Three Useless Exercises (and What to Do Instead)
One of the things that makes me happy is seeing people in the gym working hard to try and make their lives better. Sadly, I see a whole lot of these well-intentioned people doing things that are simply a waste of time and not helping them. Some people say that there’s no such thing as a bad exercise. There might be truth in that, but there is definitely such thing as a useless exercise. With that in mind, see if you’re doing any of these and what you could replace them with.
Useless Exercise: Alternating Dumbbell Side Bend. The goal of this exercise is to work the obliques (side abs.) There’s just one problem with it: the weights counter each other. If you’re holding thirty pounds in each hand, it’s the same as if you were holding not weight at all. This is because while you’re bending to the right, the weight in your left hand is going to give you thirty pounds of assistance when you straighten back up. What’s thirty minus thirty? Zero. You might as well be empty-handed. The only thing that’s actually going to get a workout is your grip because of how long it’ll take you to feel anything from this. And if you’re going to work your grip, farmers walks are the way to go.
What to Do Instead: Single Dumbbell Side Bend. Yes, it’ll take twice as long. However, because only one side is loaded, you’ll actually be using your obliques to do the work. Be sure that when you’re doing these you feel a stretch in your oblique on the way down. On the way back up, squeeze the oblique to make it happen. Your hips shouldn’t move and your shoulders shouldn’t twist.
Useless Exercise: Standing Dumbbell ER/IR. People sometimes use this to try and rehab their shoulders. The big problem is that the movement you’re doing isn’t working the rotator cuff because gravity is pulling the weight down. The muscles you’re trying to work need to work against resistance that pulls to the side. It does nothing for your poor, abused rotator cuff. All you’re accomplishing by doing this is making your biceps tired. It’s basically a fancy paused curl.
What to Do Instead: Band W’s. By holding the band and pulling your hands apart, you’re actually getting resistance in that sideways direction that your rotator cuff needs. The band itself weighs next to nothing, so your biceps are out of the picture. It’s also very safe because if you’re not strong enough to do get into a range of motion, you simply won’t go there. The best part is that you’ll get to work both shoulders at the same time. More effective and it saves me time? Sign me up.
Useless Exercise: Dumbbell Triceps Kickback. I see these all the time. There are a couple of huge problems with this exercise. First, the range of motion is way too small. To make a muscle grow, you want to use a full range of motion. This exercise lets you use half at best. The second problem is the fact that you can’t load it even a little heavy because your shoulder will get tired before your triceps do. To do this exercise, you basically need to hold the top position of a dumbbell row. Your shoulder and upper back will get tired long before your triceps do.
What to Do Instead: Cable Triceps Kickbacks. If you really love the idea of the kickback, then this is a much better option. First, the cable gives resistance through a full range of motion. Second, since the weight is being pulled forward, you can just use your other arm to support your body weight passively. This frees up the working side to focus on just the triceps.
If you were doing any of the three from above, you’ve now got something to replace each of them with. All of these will hit the muscles you’re actually after. You’ve only got so much time in a day. It’s important to spend it doing the things that will get you the results you’re after.
