New Years Resolution Mistakes

Happy Holidays! Now that we all have had our fill of eggnog and fruitcake, it’s time for: New Years Resolutions! Which brings me to my next blog post. As a former personal trainer, I cannot help but observe my fellow exercisers mistakes at the East Hills Health Club and Michigan Athletic Club. I do refrain from giving my advice when it is not asked, but there is no reason I shouldn’t post my observations for your benefit. I would also like to add that the personal trainers there are top notch, and I have never witnessed trainers employing any improper techniques at either gym. This is by no means a scientific review of existing literature, but rather a personal observation from someone who has worked in 5 different gyms and health clubs, and has frequented dozens more as a customer. Here are some of the most common mistakes:

1. Working out on the Stairmaster or Elliptical machine while leaning your weight on the side bars. I fully realize that leaning like this makes it easier, but it certainly does not make it better. It would be better to use your “core” muscles by supporting your own body. If you can’t do this, maybe you should switch to a seated stationary bike or recumbent bike. 2. Performing abdominal crunches by the hundreds, but not doing any low back (erector spinae) exercises. Consider anything around your mid section as core. This includes rectus abdominus, transverse abdominus, obliques, quadratus lumborum, and erector spinae,. Personally, I feel that gluteal and hip musculature should also be considered as core. I also think that if you need to do more than 40 reps of any exercise to get a good workout, you need to switch to a more difficult exercise.

3. Performing the “lat pull down“ behind the head. Yes I know that sometimes that is what the picture says on the machine shows. What happens is that the exercise becomes more a biceps and shoulders movement, and not the “lats” or latissmus dorsi. If you pull the bar down to your chin rather than the back of your neck, you will get a much stronger latissmus contraction. Also avoid bring it down past your shoulder level, as again this recruits entirely different muscles. 4. Squatting on the Smith Machine. It may seem like a safer alternative to free weights, but the Smith Machine travels along a fixed straight line, whereas the natural path for a squat is more of an arch. There is also a natural benefit to free weights, as you need to recruit more muscles to balance and stabilize the weight. It also mimics normal lifting movement patterns, thus enhancing “muscle memory” and reinforcing good lifting form outside of the gym.

So now that you are better informed- have at it! And please try to persist past the second week of January.