5 Most Overrated Exercises You Can Stop Doing
by Fiora Stevens on February 22, 2013
You’re a busy person, right? You want your time at the gym to be well spent, not wasted on exercises that won’t get you anywhere in terms of fitness or strength. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of misinformation out there, and that’s resulted in many of us using precious gym time doing things that are either totally useless or not as result-spurring as other options. Read on to find out which five overrated exercises you can cut from your gym routine.
1. Abdominal and side plank
These core-focused exercises certainly have their uses for beginners: abdominal and side planks help strengthen core muscles and improve overall stability.
But because these are static bodyweight exercises (as in, you’re holding one position rather than flexing and unflexing your muscles), they quickly lose their potency once you reach a certain strength level, and then you’re pretty much just hanging out.
If you can already hold the plank for 30-60 seconds and you’re not looking to set a Guinness world record then try switching to exercises that challenge your stability dynamically, like a set of push-ups or more difficult variations of the plank.
2. Traditional Crunches.
Note that in our dynamic exercise suggestion we did not mention crunches. While many people think that doing a hundred crunches a day will get them rock solid abs, it simply isn’t the case. Crunches only target one small abdominal muscle group, and can also place an undue amount of strain on the back and neck.
Think about adding some balance ball exercises to your routine instead, which tend to offer more variation and require more muscle action to stabilize your body with each movement.
3. Bench Press
Although it’s a staple of gym buffs everywhere, the bench press is overrated mainly because too many beginners stick to this chest exercise thinking that it’s the only thing they need. But according to Poliquin Performance,
“As a general guideline – and this applies both to athletes and to the general population – never perform more than 20 percent of your training volume for pressing exercises from a [supine] position. In other words, 80 percent of your presses should be performed from other angles, such as with an incline or military press. Further, at least 50 percent of pressing exercises should be performed with dumbbells, as they offer a more natural movement pattern and provide a more challenging workout for the muscles that stabilize the shoulder.”
4. Seated knee extension
Along with the leg press, the seated knee extension is one lower-body weight machine exercise that can be replaced with a way more effective substitute.
Like most weight machines, seated knee extensions target only one muscle group – in this case the quadriceps – in a motion that doesn’t translate well to other applications.
5. Hanging knee raise
This is an exercise that’s got the opposite problem from some of those mentioned previously: it’s too hard for most of the people who try to do it, which means that unless you’ve got enough training experience under your belt, you’re probably not doing it correctly. Incorrect hanging knee raises not only fail to strengthen the muscles you’re intending to bulk up or tone, they also put you at risk for injury.
Read the full article here: http://dailyhealthpost.com/5-most-overr ... z2Ta4R9oRf
Now here's my opinion on everything.
#1. Planks.
Where the hell did these come from and how did they get popular? Here's another one of those fad lifts and I see poeple CONSTANTLY doing daily. 10+ yrs ago, you did not see people do planks in a gym! The article is so right about doing them for more than 1min. At that point, they're not doing you any good since your level of fitness is too advanced for that exercise.
#2. Traditional crunches.
The only time I do traditional crunches is when I have to get ready for a PT test. My best is 78 situps in a minute. Other than that, I do variations of it, typically with extra weight
#3. Bench.
Oh gosh bench is so over rated! 2-3 sets of it, and move to another lift. Most times, I don't do bench first on chest days like most folks do. Typically I start with incline dumbbell presses. Over building the chest makes a person more prone to shoulder injuries, which was one of two major issues with my shoulder back in '05. The other being repetitive motion from work.
#4 Leg extensions.
For the general public, who doesn't work their legs enough at all, this isolation exercise should be replaced with a good compound exercise. There's many to choose from.
For those dedicated strength training athletes, here is where I disagree. Leg extension is an excellent exercise to finish up a quad day (I do two leg days, one for quads, one for hams) with. After 4 sets of squats, hack squats, leg presses, and some lunges, you polish off those quads and forget about negotiating stairs. For a little "F-U Legs", do them first, and then try to do the rest of those compound exercises with fatigued quads.
#5. Leg/knee raise.
Once in a blue moon do I see someone doing these right. Most times they're swinging their legs back and using momentum to pull them up. They're arching their back and just being all crazy about it. Inevitably all they're doing is working their quads and hip flexors. Waste of time. Unless you're stopping before your legs are free hanging straight down and then curling your butt off of the back of the pad to really squeeze those abs, you're doing it wrong. Without momentum (think exploding at the bottom and swing legs as fast as possible) 98% of the people on that machine wouldn't be able to do that exercise right.
