5 flawed exercise techniques that can lead to injuries

By Joe Frollo | Posted 12/1/2015

As the football season ends, athletes are moving to strength and conditioning routines in order to get ready for next fall. Hitting the weight room with buddies is great but only if you are doing things right.

Stack.com’s Kyle Arsenault offered five common exercise flaws that people fall into and can result in injuries.

  • Not finishing a push-up. Coming up short on a push-up adds unnatural stress through the shoulder joint, taking demand off the thoracic muscles. This can lead to overuse injuries and limit muscle gain. Instead, push hard through the movement until the upper back is filled out.
  • Leading hip extension with chest. Athletes who begin hip extensions – deadlift, squat, lunge – by first lifting their chests instead of pushing the hips forward overuses the erector muscles and can lead to hyperextension of the spine. It also lessens strength and the amount of weight that can be moved. Instead, focus on pushing the hips forward first, which will cause the chest to rise naturally.
  • Bad finish to hip extension. Many people finish hip extension by snapping or popping the hips through. This can stress the hamstrings and spinal erectors, creating muscle imbalance. Use the hips to go forward and finish instead of the knees and lower back.
  • Setting the scapula during upper-body pulling. Scapulas should move in concert with the arms during any kind of rowing or pulling movement. Otherwise, additional stress on the shoulder can lead to rotator cuff and labral issues. The scapula should lead the motion with the arm moving at the same time.
  • Setting the scapula during upper-body pushing. Similarly, let the scapula move freely with the arm with any pushing movements (bench press). There is a natural rhythm in movements between the scapula and arms. 

 

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