5 Useless Workouts You Need To Stop Doing

Wondering why you’re still not reaching your fitness goals? Sometimes, it’s not how much time you spend exercising but how you’re working out that’s the problem. Here are common workouts that might just be doing you more harm than good. How many of them are you guilty of?

1. Spending Too Much Time On Cardio

Although doing cardio is great for elevating your heart rate, and burning some calories, it’s not a balanced exercise routine, because it doesn’t promote muscle strength and density. To have that you must indulge in equal amount of strength training. It’s preferable to spend 20 mins on the treadmill or cycling and then moving on to some weights for the rest of your time. (IF you’re trying to bulk up, avoid cardio like you would, a sweating bench.)

Interesting: Weight training not only makes you stronger but also stimulates muscle growth, which in turn increases your metabolism and weight loss.

2. Indulging in Static Stretching

Static stretching; lengthening of a muscle and holding that position for 30 seconds or more — before a workout actually decreases muscle strength. The whole purpose of static stretching is to improve flexibility and cool your body down, and so, is effective after your workout.

To avoid injuries, you should be doing dynamic stretching instead.

3. Seated Hip Abductor Machines

The gyms are full of weight machines that are very convenient to use but especially when it comes to your upper legs, targeting one muscle such as the hamstrings or the quads is misguided and an ineffective method. Skip that long line to the machine and work on lateral lunges or lateral step-ups instead.

Interesting: Lunges strengthen the hip and knee extensors, inner-thigh muscles, muscles that stabilize your pelvis and spine, and saves you from paying gyms a whole lot of money to use their machines.

4. Seated Chest Fly machine

This machine is meant to work the chest and shoulders, unfortunately, it’s doing more harm than good. The position of the handles and the seat, strains the elbow and shoulder joints and chances are, you’re not flexible enough to complete the full range of motion, further hurting your muscles.

Instead of the machine, try some push-ups and tricep dips.

Interesting: Push-ups work out your whole body, engages your heart and gives you a cardio experience. Also, it gets rid of the” jiggle” by targeting the upper arms.

5. Weighted Side Bends

I realized that trainers at the gym love adding weighted side bends for you, as if to fill up a gap on the wall and it always made me wonder “Why?”. Well, the movement itself is supposed to be working on your oblique’s, to some extent, but the addition of the weights puts unnecessary strain on the spine and inevitably does nothing for your sides.

You can do woodchoppers with a dumbbell instead, or even the crisscross crunches.