deadlift and lunge. The deadlift will focus more on your hamstrings, while lunges will ignite both your quads AND hamstrings. And best of all, you don’t need a machine to do either. Resistance can be added to make each more challenging, but even without added weight, both will hammer away at your legs and build a rock solid core.

*Note: I recommend getting with a trainer before attempting these exercises so that you can properly perform them and reduce risk of injury. Also, if there are any bodybuilders reading this, then I am sure you are fuming. Bodybuilders are excluded from this conversation because of the nature of their trade. I am more of a functional training type of guy. I hope that you all find this info useful and PLEASE, I’m always looking for ideas of things to write about, so post a comment if there is a topic you would like to have covered.

Til next time….