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10 Most
Ineffective Exercises
By Raphael
Calzadilla, B.A., CPT, ACE
Glee Contributor
Updated: Monday, April 17, 2006
"Insanity:
doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different
results." -Albert Einstein
What if you
suddenly found out that every workout you’ve been doing for months and
months was unsafe, inefficient and graphically illustrated in the
imaginary encyclopedia of bone head exercises?
We tend to look
at certain areas on our body with disgust and anxiety. We look for
quick fixes and the magical exercise that will solve all of our
problems. That’s why infomercials sell “5 minute exercise solutions,”
and love to prey on our weak emotional states and lack of knowledge
related to physiology. Let’s get to the point: There are exercises
that just plain stink. They’re inefficient, have a high injury risk
and provide practically zero benefit.
The following
list of exercises may surprise you. Consider your surprised reaction a
step in the right direction. Here’s my top 10 most ineffective
exercises list: This is by no means an exhaustive list - there are a
lot more.
1. Adductor
Machine -- The adductor machine is the exercise unit that you sit
in while placing the inner part of your legs against a pad. You then
push the legs toward each other, with the goal of reducing your inner
thighs. Maybe you perform 20, 30 or even more reps to affect the area.
This exercise will not reduce your inner thighs. You’d need enough
resistance to create an impact on the muscle, so more than 15 reps
aren’t going to accomplish anything. More importantly, it’s not the
best range or plane of motion (direction) to affect the inner thigh.
2. Abductor
Machine -- The abductor machine is the opposite of the adductor.
In this case, you sit in the machine and place the outer part of your
legs against a pad. You then push your legs away from each other, in
the hopes of reducing your outer thigh area. Pushing the legs outward
accomplishes very little for the outer thigh. Again, the plane of
motion is ineffective. You say you can feel this machine? I can also
feel my chest muscles if I perform a dumbbell press very slowly with a
pair of five pound dumbbells, but that doesn’t mean it’s accomplishing
my goal. There’s more to the puzzle than just feeling it.
3. Standing
or Bent Over Twist -- Ever see someone in the gym with a
broomstick behind their head twisting endlessly from left to right?
The person mistakenly assumes that twisting for hundreds of reps will
shrink the waist and decrease the size of the oblique muscles (love
handles). This movement inefficiently affects the spinal erectors and
places stress on ligaments. It provides no slimming effect on the
“love handles”.
4. Upright Rows
-- In this exercise, one grasps a barbell with hands approximately
four inches apart, with palms facing the body. Standing in an upright
position, the bar is pulled all the way up to the neck. The objective
is to strengthen the upper trapezius muscles (the muscles at the base
of the neck).
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