Top 5 worst exercises
Cylphin60
Posts: 863 Member
Thread title taken from the video.
In short, he lists the following as exercises that need to go.
Flys
Behind the neck presses
Upright rows
Good Mornings
Leg extensions
To my admittedly uneducated self, everything he says makes sense, and I'd like your thoughts on it. I do leg extensions, upright rows and flys as accessories, and am thinking about going with his alternatives.
Thanks folks.
Source video: 10.5 minutes long
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6Y3WDY1tUo
In short, he lists the following as exercises that need to go.
Flys
Behind the neck presses
Upright rows
Good Mornings
Leg extensions
To my admittedly uneducated self, everything he says makes sense, and I'd like your thoughts on it. I do leg extensions, upright rows and flys as accessories, and am thinking about going with his alternatives.
Thanks folks.
Source video: 10.5 minutes long
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6Y3WDY1tUo1
Replies
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No way am I sitting through 10.5 minutes of boring video.
But, based on your post:
Flys aren't awful.
Let's replace BTNs with situps as worst exercise. BTN has its place.
And good mornings are an amazing exercise, if you're not an idiot.
Totally agree about leg extensions, though. They are awful and should go away.0 -
@Lizarking
Except leg extensions do have a place in the right context.
They were the first step in my rehab from major knee injury and subsequent surgery.
Agree for the majority of people they aren't the best choice but that doesn't mean they are universally awful.
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Yeah, my PT put me on leg extensions after my knee was torn apart in a collision. I wish she hadn't .* But I didn't know then what I know now. They were so far behind they didn't even have me on CPM.
* leg extensions cause constant ACL tension and incredible shearing forces. Literally the opposite of what you should be doing on a rebuilt knee.
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No way am I sitting through 10.5 minutes of boring video.
But, based on your post:
Flys aren't awful.
Let's replace BTNs with situps as worst exercise. BTN has its place.
And good mornings are an amazing exercise, if you're not an idiot.
Totally agree about leg extensions, though. They are awful and should go away.
I did sit though the video and thought it was great. I checked the bio of the presenter Jeff Cavaliere, his background includes head physical therapist and assistant strength and conditioning coach for a major league baseball team. IMO, someone that would definitely be considered an expert. Also IMO, he gave very well explained reasons for his picks and suitable alternatives. NOTE: He did say good mornings are a great exercise, however, most people don't have the mobility in the thoracic area to do them correctly (maybe that's the idiot thing)
Sure you could include some other exercises like sit ups in a top 5 list. My personal way to evaluate the safety/effectiveness of exercises is to look at the opinions of several experts with Doctor, MS, etc behind their names and have worked with high level athletes. If you look around the exercises listed are critically panned by most experts.4 -
I love good mornings. They work my hammies like nobody's business.1
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Packerjohn wrote: »No way am I sitting through 10.5 minutes of boring video.
But, based on your post:
Flys aren't awful.
Let's replace BTNs with situps as worst exercise. BTN has its place.
And good mornings are an amazing exercise, if you're not an idiot.
Totally agree about leg extensions, though. They are awful and should go away.
I did sit though the video and thought it was great. I checked the bio of the presenter Jeff Cavaliere, his background includes head physical therapist and assistant strength and conditioning coach for a major league baseball team. IMO, someone that would definitely be considered an expert. Also IMO, he gave very well explained reasons for his picks and suitable alternatives. NOTE: He did say good mornings are a great exercise, however, most people don't have the mobility in the thoracic area to do them correctly (maybe that's the idiot thing)
Sure you could include some other exercises like sit ups in a top 5 list. My personal way to evaluate the safety/effectiveness of exercises is to look at the opinions of several experts with Doctor, MS, etc behind their names and have worked with high level athletes. If you look around the exercises listed are critically panned by most experts.
I thought it was an extremely well presented video as well, but I never thought of checking his credentials, thank you
I'm glad I stumbled across that now as leg extensions are(were) my go to alternative to squats, but I'll follow through with his suggestions now.
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Got to admit, I have never seen that before...
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Chef_Barbell wrote: »I love good mornings. They work my hammies like nobody's business.
Same.. love them!0 -
Packerjohn wrote: »No way am I sitting through 10.5 minutes of boring video.
But, based on your post:
Flys aren't awful.
Let's replace BTNs with situps as worst exercise. BTN has its place.
And good mornings are an amazing exercise, if you're not an idiot.
Totally agree about leg extensions, though. They are awful and should go away.
I did sit though the video and thought it was great. I checked the bio of the presenter Jeff Cavaliere, his background includes head physical therapist and assistant strength and conditioning coach for a major league baseball team. IMO, someone that would definitely be considered an expert. Also IMO, he gave very well explained reasons for his picks and suitable alternatives. NOTE: He did say good mornings are a great exercise, however, most people don't have the mobility in the thoracic area to do them correctly (maybe that's the idiot thing)
Sure you could include some other exercises like sit ups in a top 5 list. My personal way to evaluate the safety/effectiveness of exercises is to look at the opinions of several experts with Doctor, MS, etc behind their names and have worked with high level athletes. If you look around the exercises listed are critically panned by most experts.
Thanks for taking one for the team. Sounds like he's on point with good mornings then.
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Hardly the 5 WORST exercises. Bosu ball squats, 2-person power clean, suicide grip bench press and this monstrosity comes to mind as leaps and bounds worse than what's in that video lol.
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Mycophilia wrote: »Hardly the 5 WORST exercises. Bosu ball squats, 2-person power clean, suicide grip bench press and this monstrosity comes to mind as leaps and bounds worse than what's in that video lol.
I've never even heard of what you listed
Which is probably why he focused on more common exercises. He's probably just trying to focus on exercises that a majority of people like myself used to think were "ok" and did them just because they seemed to be what everyone else was doing.0 -
Wow I had no idea leg extensions were so bad! I don't do them often, but will when I want to target my quads especially.
Are there other good quad-targeted exercises I could replace them with? My gym doesn't have a great set up for what he recommended in his video.
Also I've never done a good morning - I should add that! I am trying to work my hamstrings.0 -
Wow I had no idea leg extensions were so bad! I don't do them often, but will when I want to target my quads especially.
Are there other good quad-targeted exercises I could replace them with? My gym doesn't have a great set up for what he recommended in his video.
Also I've never done a good morning - I should add that! I am trying to work my hamstrings.
goblet squats
be very careful with good mornings.1 -
Oh god stuff like that is just awful. Also Turkish get ups with a loaded barbell or anything weighed on an Indo/balance board. Unless you go by jujimufu, you will get hurt doing most of that stuff.Mycophilia wrote: »Hardly the 5 WORST exercises. Bosu ball squats, 2-person power clean, suicide grip bench press and this monstrosity comes to mind as leaps and bounds worse than what's in that video lol.
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Wow I had no idea leg extensions were so bad! I don't do them often, but will when I want to target my quads especially.
Are there other good quad-targeted exercises I could replace them with? My gym doesn't have a great set up for what he recommended in his video.
Also I've never done a good morning - I should add that! I am trying to work my hamstrings.
goblet squats
be very careful with good mornings.
I'm pretty sure I'm going down the right, maybe others can comment. IMO, the good morning is basically a hip hinge variation (with weight added on the shoulders). Dan John gives a good explanation in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34saz57cxjs
This article has several movements that produced a hip hinge (including the good morning) and build the hamstrings:
https://www.t-nation.com/training/hardcore-hinging-for-hamstrings0 -
They're bad if done incorrectly and under too much weight. Jeff cavalier has both a shoulder issue and knee issue which is why he might state that those are bad exercises. Good mornings are great and increase my deadlifts like no tomorrow, behind the neck presses are bad once again of using too much weight and done incorrectly. Every exercise can hurt you. Say deadlifts, I've never hurt myself doing them, and they've increased my total strength by so much. I know others who ego lift them everytime with terrible form and walk away holding their backs for the next two days. Purely because they HAVE to lift as much as they can everytime.2
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Mycophilia wrote: »Hardly the 5 WORST exercises. Bosu ball squats, 2-person power clean, suicide grip bench press and this monstrosity comes to mind as leaps and bounds worse than what's in that video lol.
Holy crap to that last guy, lol
Why are bosu ball squats a no?
OP I enjoyed watching this video, thank you for sharing.
eta: Nevermind, this makes sense http://www.menshealth.com/fitness/squats-bosu-ball0 -
Packerjohn wrote: »No way am I sitting through 10.5 minutes of boring video.
But, based on your post:
Flys aren't awful.
Let's replace BTNs with situps as worst exercise. BTN has its place.
And good mornings are an amazing exercise, if you're not an idiot.
Totally agree about leg extensions, though. They are awful and should go away.
I did sit though the video and thought it was great. I checked the bio of the presenter Jeff Cavaliere, his background includes head physical therapist and assistant strength and conditioning coach for a major league baseball team. IMO, someone that would definitely be considered an expert. Also IMO, he gave very well explained reasons for his picks and suitable alternatives. NOTE: He did say good mornings are a great exercise, however, most people don't have the mobility in the thoracic area to do them correctly (maybe that's the idiot thing)
Sure you could include some other exercises like sit ups in a top 5 list. My personal way to evaluate the safety/effectiveness of exercises is to look at the opinions of several experts with Doctor, MS, etc behind their names and have worked with high level athletes. If you look around the exercises listed are critically panned by most experts.
Thanks for taking one for the team. Sounds like he's on point with good mornings then.
I'd be one of the guys that meets his example with the lack of mobility. I've watched several how to videos, and I'm pretty sure I'd regret trying them.0 -
Thread title taken from the video.
In short, he lists the following as exercises that need to go.
Flys
Behind the neck presses
Upright rows
Good Mornings
Leg extensions
To my admittedly uneducated self, everything he says makes sense, and I'd like your thoughts on it. I do leg extensions, upright rows and flys as accessories, and am thinking about going with his alternatives.
Thanks folks.
Source video: 10.5 minutes longhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6Y3WDY1tUo
I didn't sit through the video, but here's my take in general...
If I do flys, I do cables...heavy dumbbells can leave your shoulders compromised. Upright rows can also cause shoulder impingement. Good mornings aren't the worst, but they're not the best and it's probably best to keep the weight pretty light...IMO, you're just better off doing SLDs or RDLs. I don't recall the last time I did leg extensions...pretty sure I was a teenager.0 -
Mycophilia wrote: »Hardly the 5 WORST exercises. Bosu ball squats, 2-person power clean, suicide grip bench press and this monstrosity comes to mind as leaps and bounds worse than what's in that video lol.
I do bosu ball squats with dumbbells...they've been great for stability, but the weight is really light...but it's helped a lot with balance and stability. I do them with the bosu flipped over.0 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »Thread title taken from the video.
In short, he lists the following as exercises that need to go.
Flys
Behind the neck presses
Upright rows
Good Mornings
Leg extensions
To my admittedly uneducated self, everything he says makes sense, and I'd like your thoughts on it. I do leg extensions, upright rows and flys as accessories, and am thinking about going with his alternatives.
Thanks folks.
Source video: 10.5 minutes longhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6Y3WDY1tUo
I didn't sit through the video, but here's my take in general...
If I do flys, I do cables...heavy dumbbells can leave your shoulders compromised. Upright rows can also cause shoulder impingement. Good mornings aren't the worst, but they're not the best and it's probably best to keep the weight pretty light...IMO, you're just better off doing SLDs or RDLs. I don't recall the last time I did leg extensions...pretty sure I was a teenager.
That's pretty much the gist of the video He mentions impingement a lot... 0 -
Megan this made me lol0 -
Okay, admit I didn't care to sit through a 10 minute video (sorry!).
Anyway...I absolutely LOVE Behind the Neck Presses. Upright Rows are fine if you lean forward a bit and use a VERY wide grip, bringing the barbell up just below the sternum. That said, Sumo Deadlift High Pulls should be on the list, along with Bosu Squats (as already mentioned) and pretty much anything that involves one of those stupid balls.
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They're bad if done incorrectly and under too much weight. Jeff cavalier has both a shoulder issue and knee issue which is why he might state that those are bad exercises. Good mornings are great and increase my deadlifts like no tomorrow, behind the neck presses are bad once again of using too much weight and done incorrectly. Every exercise can hurt you. Say deadlifts, I've never hurt myself doing them, and they've increased my total strength by so much. I know others who ego lift them everytime with terrible form and walk away holding their backs for the next two days. Purely because they HAVE to lift as much as they can everytime.
Agreed it's all about form and over use. Ex: even standard overhead pressing can put one at risk for shoulder impingement, especially if they use improper technique or are hypermobile.0 -
I also watched the video. Thank you for making it available in your post. The video was very well done and the trainer was very good at explaining why he would substitute better alternative movements for "the five." As he very clearly stated in the video, it is not that the moves have NO merit, but that the benefits of performing "the five," do not outweigh the potential risk of injury.
Made sense to me and I will definitely modify some of my workouts accordingly
Thanks again.
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Packerjohn wrote: »No way am I sitting through 10.5 minutes of boring video.
But, based on your post:
Flys aren't awful.
Let's replace BTNs with situps as worst exercise. BTN has its place.
And good mornings are an amazing exercise, if you're not an idiot.
Totally agree about leg extensions, though. They are awful and should go away.
I did sit though the video and thought it was great. I checked the bio of the presenter Jeff Cavaliere, his background includes head physical therapist and assistant strength and conditioning coach for a major league baseball team. IMO, someone that would definitely be considered an expert. Also IMO, he gave very well explained reasons for his picks and suitable alternatives. NOTE: He did say good mornings are a great exercise, however, most people don't have the mobility in the thoracic area to do them correctly (maybe that's the idiot thing)
Sure you could include some other exercises like sit ups in a top 5 list. My personal way to evaluate the safety/effectiveness of exercises is to look at the opinions of several experts with Doctor, MS, etc behind their names and have worked with high level athletes. If you look around the exercises listed are critically panned by most experts.
I like a lot of his videos as well. And whether you agree or don't agree that those exercise are "the worst" (and who really cares anyway), his alternatives are improvements. I use a lot of his stuff w/my clients, esp the shoulder exercises.
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Burpees2
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I do bosu ball squats with dumbbells...they've been great for stability, but the weight is really light...but it's helped a lot with balance and stability. I do them with the bosu flipped over.Why are bosu ball squats a no?
I probably should have clarified that I meant loaded barbell squats on a bosu ball. Something like this:
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Mycophilia wrote: »I do bosu ball squats with dumbbells...they've been great for stability, but the weight is really light...but it's helped a lot with balance and stability. I do them with the bosu flipped over.Why are bosu ball squats a no?
I probably should have clarified that I meant loaded barbell squats on a bosu ball. Something like this:
Yeah, no...wouldn't do that...I'm pretty sure I'd break my neck just trying to step off with a barbell on my back.
What I do is strictly for stability and balance and very light weight and I do an overhead press at the top of the squat.0 -
I also watched the video. Thank you for making it available in your post. The video was very well done and the trainer was very good at explaining why he would substitute better alternative movements for "the five." As he very clearly stated in the video, it is not that the moves have NO merit, but that the benefits of performing "the five," do not outweigh the potential risk of injury.
Made sense to me and I will definitely modify some of my workouts accordingly
Thanks again.
That was my take away as well. I used leg extensions fairly often, but am substituting with his suggestions going forward. Flys are another I'll find a replacement for.0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffJNZQsYxUY
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