4 Exercises That Should Be Avoided

[BendtheBar]

Posting for discussion.

4 Exercises That Should Be Avoided By: Bob Kupniewski

4 Exercises That Should Be Avoided In Work Out Routines | Machine Muscle

1. Behind the Neck Press

The major drawback here is joint health... Because you are doing this movement with a very end range of motion, this is placing extreme stress on your shoulder joint specially the AC joint, which is a common injury among lifters.

2. Upright Row

While most people who do the exercise tend to over exaggerate the Range of Motion (ROM) this can have a negative effect on shoulder impingement syndrome. This can happen when the tendon of your rotator cuff will be inflamed from bony acromion being pressed against it (muscle rubbing on muscle/joint).

3. "Rolling" Shrugs

As we want to shrug upward in the motion, some people take the extreme and roll their shoulders back at the top of the motion, which is a major no-no. What does it do? It takes the movement off the anterior delt and takes the focus off your upper traps (which you are trying to target). Now we are rolling forward and taking the stress off the intended muscle, so the takeaway message if you do roll please try to limit it and roll backward to help engage some portion of your trap region. Keep in mind that you are taking off a lot of extra work from the rhomboids, lower and middle traps in the process.

4. Stiff Legged Deadlifts

I see a lot of individuals turning this into an exercise to corrupt their back due to very bad form. When performing a stiff legged deadlift our sole focus is on keeping an arch in our back while descending and pushing our hips back to place the emphasis on our glutes and hamstrings.

The bar should stay very close to your legs and if you prefer a slight bend in the knees may help depending on your flexibility.

[glwanabe]

Do them correctly or don't do them. Applies to all movements. These are all good movements that have a place when done correctly.

[Tannhauser]

I would add bench press, at least it in elbows-flared-out way I was taught to do them. I really think they don't do your shoulders much good, at least in the long term.

Having said that, a lot of guys I see benching in the gym recently are definitely preserving their shoulder health, as they don't bend their arms more than 11 degrees.