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The most dangerous exercises?


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Has to be with dumbbells. It does feel much more natural.

 

Ohhh ok, now I can picture it. I was thinking it was a barbell exercise, which made no sense to me. Interesting, I'll have to try it sometime.

 

Why is this? I think it's a ridiculous thing to do either way, but just curious.

 

Your knee is a hinge joint (like the elbow) - it extends and flexes in a single plane of motion. The ligaments inside the joint (ACL, PCL, MCL, LCL) protect against things like hyperextension, and valgus and varus forces (moving the lower leg side to side without the hip/femur moving).

 

In a regular squat, gravity is pulling the weight straight down. As you go through the range of motion, all the force is being transmitted through the knee joint in the same plane as its natural range of motion - gravity is pulling the hinge straight down, if you want to picture it that way.

 

Now picture a bosu ball squat. Your feet are no longer flat on the ground. In fact, your soles of your feet are pointing slightly inward (your feet are supinated). This meant the plane of motion of the "hinge" in the knee is no longer straight up and down - it's on an angle. However, gravity is still pulling the weight straight down to the floor. What this means is that the angle at which the downward force of the weight is applied to the knee is no longer in line with the plane of motion of the knee joint (weight is pulling straight down, knee is on an angle). That means there's an angular component to the forces the weight place on the knee joint. That angular force is not counteracted by any muscle in the body - all the leg muscles do is move the knee in that one plane of motion. The angular force is only counteracted by producing tension in the 4 ligaments I mentioned (especially the MCL in this case). So the heavier the weight, the more force placed on these tiny ligaments instead of your big muscles and the big ligaments attached to them.

 

Even worse is that, while you're on a bosu ball, you're constantly wiggling ffrom side to side as you try to keep your balance. Every time you wiggle back and forth, you're generating more forces on the internal knee ligaments, and bouncing the force back and forth between them as the angle is constantly shifting.

 

The most common cause of knee ligament injury is angular force applied to the knee, like when you suddenly change direction while running (which is why football players always tear ACLs). A bosu ball squat causes nonstop, shifting strain on these same knee ligaments. Squats, like running in a straight line, keep the forces on the muscles and thick ligaments/tendons of the knee, while bosu ball squats, like football maneuvers, put the force on the tiny, damageable ones.

 

Sorry for the overkill explanation - hopefully this will convince everyone on this forum to stay away from this incredibly dangerous exercise!!

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Yeah you really see a lot of people that totally ignore or dont know anything about the correct form when doing different workouts.

I see a lot of people doing weird stuff like rotating your arms with dumbells and stuff too, a lot of girls do that for some reason! I mean thats really not good for the rotatorcuff.

In a lot of exercises (like military press for example) its also very important to keep ur abs flexed so you dont kill ur discs in the back..

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I see a lot of people doing weird stuff like rotating your arms with dumbells and stuff too, a lot of girls do that for some reason! I mean thats really not good for the rotatorcuff.

 

Do you mean like Arnold Presses? Or like swinging your arm in a windmill fashion?

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I see a lot of people doing weird stuff like rotating your arms with dumbells and stuff too, a lot of girls do that for some reason! I mean thats really not good for the rotatorcuff.

 

Do you mean like Arnold Presses? Or like swinging your arm in a windmill fashion?

 

Oh jeez, now I'm imagining a whole bunch of girls windmilling their arms with tiny dumbbells!

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We are on the same page. That is my definition of a flexed spine as well. Just wanted to make certain because I have seen people define a flexed spine in other ways that made little sense. LOL.

 

The above is true for squatting with correct form, which I guess is what medman meant.

 

Squatting with bad form, ie a flexed spine, is a different story and might well lead to slipped discs and pinched nerves.

 

Yeah, I was talking about proper form.

 

Bronco, what is your definition of a flexed spine....just so I have a clear picture in my head and we are on the same page.

 

To flex the spine means to bend it forward, i.e. rounding/arching your back (picture an angry cat). Doing so puts lots of pressure on the front part of the intervertebral discs, which can cause a disc herniation. Disc herniations (aka slipped discs) often cause nerve impingements.

 

If you know what a "bad" deadlift looks like, THAT is a flexed spine, also known as an injury waiting to happen .

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Actually, some of those things aren't bad at all for the rotator cuff and can be useful for strengthening that area and rehabbing injuries.

 

At the 1 minute mark, he's doing a movement that's had a great reputation for working to help the rotator cuff. If you've opened up a handful of bodybuilding magazines over the years, you'll inevitably have come across a product called the Shoulder Horn, which puts you in the position to do such a movement for those with weak or injured rotator cuffs. It's got a great reputation for rehabbing injuries, so even though some of the exercises will look a bit funny, some of them may actually be useful. That is SO LONG AS people do them properly with good form, never too much weight, and safely (NOT flailing about wildly with DBs that are heavier than needed). That kind of stuff is not the sort of lifting that should be dictated by the ego, if you know what I mean. That is, unless you want to render your shoulders useless in due time

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Geez.........not all girls lift "tiny"dumbells.....whatever. On a more serious note if Arnold's are done with proper form, what is the risk?

 

I thought you all lifted tiny pink plastic dumbells?

 

Ha, I am kidding! My wife lifts as well and she uses the real iron. She used to be my training partner.

Our daughter no longer makes that possible.

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Hi VeganEssentials!

 

I talked to my Ortho specialist who also is the sports medical doctor for some of the Philly college football teams. He is known as one of the best local Orthopedic surgeons and he was the guy who told me to not do any sort of shoulder press unless I want to destroy my shoulder. Not sure what to think. I have been lifting for over 20 years and have done plenty of shoulder presses in my life.

 

Actually, some of those things aren't bad at all for the rotator cuff and can be useful for strengthening that area and rehabbing injuries.

 

At the 1 minute mark, he's doing a movement that's had a great reputation for working to help the rotator cuff. If you've opened up a handful of bodybuilding magazines over the years, you'll inevitably have come across a product called the Shoulder Horn, which puts you in the position to do such a movement for those with weak or injured rotator cuffs. It's got a great reputation for rehabbing injuries, so even though some of the exercises will look a bit funny, some of them may actually be useful. That is SO LONG AS people do them properly with good form, never too much weight, and safely (NOT flailing about wildly with DBs that are heavier than needed). That kind of stuff is not the sort of lifting that should be dictated by the ego, if you know what I mean. That is, unless you want to render your shoulders useless in due time

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Hi VeganEssentials!

 

I talked to my Ortho specialist who also is the sports medical doctor for some of the Philly college football teams. He is known as one of the best local Orthopedic surgeons and he was the guy who told me to not do any sort of shoulder press unless I want to destroy my shoulder. Not sure what to think. I have been lifting for over 20 years and have done plenty of shoulder presses in my life.

 

Unfortunately, your ortho will find lots of people who would strongly disagree, but as I've found, medical professionals often can be stubborn about accepting anything beyond what they seem to have already concluded.

 

Lots of people do overhead pressing and never have a problem, so long as it's done properly. To ask, did he have any opinions on benching? Considering the propensity for benching to be a major injury-maker (particularly due to poor rotator cuff strength) in people who have bad form or let their ego drive their workouts I'd think he'd have a much stronger opinion about that than overhead pressing. You might want to ask him to dig up information on those who do lots of overhead work such as olympic lifters, and check and see how much he can find about shoulder injuries being their major reason for retirement

 

You're only as strong as your weakest link. If someone tends to get injuries from overhead pressing and can't seem to rehab properly, perhaps they weren't meant for it, but I think your ortho has some homework to do regarding his perception on overhead pressing being so unsafe. Perhaps his work with football players and their propensity for frequent non-essential benching (why the combine testing still requires athletes to do max reps for bench pressing as a display of "football strength" is beyond me...), but I think that if you were to investigate, you'll find many, many other people who are extremely qualified who will state the opposite of what your ortho has for his opinion. There's a big difference between doing a few sets of overhead pressing with good form and reasonable weight and trying to push press 2x bodyweight when you're not physically ready for it - one thing many medical professionals do is base their entire outlook on a few cases. Why do you think there are still plenty of physicians who will gladly tell you that if you go vegan, you'll get deficiencies, wither away and die painfully? Just because there may be a full alphabet's worth of letters and periods after a professional's name unfortunately doesn't mean they always know what they're talking about.

 

But, only you know your body. If overhead work gives pain or discomfort, something isn't right. If it feels good, you feel better for training it, and do not get any injuries, then I fail to see why anyone would claim it's a bad thing!

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Geez.........not all girls lift "tiny"dumbells.....whatever. On a more serious note if Arnold's are done with proper form, what is the risk?

 

I thought you all lifted tiny pink plastic dumbells?

 

Ha, I am kidding! My wife lifts as well and she uses the real iron. She used to be my training partner.

Our daughter no longer makes that possible.

 

 

Barb, I'm a girl and I lift reasonably heavy weights. I just thought the description of that exercise sounded a bit silly, so I was laughing about it.

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  • 4 weeks later...

i think any machine is bad. they may be safer than free weights while using them, but they do too much of the stabilizing for the lifter, so the lifter is not going to have the benefits in real life application. i wish i could remember where this conversation came from...

 

Q. can you get a good workout using a leg extension machine?

 

A. sure, if you attach a chain to it and drag it around the parking lot for 45 minutes.

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concerning overhead pressing - i just recently read an article by bill starr lamenting the overhead press being abandoned for the bench press. http://startingstrength.com/articles/stronger_press_starr.pdf

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as others have stated, any lift can be dangerous. someone who tries a lift without knowledge of how the lift should be performed, is risking injury. so too are people who don't warm up, try to lift too much, etc.

________________

 

even my favorite lift, the 12oz. hoist, has it's dangers.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 4 weeks later...
Dangerous exercises?¿

How about chest press suspended on the Tx bands..or whatever they are called!

Thats how i ripped my pec muscle off the bone...6 weeks without training and it's STILL killing me

Ckeck it out

 

Could you explain to me what i'm looking at and what I'm suppose to see?

 

Hope things get better and better!

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Dangerous exercises?¿

How about chest press suspended on the Tx bands..or whatever they are called!

Thats how i ripped my pec muscle off the bone...6 weeks without training and it's STILL killing me

Ckeck it out

 

Could you explain to me what i'm looking at and what I'm suppose to see?

 

Hope things get better and better!

Dunno really..doctor said I'd ripped the muscle off the bone...it hurt like hell and I still have some bruising

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