Reader Asks: Yesterday at the gym I heard a trainer giving a tour and he said "...these are the ellipticals, you want to avoid them..." I didn't catch the rest, but what are your thoughts on stuff to avoid in the gyms (since it's still a few months before it will be nice enough to work out outdoors around here)?
Make the best use of your gym time with efficient exercises that won't do more harm than good. Some overrated machines at the gym should pretty much be avoided at all costs. I've dubbed them OMGs. Make like Janice from Friends. Throw both hands in the air, say "Oh. My. God." and walk away from them with a dramatic show of disgust.
1). Ellipticals
Biggest Loser winner, Ed Brantley, lost 73 lbs on the show but “hated the elliptical. It was too easy. I didn’t feel like I was doing anything.” The elliptical machine is only as good as the effort you put into it (And heads up, it over-estimates your calorie burn by 31%).
According to Men's Health magazine, "Some people go so fast that it's almost momentum working for them as opposed to their having to propel the step." Use resistance. "When you make a revolution, you want to feel you're pushing the ramp down," advises the magazine. Provided you feel balanced, you can let go of the handle bars. Not holding on recruits core muscles to keep yourself stable.
Once you find the right resistance, you have to consistently push yourself. Unlike the treadmill where the belt's moving and so are you (either keeping pace or flying off the back), the elliptical permits us the luxury of slowing down; a predictable tendency when we’re tired or our mind’s are absorbed in a magazine. A heart rate monitor can keep you accountable, if you stay above the fat burning zone. Or you can incorporate intervals, pedaling at higher intensities for sustained periods of time, followed by recovery periods (ie: 90 second blasts every few min, with recoveries twice as long).
2). Leg Extension
When it comes to our body's joints, the knees are notoriously susceptible to injury. And the leg extension machine "has caused more knee injuries than any other leg exercise." Nick Mitchell, AskMen's strength and nutritional coach, explains that the movement forces the kneecap to “shear,” placing dangerous pressures on tendons and ligaments.
Personally, these machines never feel right or fit my body properly. The pivot point and lever length's structural design are made for the average-sized athlete, and fit disproportionately for any of us who are sized below or above that "average" musculoskeletal mold. Size-related issues aside, there's an inherent degree of awkwardness in the unnatural positioning in which the machine orients the body. Muscles, bones, and joints are subjected to unnecessary shear or compression stress.
Eric Cressey, who writes for Testosterone Nation, scoured the scientific literature in writing his article. He attests to the overwhelming cons associated with leg extension machines.
3). Smith Machine
I get on the smith machine and can magically lift more weight than I can with regular squat bar. That's a good cue that the machine does more than its fair share of work. It leads users to relax their abs, decreasing spinal stability while performing the movement. AskMen notes that because the bar is fixed within the rails of the vertical posts, it "locks you into an artificial plane of motion that over time will cause imbalances in the smaller fixator and stabiliser muscles" leaving you more prone to chronic injury.
The natural tendency, and proper squat form, is to move the weight in a slight arc. This is by definition impossible with the smith machine which only permits vertical up and down movements. I tend to find myself straining against the machine when I use it. So free weight squat bar trumps smith machine. If you don't have a spotter and are concerned about safety, you can use a power cage.
4). Behind the Neck Lat Pull Down
The misconception on proper form with this exercise is to "pull the bar behind your head, down to your upper back." But Men's Health corrects that, "Unless you have very flexible shoulders, this exercise is difficult to do correctly, and can increase your risk for shoulder impingement syndrome—a painful condition in which the muscles or tendons of your rotator cuff become entrapped in your shoulder joint." A safe alternative that works the same back muscles is to pull the bar down in front of you, down to your collarbone.
P.S. The behind the neck shoulder press is equally bad; externally rotating shoulders behind the plane of the body. And people tend to crane (and strain) their neck when positioning the bar behind them. The better alternative is a shoulder press done in front of the body.
P.P.S. Upright Rows are a good exercise, but be mindful not to row too high, as this can also aggravate shoulder impingement syndrome.
5). Hip Abductor and Adductor Machines
Crowds flock to this perceived dynamic duo in pursuit of tighter thighs. Unfortunately these machines have a limited range of motion that works only a small portion of leg musculature. Livestrong confirms, “Any machine that isolates a muscle group…is dangerous because it causes undue stress on the joint involved... Our bodies and muscles are designed to work” synergistically, not in isolation.
You're better off performing lunges of any kind (walking, stationary, around the clock, plyo, side, bulgarian) and squats and step ups and dead lifts. These are all compound exercises. That means they work not only your abductor and adductor muscles, but also your glutes and other muscles. You'll be getting more bang for your buck; effectively targeting the entire leg muscle.
That prefaced, when lunging or squatting, stop when your thighs are parallel to the ground. I've seen people doing "deep knee bend squats." A flexion greater than 90 degrees is asking for knee injury.
Bottom line
Our dynamic bodies recruit lots of muscles in lots of ways. But exercise machines isolate single muscle groups and work them in a static up-and-down, forward-and-backward regime. They also permit you to take a load off, preserving calories you could otherwise be burning. Nine times out of ten, free weights or your own body weight will serve you better than any gym machine.
Make the best use of your gym time with efficient exercises that won't do more harm than good. Some overrated machines at the gym should pretty much be avoided at all costs. I've dubbed them OMGs. Make like Janice from Friends. Throw both hands in the air, say "Oh. My. God." and walk away from them with a dramatic show of disgust.
1). EllipticalsBiggest Loser winner, Ed Brantley, lost 73 lbs on the show but “hated the elliptical. It was too easy. I didn’t feel like I was doing anything.” The elliptical machine is only as good as the effort you put into it (And heads up, it over-estimates your calorie burn by 31%).
According to Men's Health magazine, "Some people go so fast that it's almost momentum working for them as opposed to their having to propel the step." Use resistance. "When you make a revolution, you want to feel you're pushing the ramp down," advises the magazine. Provided you feel balanced, you can let go of the handle bars. Not holding on recruits core muscles to keep yourself stable.
Once you find the right resistance, you have to consistently push yourself. Unlike the treadmill where the belt's moving and so are you (either keeping pace or flying off the back), the elliptical permits us the luxury of slowing down; a predictable tendency when we’re tired or our mind’s are absorbed in a magazine. A heart rate monitor can keep you accountable, if you stay above the fat burning zone. Or you can incorporate intervals, pedaling at higher intensities for sustained periods of time, followed by recovery periods (ie: 90 second blasts every few min, with recoveries twice as long).
2). Leg ExtensionWhen it comes to our body's joints, the knees are notoriously susceptible to injury. And the leg extension machine "has caused more knee injuries than any other leg exercise." Nick Mitchell, AskMen's strength and nutritional coach, explains that the movement forces the kneecap to “shear,” placing dangerous pressures on tendons and ligaments.
Personally, these machines never feel right or fit my body properly. The pivot point and lever length's structural design are made for the average-sized athlete, and fit disproportionately for any of us who are sized below or above that "average" musculoskeletal mold. Size-related issues aside, there's an inherent degree of awkwardness in the unnatural positioning in which the machine orients the body. Muscles, bones, and joints are subjected to unnecessary shear or compression stress.
Eric Cressey, who writes for Testosterone Nation, scoured the scientific literature in writing his article. He attests to the overwhelming cons associated with leg extension machines.
3). Smith MachineI get on the smith machine and can magically lift more weight than I can with regular squat bar. That's a good cue that the machine does more than its fair share of work. It leads users to relax their abs, decreasing spinal stability while performing the movement. AskMen notes that because the bar is fixed within the rails of the vertical posts, it "locks you into an artificial plane of motion that over time will cause imbalances in the smaller fixator and stabiliser muscles" leaving you more prone to chronic injury.
The natural tendency, and proper squat form, is to move the weight in a slight arc. This is by definition impossible with the smith machine which only permits vertical up and down movements. I tend to find myself straining against the machine when I use it. So free weight squat bar trumps smith machine. If you don't have a spotter and are concerned about safety, you can use a power cage.
4). Behind the Neck Lat Pull Down The misconception on proper form with this exercise is to "pull the bar behind your head, down to your upper back." But Men's Health corrects that, "Unless you have very flexible shoulders, this exercise is difficult to do correctly, and can increase your risk for shoulder impingement syndrome—a painful condition in which the muscles or tendons of your rotator cuff become entrapped in your shoulder joint." A safe alternative that works the same back muscles is to pull the bar down in front of you, down to your collarbone.
P.S. The behind the neck shoulder press is equally bad; externally rotating shoulders behind the plane of the body. And people tend to crane (and strain) their neck when positioning the bar behind them. The better alternative is a shoulder press done in front of the body.
P.P.S. Upright Rows are a good exercise, but be mindful not to row too high, as this can also aggravate shoulder impingement syndrome.
5). Hip Abductor and Adductor MachinesCrowds flock to this perceived dynamic duo in pursuit of tighter thighs. Unfortunately these machines have a limited range of motion that works only a small portion of leg musculature. Livestrong confirms, “Any machine that isolates a muscle group…is dangerous because it causes undue stress on the joint involved... Our bodies and muscles are designed to work” synergistically, not in isolation.
You're better off performing lunges of any kind (walking, stationary, around the clock, plyo, side, bulgarian) and squats and step ups and dead lifts. These are all compound exercises. That means they work not only your abductor and adductor muscles, but also your glutes and other muscles. You'll be getting more bang for your buck; effectively targeting the entire leg muscle.
That prefaced, when lunging or squatting, stop when your thighs are parallel to the ground. I've seen people doing "deep knee bend squats." A flexion greater than 90 degrees is asking for knee injury.
Bottom lineOur dynamic bodies recruit lots of muscles in lots of ways. But exercise machines isolate single muscle groups and work them in a static up-and-down, forward-and-backward regime. They also permit you to take a load off, preserving calories you could otherwise be burning. Nine times out of ten, free weights or your own body weight will serve you better than any gym machine.
0 comments:
Post a Comment