Exercise mistakes are common, correct them before you injure yourself!

Sixty percent of people who initiate an exercise program wind up injuring themselves in the first month, and if you are hurt you will never reach your fitness goals. Most people who start an exercise program either want to burn fat or build lean muscle mass. So how do we work smarter and safer to achieve our fitness goals.

First and foremost is proper form, if your form is not correct, you need to reduce the amount of weight you are using and/or slow down. Proper form is too important to ignore, weather it is a workout for the shoulder or exercises for the back . If you can not maintain proper form then you are trying to do too much and it will result in not achieving your goals. Correct form is key when doing any exercise. If you want to get the most out of your workouts, you have to use correct form. There is a right way to exercise and a wrong way to exercise, and this applies to each and every exercise you perform. Lack of proper form is the number-one cause of injuries. Most of the time, when a person tries mimic someone in the gym, the person they are looking too as a model saw someone else do the exercise and they are doing it wrong as well.

Next lets review sets and repetition. If you are trying to gain muscle or get stronger,you want to do low reps and higher sets. You put on a heavier weight and do 6-8 reps per set, with proper form, for 4-5 sets. On the other hand, if you are just trying to build endurance and lean out, then you should typically do 15-20 reps per set for 2-3 sets. If your goals are some were in-between then these two can be blended to archive your own personal goals.

Exercise Mistakes:

Lat pulldown, pulling bar behind neck can cause serious injury to the shoulder. The correct way is pulling bar down in front of you while squeezing your back muscles.

Push-ups, you should never have a dip or arch in your back or lock your arms. The correct way is Arms should be underneath you and not locked, back parallel to the floor, and engage your core muscles the entire time.

Walking lunges, when performing a lunge, do not extend the front knee past the front foot this will cause injury at some point. The correct way is when you are in a split stance, go straight down and do not let your front knee go past your foot.

Leg press, your knees should not be by your ears; that is not a position your knees are used to being in, especially under heavy weight. The correct way is to keep 80 percent of the weight in your heels; press out and go a little past 90 degrees.

Abs crunches, pulling the head up as you’re doing a crunch. The correct way is relax your head and bring your shoulders off the ground, engaging your abs and rotating your hips to the ground.

Squats, knees coming forward over your toes is not correct. The correct way to perform this exercise is as if you were sitting back on a chair and putting 80 percent of your weight on your heels. Then lean slightly forward so you won’t fall back.

Chest press, lifting the weight using your back (high arch). The correct way is keep your back flat and relax your shoulders while lifting the weight.

Cardio is something that lots of people do wrong. You should not do an hour of straight cardio unless you compete in endurance events such as marathons. I recommend high-intensity training short sets repeated often. An example of this would be a 30-second sprint or quick walk followed by a 60-second jog, then another 30-second sprint, repeat that cycle about 10-12 times. This form of interval training will get improved results in less time.

Frequency can be another problem the body needs to rest and rebuild it is better to train 2 to 3 days with a day or two in between for the body to recover. This will help you avoid repetitive injuries and alow for balance in your life.

Movements to Avoid When Exercising:

1. Using jerking motions, especially when lifting. Speed is fine when done appropriately, but you should always have fluid motion and proper form when performing any and all exercises; otherwise you could strain or even tear something.

2. Using body parts not required for the exercise. Have you ever seen people doing biceps curls and rounding their shoulders or arching their backs? Those are just two of the big no-no’s that can lead to injury.

3. Locking out your knees or elbows. Never lock your joints when working out; keep them slightly bent so the weight will not be transferred to the joints.

4. Arching your back. Picture someone on the barbel bench press, lifting a weight that is actually too heavy for them. Chances are that eventually, they will start arching their back. Sooner than later, that back is going to give out and they won’t be able to exercise for days, weeks or even longer.

Lets start out those new Year exercise programs right and have a long healthy year.

By: Paul R. Mahler Jr. DC

Mahler Family Chiropractic Center

1144 wyoming Ave.

Kingston, PA. 18704

http://mahler-chiropractic.com

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We can treat sports injuries including shoulder pain, rotator cuff, ankle pain, foot pain, knee pain, and much more.