Wasting Away at the Gym!

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If you’re gonna invest your time and money at the gym, it’s best that you spend them wisely. Unfortunately, I see abuses of time and exercises day in and day out at the gym. So, without further ado, here they are….

#10 USING MACHINES: I cannot think of one benefit to using machines over free weights other than an individual’s inability to use free weights due to injury or age. The guided movement of a machine doesn’t allow for the full recruitment of musculature that free weights do because artificial stabilization is already built in. Machines isolate body parts which isn’t functional for athletes or your average Joe. Plus, the fixed position of a machine allows for only a minimal increase in heart rate, which restricts your ability to raise metabolism and burn fat. Bottom line, people use machines because they’re convenient and easy and this isn’t what gets results.

#9 LUMBAR FLEXION VS. HIP FLEXION: Your hips are designed for mobility while your lower back is designed for stability. In other words, you want movement in your hips and no movement in your trunk, yet if you watch most people in a gym, you’ll notice that they’ll cut their movement short on hip flexion and compensate by flexing at the back. This is bad for two significant reasons. First, this places stress on the lower back and, second, limited range of motion in the hips fails to recruit the major musculature surrounding the hips.

#8 RESTING TOO MUCH BETWEEN SETS: I recognize that some people join a gym for socializing, but the amount of rest some people take between sets is compromising their results.

Now, with athletes, prescribed recovery periods are often necessary so they can produce enough force to satisfy strength or power training objectives. That being said, I think that most people, athletes and general public alike, take such long rest periods between sets because they don’t want to get fatigued or be out of their comfort zone. This doesn’t translate to results. Ideally, you would train through that lactic acid burn and maintain an elevated heart rate to get the lean body muscle look that so many desire.

#7 KNEE PAST THE TOE: Watch the people in your gym perform lunges and squats. Now look closer and see if their knees go past their toes while descending. If so, they are setting themselves up for knee problems in the future as this type of movement places extra stress on the knee. The culprit, once again, is a lack of mobility or strength in the hips so the knee compensates and flexes more. The key on either a squat or lunge movement is to first push the hips back before flexing them down. This will initiate a better movement pattern and support the knee.

#6 CARDIO: A simple rule of thumb when entering a gym….take a look at what everyone else is doing and then do the opposite. Where are most of the people in your gym? In mine, they’re all over the PreCors and treadmills, often reading a magazine or carrying on delightful conversions as they “workout”. But, hey, they’re punching the clock and getting in their cardio time, so surely their bodies are going to change, right? I’ve already beaten the aerobic/anaerobic horse to death in previous posts, so I won’t rehash everything here other than to say those steady-state PreCor and treadmill activities are a terribly inefficient use of your gym time.

#5 STABILITY BALL POSITIONING: I’m not talking about crunches on the ball. I’m talking about other movements, like chest presses, where you’re laying on the ball. The mistake I see all the time is people positioning the ball in the middle of their backs so their head is off the ball and elevated. I see two very big problems with this. First, this places a strain on the neck that I never want my clients to experience. The head and neck are part of posture and should always be supported in a neutral position with the rest of the body. Also, the improper position I described above fails to tap into a lot of muscle that can be activated in a stability ball exercise. I position myself on the ball with my head and neck supported, which creates a longer, unsupported bridge. Because of this, core and leg muscles must fire to stabilize and maintain the bridge.

#4 SINGLE-JOINT EXERCISES: Popular examples include….isolated biceps curls, triceps extensions, leg extensions and leg curls. Why are these no good? Let me count thy ways. They recruit the least amount of muscle, which make for a poor use of gym time. Less muscle equals less metabolic activity which equals more fat. The biceps and triceps assist in bigger pulling and pushing movements, so why waste your time by isolating them? For example, take a look at the 2 videos below. Despite the convincing argument the audio makes for the greatness of curls, the biceps are activating as much or more in the second video while performing the pull-up. Plus, the lats of the back are also being recruited while the body is being stabilized through more movement, so the work output is so much greater.

Next, these single-joint movements aren’t functional. Your brain recognizes movement patterns, not isolated muscle groups, which are targeted in single-joint exercises. This is bad for the general population and suicide for an athlete. I’ll throw one more reason out there. Perform a set of leg extension and rest. Then, perform a set of squats. Both movements train the quadriceps but I’ll bet you a buck you feel very different at the completion of each activity. Single-joint movements are not hard work and barely nudge your heart rate. While, multiple-joint exercises require a lot of work output and create the anaerobic effect that leads to fat loss and lean muscle growth.

#3 ALL PRESSING MOVEMENTS: I’m talking to the guys. Most guys love the big chest and shoulders look, so they pound the bench presses, shoulder presses and incline presses. They follow this routine until their upper body resembles a banana shape when viewed from the side because their front-side muscles are so dominant and tight, while their back-side muscles are weak. Simple rule of thumb is to perform a pulling movement for every push movement. This will result in better posture and less chronic injuries.

#2 CARDIO FOR LEG TRAINING: I’m talking to the guys again. How many times have you heard a guy say, “I don’t lift my legs. I just do cardio,” like it’s some comparable substitute? Well, it’s not. Not even close. It’s something guys justify in their heads because they feel their legs working while they ride some worthless cardio machine for half an hour. Resistance training for the legs is harder but the benefits are much greater. You’re activating and building more muscle while strengthening the connective tissue that supports your joints. Cardio and resistance training are two very different animals, so don’t fool yourself into thinking otherwise.

#1 CHRONIC SCALE CHECKERS: Rome wasn’t built in a day and the same can be said for your body. Think about all the habits or lack of training that made you the way you are today. I love ambition but you can’t expect your body to change over night, but with CONSISTENT effort and appropriate training, your body will change for the better. It’s a matter of physiology. So, please don’t check the scale every day to see if you’ve dropped or added that pound. We know that weight can fluctuate anyway. In fact, resist checking the scale altogether. The variables that tell the story are body composition, the way your clothes fit, and how you feel throughout your day. Don’t let the scale determine your progress. In most cases, the body adapts and begins showing improvement in 4-8 weeks. That being said, I’ve had individuals, whose goal was the lean up, actually gain 3-4 pounds in the first month of resistance training because of an increase in muscle mass. But, in time this muscle mass contributed to greater metabolic activity and, by consistently sticking to the plan, they achieved the body they desired.

Now, I realize that I’ve probably either upset many of you or at least made you self conscious about your gym time. I’m hear to tell you that I haven’t always been above the fray. I put the time in at the gym in the past but often chose comfort over work and results, so don’t beat yourself up. Eventually, I took the time to educate myself on the most effective ways to workout. I stopped being stubborn and broke the ineffective patterns of my old routine. Hopefully, this information motivates you to do the same.

Your Coach,

Brian Utley

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