At the deepest level, exercise is a form of personal expression. Each of these variables can be tweaked to reflect an element of your personality: the specific training method, the level of intensity, and the tools you use.
Perhaps the most obvious manifestation of this is exercise selection. If you tell us the exercises that you base your training on, we can give you a fairly accurate assessment of your skills, experience, and even your physique.
The same goes for exercises that you intentionally avoid. As we age, our bodies change. Lifters who have been training for 10 years or more will have learned which moves best suit their needs. I don’t necessarily believe in “bad” exercises, but there are definitely some that I’ve replaced over the years. Here are two that I have never taken myself or prescribed to a client.
bench press
I think of the bench press as the bully rummaging around in the weight room in the schoolyard. Its reputation as the worst elevator in town is totally unjustified and exaggerated by self-centered idiots who value brawn above all else. Of course, deep down, underneath all that fuss lies some great strength-building exercises. It’s just that, like other bullies, Bench Press suffers from anxiety over years of abuse and mistreatment.
From a practical standpoint, I’ve always found the bench press to be a hassle. Proper setup and execution almost require observer participation, and good observers are almost as common as honest politicians. In fact, the setup itself is the main reason I avoid benching. In order to move the maximum weight possible (the ostensible purpose of the exercise), the shoulder blades should be anchored to the bench to stabilize the shoulders. This prevents the scapula and upper arm from working together as they should. If this “shoulder blade rhythm” is disrupted, it can cause problems not only in the shoulder itself, but also in the rotator cuff.
Do this instead: In my humble opinion, Dips Especially with an external load, it can significantly improve upper body strength over the bench press (this is where a weight vest can help). Dips can be performed in a number of different ways, depending on your intended goal and level of experience. Beginners are encouraged to start by using his assisted dip machine (equipped in nearly every gym) until they feel comfortable and confident with the technique. From there it progresses to parallel bars, single horizontal bar and finally to gymnastics rings.
Another option: standing cable press. This exercise mimics the bench press movement without the negative features listed above. Compared to free weights, cable machines provide more consistent tension throughout your range of motion. The position also involves your core a little more, but that’s never a bad thing.
lunge
One of the most annoying aspects of gym culture is the lack of universal terminology.took lunge (A.k.a. Forward Lunge or Step Lunge, not to be confused with Walking Lunge or Traveling Lunge).It’s self-evident that lunges are inherently propulsive (“She rushed towards her assailant with a knife…”), yet I always see the following. split squat – Exercises that do not involve forward movement – Labeled lunges by trainers who do not understand how language works.
Like the bench press, the lunge is also widely misunderstood. From an exercise science perspective, the main point of lunges is to train your body to slow down while moving forward. Too many people lack the coordination, balance and motor control skills necessary to achieve this. Instead of gently placing your feet on the floor in front of you, step forward to crush the grapes. What should be a smooth, controlled movement turns into a rapid, spasmodic generalized spasm that wreaks havoc on the knee.
Do this instead: reverse lunge You can train the same quality (deceleration) in the same plane of motion, but with much less shear force on the knee. My experience is that people are more graceful when they step back. More grace means more control, and more control means higher quality moves.
another option: lateral lunge. Outside of a sports environment, it is rare to see people moving sideways. By adding a bit of lateral movement to your workout, you can strengthen your lower body the way you need it and work almost every major muscle group in your legs and hips. Note that the lateral lunge creates the same amount of shear in the knee as a traditional lunge. In other words, if you have bad knees, stick to reverse lunges.
Paul Landini I am a personal trainer and health educator in Kitchener, Ontario.
