You don’t have to hire a
personal trainer to start a new exercise program, but it’s important to
realize that there is a science to each of your favorite
strength-training moves. As a trainer, I see many people depend on their
own knowledge and very few professional resources to guide them, and
these are the most common mistakes I’ve watched people make. When
performing these 10 strength-training exercises, the main thing to keep
in mind is that the beginning of all movement starts with the core. By
engaging your core, these exercises can be executed with more
stabilization, power and strength.
1. Single-Arm Back Row
Although the biceps and forearm are also being
used in this exercise, the primary muscle is in the back, so the focus
of this exercise needs to be on the back muscle pulling the weight in
the hand up from its starting position. Often, people just contract
their biceps muscle to move the weight without using much of their back
muscles at all. To perform this move correctly, the arm must remain
relaxed with no intentional contraction of the biceps. The back is flat
throughout the exercise with minimal to no torso rotation, with the back
doing the majority of the work.
2. Squats
The common mistakes I’ve seen made are: lifting the heels by putting the
weight on the toes; allowing the knees to move out over the toes; and
not keeping the torso upright. Doing squats in that manner puts too much
pressure on the knees and can cause serious injury, especially when
weight is added. The muscles being used in a squat include the
quadriceps, hamstrings and glutes. When squatting, think of your butt
reaching for a chair to sit down in, with all of your weight distributed
to your heels. The hips hinge at a 90-degree angle, the knees should be
at a 90-degree angle and the torso should remain upright.
3. Deadlifts
This hamstring-dominant exercise is often done in a way that can cause
injury to the back. Although the back is involved in this exercise, the
typical mistakes include bending over too much, rounding of the upper
and/or lower back, not keeping the weight close to the body and
contracting the shoulder blades back together. However, the shoulders
need to be stabilized, arms straight, lower back in its natural curve
and neck in a neutral position. The hands remain close to the legs
throughout the movement. Your legs are slightly bent, and your core is
tight as you hinge forward at the waist and push the glutes backward.
When coming up from the bent-over position, squeeze the glutes and bring
the hips forward.
4. Push-Ups
What’s the typical bad push-up form? A minor
bend of the elbows while the hips dip toward the floor and the head
hangs. Instead, have your hands placed parallel to your chest on the
floor. Angle your elbows out for a chest-focused push-up or right next
to the body and pointing back for a triceps-focused push-up. Think of
pushing your body away from the floor using the chest muscles with a
neutral head position, and then lower the body back to the floor in a
controlled manner.
5. Stability-Ball Chest Press
The focus of this exercise is also the chest muscles, but many people
make the mistake of not stabilizing their shoulders and allowing their
arms to drop too far back on the ball, creating the momentum by bouncing
the arms on the ball to lift the weights. For this exercise, the
shoulders need to be stabilized and the elbows bent at a 90-degree
angle. The contraction should be of the chest muscles while the arms are
straightened over the chest (not the face) at the top of this move.
Return back to a 90-degree angle at the elbow and repeat.
6. Front and Lateral Shoulder Raises
When executing this move, many raise the
weights too high and go beyond the contraction needed to strengthen that
muscle. To do it correctly, stand with your feet at shoulder width,
core tight, your knees slightly bent and arms straight down in front of
your legs. Raise the weights to the height of your shoulders, engaging
the anterior deltoids, and then return to the starting position. The
same goes for the lateral shoulder raises: The arms should remain
slightly forward without contracting the shoulder blades back. When
raising the weights, the pinky finger is slightly higher than the rest
of the hand.
7. Biceps Curls
This seems too simple to be done wrong, but people still find a way to
mess it up, like not keeping the elbows down next to their sides,
allowing their arms to swing using momentum to move the weight and not
taking the elbow joint and biceps muscle through the full range of
motion. I also see people curling their wrists during this exercise,
which works more of the forearm. The start of the movement is with the
elbow somewhat planted at your side with a straight arm. Think of a
string running from the front of your shoulder to the weight in your
hand. That string should pull the weight in your hand toward your
shoulder while you squeeze the biceps at the top of the movement. That
is the concentric part of the exercise. The eccentric motion is lowering
the weight back down to the starting position, which must be controlled
because it’s still an important part of the exercise.
8. Triceps Dips
While some people avoid this move because of
the pressure it puts on the shoulders, many people are doing it in a way
that can cause shoulder injury. Some make the mistake of overextending
their shoulders by not keeping their torso and butt close to the bench
or step. If it’s too hard with your legs straight, modify it by bending
your knees, not by moving further away from your stable base. Perform
this exercise using a bench, step or chair with your torso upright and
close to your stable base. Start with your arms straight and hands
facing forward. Bending at the elbow, lower your body toward the floor
and return to the starting position by contracting and pressing through
the triceps.
9. Stability-Ball Crunches
I have seen people pick up a heavy medicine ball and go to town doing
what they think are crunches on a stability ball, when, in fact, they’re
working more of their hips and calves than their abs. If you’re not
feeling the burn in your abs, you’re probably doing something wrong. For
stability-ball crunches, your hips must remain stabilized. Have your
head in a neutral position to take the strain off your neck. Your abs
should be engaged and your focus on using the contraction of the
abdominals to lift yourself up.
10. Plank
The common form mistakes people usually make are: not keeping the
shoulders and elbows aligned; hanging the head; holding the breath;
allowing the hips to hang; and not engaging the abs. During the plank,
which is a static exercise, the elbows need to be directly under the
shoulders, hands separated and head in a neutral position. Keep the body
flattened by engaging the core and squeezing the glutes to keep the
hips from sagging and to support the lower back.
Hope the above corrections and explanations helped you improve your
form? Have you tried these exercises again to see if you feel a
difference when focusing on the actual muscles being used? What other
exercises would you like to know about that you are currently doing
wrong? Let us know
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