By Sean Barker
Author
of The Dad Fitness System
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Old habits are hard to break.
But if you keep doing these 5 old school exercises you will
be breaking more than old habits.
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1. Leg Extensions
Unfortunately this exercise seems
to be the extent of most guys leg training. Probably because sitting
down and pumping out reps of quad extensions are a lot easier than
squatting down with hundreds of pounds on your back.
Despite the "burn" you may
feel from your upper thighs when performing this exercise, it is
not a very efficient leg exercise as it only isolates the muscles
above the knee. The only time this exercise has much benefit is
in a rehab setting where these muscles directly surrounding the
knee need to be developed for stability and strength. Otherwise
opt for any variation of the free-range squat.
2. Behind the Neck Pulldowns
This is another exercise that I still
see people doing in the gym. I cringe every time I see someone take
a wide grip on the angled ends of the pulldown bar and starting
pulling it down behind their neck. The angled ends of the bar are
an outdated design and are not where you should be gripping the
bar.
This puts your shoulders and rotator
cuffs in a very vulnerable position. Putting most of the stress
on the shoulders and limiting range of motion away from the back
muscles this exercise should be crossed off your list. Work on being
able to do bodyweight chin-ups instead or at least pulldowns to
the front.
3. Behind the Neck Shoulder Press
Similar to the behind the neck pulldown,
the behind the neck barbell shoulder press places your shoulder
in a delicate position. It is basically the same movement but by
adding additional weight to the bar and pushing up in the vertical
plan you are putting your rotator cuffs at an even greater risk
of injury.
With the extra weight you can pile
on the bar with this exercise, trying to even unrack the bar will
soon send your shoulders screaming in pain. Switch to the safer
option; the front barbell shoulder press.
4. Concentration Curls
Probably the most popular bicep exercise
for beginners wanting to "get the pump" and get Arnold-like
biceps. It's too bad a lot of experienced trainers still waste their
time on this exercise. No matter how many reps of concentration
curls you do, you won't get that bicep peak like the Terminator,
as muscle SHAPE is genetically determined.
Muscle SIZE on the other hand can
be increased through basic movements that allow a heavy weight while
use many muscles instead of isolating one smaller muscle. Standing
barbell or dumbbells curls are a better choice for bicep development,
but better again are close grip chin-ups, which put a lot of stress
on the upper arms while working many other muscles.
5. Crunches
If would be nice if all you had to
do to get that ripped six pack would be to lie on the floor and
pump out hundreds of reps of back breaking crunches. Despite what
the infomercials want you to believe, this is NOT true! You wouldn't
build your biceps by doing 100 reps with no weight, so why would
you think you would develop your abdominals by doing 100 crunches
or more? Your abdominals primary purpose is to actually stabilize
your spine and to keep your torso from twisting in half under times
of physical stress, not lift your neck off the floor.
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Overall, the best
exercises for your abs are exercises that allow your body
to use your core the way it was meant to be used: for stability
and support. Bodyweight planks, and compound exercises like
squats and overhead presses will work your abs better than
any crunch will ever do. Combined with a clean diet you might
just see those abs looking back at you in the mirror.
OK
quiz time. Do you see a trend with these 5 exercises?
They all involve
sitting down, (which we are all experts at already) and they
work only a small section of muscle, allowing you to pump
out endless reps without much effort.
For you busy guys
who want to get the most out of your workouts, stop wasting
your valuable time on these old school exercises that break
your body down instead of building it up.
Get
your FREE report "The Truth On Fat Loss, How To Finally
Lose That Beer Belly" from Sean Barker by
clicking here.
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CLICK HERE to learn more about Sean's
book "Dad Fitness". You can also
read our review of the book by clicking
here.
About
The Author
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Sean Barker is a nationally
certified personal trainer. C.P.T., a worldwide award winning
bodybuilding competitor and most importantly, a proud dad.
He has been involved in the health and fitness industry for
over 15 years and have appeared in High Performance Muscle
Magazine, been on health and fitness radio shows and was selected
as a sponsored athlete by one of the top supplement nutrition
companies in the world. He is affiliated with the top trainers
in the industry and has provided fitness consulting to numerous
people over the years helping them get real-world results
in the shortest amount of time.
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