Top 10 Things to Avoid Doing During Your Workout
So every now again I'll find myself looking around the gym seeing things that I don't understand. Don't get me wrong. Some of these things I probably did myself as some point. And looking back I'm not too sure why I did them. Maybe it was because I saw somebody else train this way. Maybe it was from a fitness magazine I was reading at the time. Or maybe it was just a bad habit I developed all on my own.
But it doesn't change the fact that seeing some of these misktakes being made in the gym is like finger nails on a chalk board.
Whatever the reason for developing these bad habits or using bad form the fact remains that I wasn't aware that what I was doing was bad and that I needed to change this. And so now when I see others making some of the same mistakes I once did I feel compelled to help them out.
But why not walk over and help that person right then and there you may be asking? For a few reasons including:
1. The gym is the last place unsolicited advice seems to be accepted. Short of you injuring yourself on the spot I've found that many people prefer to be left alone. Am I wrong in assuming this?
If you were doing this I may come over.
So as long as you aren't going to kill yourself by what you're doing I may stay out of it rather than get into a debate with someone.
2. I can reach more people this way. With these posts we can help thousands of people compared to individuals at a time on the gym floor.
3. When I work out it's my time. I like to make my workouts as intense and short as possible. Stopping to help coach, correct and advise doesn't allow for this.
Now that I've covered my rationale for letting some people carry on with unorthodox methods let me reward you for reading this far with the Top 10 Things to Avoid Doing During Your Workout.
1. Using an open grip. Here's what an open grip looks like. It basically means the thumb doens't wrap around the bar to meet the fingers. Always use a closed grip for safety and for increased strength. Nobody ever intends for a bar to slip out of an open grip and fall on themselves but it does happen. As well with a closed grip you can squeeze the bar in your hands and generate more force through the rest of the body and push or pull a heavier load as a result.
2. Using the scorpion during a warm-up. A scorpion is a warm up drill where you are face down on the ground and you swing one leg over the body and touch it to the ground.
So why don't we do this anymore? Well because the lumbar spine isn't designed to have high levels of mobility. In some cases we might only see 5 degrees of rotation through the lumbar region yet when we move the leg from one side of the body to the other in this way we may be expecting more than 5 degrees from our low back. It doesn't automatically have to mean an injury but if there is another way to warm-up up the hips with rotation and not move the back so much I'm all for it.
3. Using lifting straps. This ties in with point #1 above. Whenver your hands are in contact with the object to push or pull you want to have the strongest grip possible. Lifting straps take the load for you and require very minimal grip strength. Not a good thing. Always to look to improve your weak links. For many people this is their grip strength. Using lifting straps only makes this worse.
Another problem I have with lifting straps is they are not suitable for Olympic lifting. Athletes using straps and trying to Olympic lift will end up performing a reverse curl to catch the bar rather than rotating the arms and hands under the bar. By performing a reverse curl the bar drifts away from the body and resuls in a lower power output.
Stay tuned until Wednesday when I'll carry on with the Top 10 Things to Avoid Doing During Your Workout.
Chris okanaganpeakperformance.com 'always moving forward'
But it doesn't change the fact that seeing some of these misktakes being made in the gym is like finger nails on a chalk board.
Whatever the reason for developing these bad habits or using bad form the fact remains that I wasn't aware that what I was doing was bad and that I needed to change this. And so now when I see others making some of the same mistakes I once did I feel compelled to help them out.
But why not walk over and help that person right then and there you may be asking? For a few reasons including:
1. The gym is the last place unsolicited advice seems to be accepted. Short of you injuring yourself on the spot I've found that many people prefer to be left alone. Am I wrong in assuming this?
If you were doing this I may come over.
So as long as you aren't going to kill yourself by what you're doing I may stay out of it rather than get into a debate with someone.
2. I can reach more people this way. With these posts we can help thousands of people compared to individuals at a time on the gym floor.
3. When I work out it's my time. I like to make my workouts as intense and short as possible. Stopping to help coach, correct and advise doesn't allow for this.
Now that I've covered my rationale for letting some people carry on with unorthodox methods let me reward you for reading this far with the Top 10 Things to Avoid Doing During Your Workout.
1. Using an open grip. Here's what an open grip looks like. It basically means the thumb doens't wrap around the bar to meet the fingers. Always use a closed grip for safety and for increased strength. Nobody ever intends for a bar to slip out of an open grip and fall on themselves but it does happen. As well with a closed grip you can squeeze the bar in your hands and generate more force through the rest of the body and push or pull a heavier load as a result.
2. Using the scorpion during a warm-up. A scorpion is a warm up drill where you are face down on the ground and you swing one leg over the body and touch it to the ground.
So why don't we do this anymore? Well because the lumbar spine isn't designed to have high levels of mobility. In some cases we might only see 5 degrees of rotation through the lumbar region yet when we move the leg from one side of the body to the other in this way we may be expecting more than 5 degrees from our low back. It doesn't automatically have to mean an injury but if there is another way to warm-up up the hips with rotation and not move the back so much I'm all for it.
3. Using lifting straps. This ties in with point #1 above. Whenver your hands are in contact with the object to push or pull you want to have the strongest grip possible. Lifting straps take the load for you and require very minimal grip strength. Not a good thing. Always to look to improve your weak links. For many people this is their grip strength. Using lifting straps only makes this worse.
Another problem I have with lifting straps is they are not suitable for Olympic lifting. Athletes using straps and trying to Olympic lift will end up performing a reverse curl to catch the bar rather than rotating the arms and hands under the bar. By performing a reverse curl the bar drifts away from the body and resuls in a lower power output.
Stay tuned until Wednesday when I'll carry on with the Top 10 Things to Avoid Doing During Your Workout.
Chris okanaganpeakperformance.com 'always moving forward'
Stay Informed
When you subscribe to the blog, we will send you an e-mail when there are new updates on the site so you wouldn't miss them.
Comments 10
Guest - Gretchen
on Monday, 06 December 2010 12:11
Hi Chris, great comments about grip strength. I used to wear gloves when I was lifting heavier weights (for me) because I thought it helped with gripping the bar. Now I use my bare hands and my grip is better. I still forget to wrap my thumb around my fingers sometimes but I'm working on it.
Thanks, Gretchen
Guest - Chris
on Tuesday, 07 December 2010 16:31
Gretchen: I always find a correlation to my grip strength and to my PR lifts. Also, a strong grip on the bar really causes you to focus on the task at hand and be committed to the lift.
Keep working hard.
Chris
okanaganpeakperformance.com
Guest - Dr. Anthony
(website) on Monday, 06 December 2010 12:58
Hi Chris,
Good article.
I like straps because I was sick of my grip giving way before the muscles in my back were fatigued. So I go as far as I can without straps, and then put them on to get a few more reps.
Thoughts?
Guest - Chris
on Tuesday, 07 December 2010 16:29
Dr. Anthony: I guess every answer you could begin with 'it depends...' In this case I would ask myself what I am hoping to accomplish with this exercise. Is it:
* a stronger deadlift?
* stronger grip strength?
* stronger overall?
The answer then helps determine what is the correct approach. If you want to simply pull as much weight as possible then straps will definitely allow you to pull more than without. Gradually try and build up your pulling strength without the straps however. You can do with with:
* static deadlift rack holds for time
* dumbell farmer walks
* using a snatch grip for your deadlift
* using a thicker bar or grip attachments
* incorporating other grip exercises into your program
All the best,
Chris
okanaganpeakperformance.com 'always moving forward'
Guest - grantrambold
on Monday, 06 December 2010 17:02
Thanks Chris for the tips,about grip strength,I fall back on some of my old habits in the gym, and its great to be reminded. Im at the same gym as you working out pretty well the same time, it must be hard for you to watch some of those techniques in there? Thanks, Grant.
Guest - Chris
on Tuesday, 07 December 2010 16:19
Grant: You're welcome. Glad to hear the tips are helping. Sometimes I do have to look the other way
Chris
okanaganpeakperformance.com 'always moving forward'
Guest - bjork
(website) on Tuesday, 20 August 2013 06:28
There are several varieties of range of credit standing. Everyone truly has several people's credit reports for that range of credit rating model since everyone of about three countrywide credit reporting agencies, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, possesses its own repository. Range of people's credit reports get various titles at intervals of from the distinct credit rating businesses: Range of credit scores are widely-used simply by 90% from the loan companies.
Guest - Payday Loans
(website) on Wednesday, 02 July 2014 09:57
you're in reality a just right webmaster. The website loading velocity is amazing. It kind of feels that you're doing any unique trick. Furthermore, The contents are masterwork. you have performed a wonderful process in this subject!
Guest - Weight Loss
(website) on Wednesday, 02 July 2014 10:17
hello there and thank you for your info – I have definitely picked up anything new from right here. I did however expertise several technical issues using this site, since I experienced to reload the site a lot of times previous to I could get it to load properly. I had been wondering if your hosting is OK? Not that I'm complaining, but slow loading instances times will very frequently affect your placement in google and could damage your high quality score if advertising and marketing with Adwords. Anyway I’m adding this RSS to my email and could look out for much more of your respective exciting content. Make sure you update this again very soon..
Guest - Notre frère Ahmed ELBOUARI a été élu Président du Corps des Ingénieurs du Parti du Rassemblement National des Indépendants au cours de la réunion l’Assemblée Générale tenue le 14 mai 2017. Les travaux de cette Assemblée ont connu un riche d
(website) on Tuesday, 20 March 2018 12:01
Corps des Ingénieurs du RNI au Maroc - هيئة المهندسين التجمعيين
CORPS DES INGÉNIEURS DU PARTI RNI EST UNE ORGANISATION SOCIO-PROFESSIONNELLE PARALLÈLE AU PARTI RNI, RASSEMBLEMENT NATIONAL DES INDÉPENDANTS, PARTI POLITIQUE AU MAROC