What is Digg?151 Comments
- ScornForSega, on 10/12/2007, -12/+2195 Common exercises I never do:
All of them. - futureb, on 10/12/2007, -5/+136i would like to add one more specific exercise. in particular, the one where the guy at my gym in the twill shorts pulls his knees up to stretch his legs, and in so doing allows his nuts to hang out.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -5/+57excerise? hell, i barely move! sleep at night, sit on the train to work, sit at my desk all day, sit on the train home, sit on the couch all night, back to sleep. i've got it down to a science.
- nochilinopity, on 10/12/2007, -10/+56This story is useless without pictures.
Seriously...the descriptions of the exercises are, ironically, not very descriptive. - spartan789, on 10/12/2007, -2/+43Actually, most of these are pretty spot on. Nothing new here though. Anyone who starts lifting should know these things before using heavy weights though.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+43Well, clockworkORANGE, since you're such a highly respected doctor, scientist, and physical therapist, I'll take your opinion over this article.
- SteelChicken, on 10/12/2007, -0/+36fusing your spinal cords? as in plural? what are you a klingon, with two spinal cords (ones a spare?)
- sonochamp, on 10/12/2007, -1/+37You're lonely, aren't you?
- Th0Rr, on 10/12/2007, -12/+44you're an idiot. all of the bad exercises he is warning about have been outdated for years.
- Coffeedemon, on 10/12/2007, -2/+29Maybe he wants to *learn* how to do them?
- Nar1117, on 10/12/2007, -1/+26@sweetdeals
Thats not a very good analogy, as running is a pretty natural exercize for most people. I think the author of the article is leaning more towards the fact that striaght bar curls are OK, but its better to do the same motion with your palms facing inwards, which reduces the chance of tendinitis. - Phyltre, on 10/12/2007, -1/+21I just tried the bicycle-move instead of the sit-up...and now my stomach feels like jelly...I mean, it always feels that way, because I'm lazy, but now even more so.
- joshpowell, on 10/12/2007, -1/+19They are. Crunches are much more effective as an ab workout than sit-ups.
- fjvwing, on 10/12/2007, -0/+16Oddly enough, to rehab my lower back from decades of pain, my Physical Therapist gave me a regimen that includes two versions of back extensions. But I do only have one spinal cord, so I think I am ok.
- sonochamp, on 10/12/2007, -0/+15@VRFour
You may be right, but it still doesn't help someone who's just starting. - jmkiii, on 10/12/2007, -3/+18Don't do "***** push-ups."
Those injuries HURT. - Kurisuku, on 10/12/2007, -7/+22It's funny, but it's true:
Whenever someone talks about losing weight, the FIRST thing they say is, "Yeah, you need to do like 300 situps a day, that's the trick."
Oi. I've had it said to me at ~least~ by a dozen people. I blame it on sitcoms. - rune420, on 10/12/2007, -2/+17Thanks for this. I've been doing straight bar curls and posterior pull-downs for some time but now I'll use the alternatives from now on.
- nyx210, on 10/12/2007, -6/+205 common exercises only idiots would do.
- sweetdeals, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15@nar1117
Okay, I'll concede a just a bit on my analogy, but articles like this get me a little angry sometimes. You know how it is when someone writes a generic hand-wavy synopsis about an area you are quite fond of right?
In a nutshell none of these exercises are bad for you. But they could be. The key is to get off our asses and try them. Straight bar curls could cause strain on some people's elbows. If you're one of these people, then don't do them! I have a nagging injury from a shoulder separation that happened 15 years ago, so I adjust. It's hilarious how some people will read this and be left scratching their heads. "We'll I've been doing that exercise for years now and haven't felt abnormal pain, but hey, if MSN Health & Fitness says it's bad I better rethink this". - bigtrouble77, on 10/12/2007, -3/+16I can't do the E-Z Bar Curls because I get an intense pain in my forearms. Straight bar curls, on the other hand, feel fine. Nothing feels strained and I've been doing them for years now. I think the danger of some of these excercises has to do with certain physiques. There are some types of squats I simply can't do because it puts too much pressure on my back, even if my form is perfect. I'm tall with long legs so my center of gravity is very different from most other people. I think it's best to follow the directions for each machine and just see how it feels. If you feel pain or then find another machine. The only times I've ever hurt myself is when I work through pain from strain.
- Phyltre, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13Bicycle crunches: lie on your back and put your legs in in the air like a dead insect. Act like they're pedaling a bicycle. Then wiggle your midsection the opposite way you're pedaling--match left/right and right/left. Give it 20 seconds and if you're doing it right you should feel it.
- wiihuck, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12@sweetdeals
in a nutshell, you're wrong. posterior neck excercises are bad for you. "bad for you" doesn't mean you will drop dead if you do them. it means it is bad for your joints/bones/muscles/tendons. you may have been doing them for fifteen years, but it doesn't mean you won't have an extremely uncomfortable retirement.
why can a fast-pitch softball pitcher throw three nine-inning games in one day and a baseball pitcher has to go four days between starts? (hint: the answer has to do with unnatural motion.) - Thud, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10"you're an idiot. all of the bad exercises he is warning about have been outdated for years."
Yet I see people using these at the gym all the time. LA Fitness certainly hasn't gotten rid of their leg extension machines.
Straight bar curls hurt for me... I use the EZ Curl bars (or dumbells).
Generally, if the motion of an exercise feels awkward with no weight, then adding weight certainly isn't going to be good for you. So, for the few of you who go to the gym, when you get on a new piece of equipment, try the motion first with no weight and adjust the seat height etc. until it feels natural and comfortable. Then add weight. This will help you maintain better form. - kelbear, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biceps
There are TWO muscles in your BIceps. A short one for palms up, and a long one for palms in. Watch your arm as you do the curls, most can see it pretty plainly.
Straight bar is palms up and works one, vertical free-weight curl does the other. "EZ-bar"(if that's what you call it) or generally curling with your hands at an angle mid-way between upwards and inwards will use both bicep muscles.
"The burn" is lactic acid build-up and is not necessary for muscle growth. It stings because that bodypart is not accustomed to strain. Workout steadily and your body gets used to lactic acid and stops responding to it with pain. The muscle is still being worked regardless of a "burn". A better measurement is "The pump" where the muscles are using up oxygen rapidly so bloodflow increases to get more oxygen there, causing the muscle to swell up. After getting pumped you can probably move on to another exercise soon.
You're not supposed to "hurt" from exercising regularly(aside from initial aches when you just start out). You're just supposed to feel tired at the end of your routines. - BigBoogie, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Situps and crunches are not the same thing.
- jessecrouch, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10Not sure I agree with the situps one. The safety and effectiveness of this exercise has come under a lot of scrutiny lately.
Effectiveness:
Any fool can figure out by feeling where the burn is that this exercise works your hip flexors mostly and not your abs really at all - just because it doesn't work your abs doesn't make it a bad exercise. Situps train for a very useful everyday function too.. sitting up and getting the hell off the ground. Maybe that sounds funny, but I'm sure you can think of many situations athletic, combative and everydayuser that this applies to.
Safety:
Dunno.. I know a lot of people who have been doing these all their lives. The US military and many other military organizations have been training their soliders with situps for decades.. not to say that the military knows what it's doing.. ever.. but just the number of people that have done this for so long without any real obviously related injury says something I think. - john2kx, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8if you're holding your legs in place, standard situps mostly work the upper thighs.
- afruff23, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7http://www.fitnessgenerator.com/images/exercises/Air%20Bike.gif
Bicycle crunches - Petromyzon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Plus there's so many different ways to do them.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6While I can testify that full sit-ups are not as effective as properly done bicycle crunches (which are enhanced if you use angle weights), the idea that sit-ups hurts your neck is just stupid. Only a complete ***** moron actually grabs the back of his/her own head and yanks themselves up. That's not the sit-up hurting you, it's your own dumb ass, and you deserve your injury.
- CMUFinest, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Any and all exercises can be dangerous if you are doing them incorrectly, and weight training in general is "supposedly" bad for you. These days everything is bad for you, eating, going outside, breathing, we should all just live in a bubble.
OK I'm done bitching now. - dboy3587, on 10/12/2007, -6/+11That Asian in the photo was kinda hot
- solemnraven, on 10/12/2007, -6/+11ohhhh, counter-burn
- vwvwvw, on 10/12/2007, -8/+13yeah pussies, real men wear full sweats, do their reps as fast as they can, and scream at the top of their lungs.
- NinjaBoy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4wow i didnt know about the sit ups one. I do about 150 a day. Hell when i was i high school a few years ago we were doing them everyday.
- nesibus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Funny, I go on there and read the articles and see one for getting "ripped abs" Just working out doesn't make you ripped if you have fat covering up the muscle. Everyone has abs, you have to diet and cut the fat to see the actual muscle shape for all the muscles. Same myth about muscle turning to fat if you don't work out, muscle cannot turn to fat, anymore than fat can turn into muscle.
I really recommend www.johnstonefitness.com a very good group of educated people who know all there is to know about lifting, and dieting. - wilf_brim, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4This whole list is good, and I'm constantly disappointed when I go to the gym and see folks doing these. Sit ups are absolutely terrible. They work (for most of the exercise) work the hip flexors, and do nothing for the abs. Likewise, flutter kicks work the hip flexors, while at the same time putting tremendous strain on the low back.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Get your form right before doing any weight lifting and you'll be ok.
- scjones, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7Why is this posted in New Nerdopolis?
- Coffeedemon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4They used to make us do them every day too - along with squat-thrusts, jumping jacks, etc ... a while back I started the bicycle crunch thing along with my usual chipup bar and its night and day compared to the regular old situp.
- DreKor, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5umm, no?
- shinda, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3With pictures -> http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/betteru26.htm
As outdated as some of these excercises might be, almost all gyms have machines for leg extensions etc. without really any warning other then the standard disclaimer. - Nar1117, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@sweetdeals
Yes, I agree completely. Its also funny that people like the ones you mention are also very unlikely to change their routine if someone tells them face-to-face that they could be causing themselves harm, but when they read that their exercized *might* be harmful on the internet, they change completely.
I was just explaining my interepretation of the article, and I do agree that it is quite vague. Thanks for being reasonable. - dpcdomino, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Oops....I got plural happy
- joshpowell, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Thanks Phyltre :)
- underthelinux, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3"Not one of those things sounds right to me. At all."
Always sunny. Known. - wipey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2dugg dow simply because, to be honest, why should I NEVER (EVER EVER EVER.....EVER!) do these exercises? they won't kill me
the title makes it sound way more serious than the article is - greghunt, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3The weight goes on your shoulders, and arms to a lesser extent. It shouldn't really be on your neck bones.
There's also different ways of doing them, you can simply go down so your thighs go parallel to the floor (halfway), or do a full squat, ass to feet. There also jumping ones, for sprinters, using a swiss ball and dumbells, using the smith machine, with the bar in front of you etc.
Obviously you increase the weight slowly over time, you don't just start off plonking 100kg on there. Squats are one of the best muscle builders there are, they work 50% of your bodies muscle mass in one move. This in turn promotes the release of various hormones to help build muscle all over your body. Want a big chest? Want to lose weight? Then Squat.
If you go to the gym seriously, then you'll probably "waste" the first year or two not knowing what you're doing. - rundymc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Squats are great, even with weights added. But they can easily cause injury if not done right.
Many people don't keep their back straight enough, or lean into their toes, the latter leading to knee strain. -
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