7 Exercises That You Don't Ever Want To Do

There are some exercises that were believed to assist your workout regime. Through the decades, physical activities for your fitness have grown and evolved. Some exercises were just a fad and actually had no positive impact on your body. There are some exercises that can cause you harm from debilitating spine injuries to joint problems. If you’ve ever done any of the below exercises, you may have experienced pain in the areas being brought up. Those places of discomfort while you do these exercises could be seriously compromised in an injury. See the below exercises you should never do.

Seated Hip Abductor Machine

While you may think you’re giving your outer thighs a good workout, this machine doesn’t engage the outer thigh muscles. It’s a hip muscle that’s doing all the work called the piriformis.

When you agitate the piriformis and it becomes agitated, it will affect your sciatica. This machine has claimed to focus on the trouble spots of outer thighs but experts say that focusing on a better diet is much more effective.

Stomach Crunches

Crunches don’t do what they’re claimed to do which is strengthen the core. The motion of doing crunches promotes bad posture by putting you in spinal flexion. No matter how many crunches you do, they won’t lead to a slim, lean belly. This comes from maintaining an overall workout from head to toe with plenty of cardio.

Behind the Neck Lat Pull Downs

This exercise on the lat machine is compromising the most sensitive part of your spine and is considered dangerous. There is no right way to do the exercise as the whole movement has the potential to bring your spine out of alignment as you lift the weight.

Some of the repercussions include; muscle strain, muscle tearing, or a spinal disk herniation. It’s recommended you do the lat pull downs in front of you for the same results and less possibility of injury.

Seated Leg Extensions

This machines function is to target the quad muscles of your front thighs. The machine puts strain on your knees which can be damaging. The resistance focuses on your ankles puts pressure on your knees when you lift heavy weights on the machine. If you already have experienced knee injuries in the past, stay away from this machine.

Dumb-bell Loaded Side Bends

This exercise involves holding dumb-bells in each hand and leaning to the side in order to engage the oblique muscles. Not only is it not effective, it puts pressure on the spine. There’s a lot of force that compromises the spine itself along with the tissue of the spine. The spine tissue is much like a shock absorber. When you break it down with exercises like this, you put yourself at risk of rupturing a disc in your spine.

Double Leg Raises

Double Leg Raises are done by suspending yourself as you hang onto a bar and raising both of your legs up. It’s said to be a core strengthener but in fact, is ineffective.

Not only that but if the exercise isn’t done properly, you can overwork your hip flexors. This can cause spasms in the hip flexors along with the risk of a herniated disc. This exercise causes the weight of your legs to put a lot of pressure on your spine and vertebrae.

Elliptical Machine

The elliptical machine is not a natural motion that humans have ever used. Any exercise performed should mimic your real life to strengthen muscles you require. While the machine will burn calories and improve your heart rate, it’s not going to improve your level of fitness for the real world.

If you’re physically capable of doing so, it’s better to perform exercises such as biking, running or climbing stairs. If you’re not capable and the elliptical is the only machine you can manage then continuing to use it makes sense. It is easier on your knees and joints than other exercises.