11 Gym Exercises Most People Are Doing Wrong

You pay the gym membership and walk in, confident as hell. And when the receptionist asks you if you know how to operate the machines, you proudly say “of course”. Seconds later, oh-oh, you realize you could use some help, but you're too shy to ask for it. Sounds familiar? In that case, listen up:

doing

certain

exercises

wrong

is not only useless, it can even injure you! 1. Squats Done correctly, squats are a perfect exercise that works your entire lower body, strengthens your legs, and helps with posture. The

most

common mistakes when

doing

squats are: rounding your back, going only halfway down, standing on your toes, and bending your knees.

To avoid all of this, try to practice proper form. Keep your back in a neutral position, with your shoulders back, chest up, and feet shoulder-width apart, turned 45°. As you lower down, work your core and gluteal muscles, keeping your weight on your heels as if you were sitting in a chair. Keep your arms straight and in front of your stomach. When you do it right, your knees will push out and your back will stay straight. If you want to add weights to it, use the lighter ones first and increase as you gain strength. 2. Leg Press The leg press sounds like a fairly simple machine that works your glutes and thighs, but if you're using it

wrong

, it won't do you any good.

Avoid going too deep with your knees early on, as this can injure your lower back. It is important to keep your legs bent at 90 degrees and not lock your knees as you straighten them. Many

people

ignore the position of their heels and let them slide off the edge of the platform; Don't make this mistake and keep them on the sled for balance and avoid unnecessary pressure on the knees. Also, only carry a weight that you can work with; you will not benefit from superficial repetitions. 3. Front and Side Shoulder Raises The

most

common mistake with shoulder raises is believing that the higher you go with the weights, the more effective the exercise will be.

It's wrong, and you risk straining your muscles if you do it. Instead, raise the dumbbells to shoulder height, keeping your arms slightly forward. This way you won't pull your shoulder blades back. Your little finger should be slightly higher than the others during the exercise. As for the feet, they should be at shoulder height with the knees slightly bent. 4. Treadmill Cardio is an important part of any fitness routine, and treadmill training is a perfect way to do it. When you're on the treadmill, avoid the temptation to hold on to the handrails (I've been there, done that)—it makes running easier and therefore less effective, and it can throw off your posture as you lean over the treadmill. machine.

If you can't run without holding on, try slowing down or slowing down the incline level. Speaking of which, don't set it above 8% to save your back, hips, and ankles from undeserved stress. And never, ever jump off a machine that is still moving! This may sound funny and obvious, but it is one of the most widespread causes of gym injuries. 5. Abdominal crunches Anyone who wants to tone their belly practices crunches. If you're one of those

people

, but you're not seeing any results in your abdominal muscles, you may be doing crunches the wrong way. Don't tuck your chin into your chest like many people do; this strains the neck.

And stay closer to the floor, about 3 inches off the mat should be fine. Take your time – going slower will help you do the exercise correctly and work your core to the max. Ten real crunches are better for your body than 100 not-so-good attempts. 6. Triceps Dips (Hmm. Does that look like French onion dip? Sadly, no.) Tricep dips won't give you the shoulder injury many people fear if you do them the right way. Keep your torso and butt close to the bench, step, or chair you are exercising on. This way you won't stretch your shoulders too much. It's okay to bend your knees a bit if you can't do it with your legs straight, but don't try to make things easier by walking away from the base.

Go down, bending the elbow, and come back up, contracting the triceps so they work more. 7. Rowing Both open water rowing and rowing machine are excellent calorie burners, which affects every muscle in the body. Correct technique is the key to success with this exercise. When you row with your arms only, you put too much pressure on your upper body and can hurt your back and shoulders. Try to split your efforts into a ratio of 60% legs and the remaining 40% core and arms. This mental division of the pressure on your body parts should help you stay engaged. Sit tall on the paddle, avoid slouching.

Don't choose speed over power: make long, controlled rows. Do not forget to synchronize your rhythm with your breathing, it is important for any rhythmic activity. Breathe out through your mouth as you back up and in through your nose as you restart. Don't ignore the damper lever on the side of the machine – experiment with it to find the most comfortable level for you. 8. Push-ups Overextending your elbows, moving with your hips instead of your entire body, rounding your back and neck, and only going down halfway are the most common mistakes people make when doing push-ups. Are you guilty of any of those?

Am. To avoid them in the future, try to keep your back straight and let your arms do all the work of moving. Keep your hands parallel to your chest on the floor. Your head should be in a neutral position and your movements should be slow and controlled. When your chest reaches the surface, push up until your arms lock out. 9. Bicep Curl, Dumbbells, and Barbell What's the best way to tone your arms? Most people would say bicep curls. However, they won't do you much good if you bend your wrists up while exercising, drop the weights too quickly, or swing them up, engaging your shoulders and back.

To give your biceps a proper workout, imagine there's a rope running from your shoulder to the weight you're lifting. That rope should help you move the weight from your hand to your shoulder, and your biceps will tighten at the top of that movement. It's okay to keep your wrists straight or a little loose; it is only important that you do not work and injure your wrist joint. 10. Cable Triceps Extensions As you extend your arms behind your neck, you're giving your triceps a major workout. You can do it with an EZ bar attachment or with a rope, but in either case, be sure to lock your elbows against your ribs.

They shouldn't be going back and forth with the weights. Try not to stand too straight during this exercise; instead, lean forward slightly to give your body full range of motion and full extension. 11. Pull-ups/pull-ups Probably the biggest surprise on the list (pull-ups and pull-ups) are the

exercises

that most people do wrong, just because they think there's no way to mess them up. In fact, if you're rocking your body as you move up and down, don't brace your core and legs, and let yourself fall; in fact, you are doing it wrong. Your range of motion is also important, so you want to make sure you're going high and low enough.

A good starting position is a standstill with your arms fully extended. You can keep them shoulder-width apart for pull-ups, and pull-ups need a narrower grip. You start with the retraction of the shoulder blades. Then pull hard, contracting your biceps, back muscles, and elbows. If you're doing pull-ups, keep your chin on the bar. For pull-ups, try to do it as high as you can. To become a pro, you can start practicing on a lat machine. At first, when it gets too much to handle, try jumping into a chin-up or push-up, and hold the position for as long as you can, then slowly lower yourself.

Were you doing any of these exercises wrong? Let me know below in the comments! If you learned something new today, please like this video and share it with a friend. But hey! – Don't go to lunch with a dumbbell yet! We have over 2,000 great videos for you to watch. All you have to do is choose the left or right video, click on it and enjoy! Stay on the positive side of life!