Exercises to avoid

QuietIrish · #1 05-01-2007, 06:55 AM

I'm fairly new to the sport. I've been following the 13 Weeks to burning fat diet/workout for about 4 weeks now with great results. Today was one of my first times that I ran into the dreaded unwanted lecture on how I should be working out.

I was doing flat barbell bench supersetted with behind the neck pulldowns as described in 13 Weeks the workout, when I noticed one of the employees (who was off work and doing his own routine) watching me do my behind the neck pulldowns. As soon as I finished my set, he walked over to me and told me I shouldn't be doing that exercise. He said something about it pinching the nerves in my spine, and that doing front pulldowns is a much better exercise. Now I hadn't ever researched in depth the mechanics of pulldowns in different positions, but I always feel front pulldowns more in my lats and behind the neck more in my upper back. I explained that to him and we both went back to our routines.

Unsatisfied, the guy went to get one of the personal trainers, and I could see him watching me from the side when I got to my next set of pulldowns. When I finished, he walked over to me and said I could more effectively hit my lats by doing front pulldowns. I thought to myself, "don't people know there are other muscles in the back besides lats?" I felt stupid because I didn't know the name of the muscle that I was feeling being hit in the upper back (teres major), but I said the same thing to this guy that I said to the other guy. He said that if anything, it was actually hurting my upper back muscles more than helping them and that I was going to mess up my rotator cuff. I had to thank him for the advice since I really didn't know too much about the exercise, but I finished my sets as I started them.

I've felt that knowledge of what you're doing to your body is one of the marks of a good bodybuilder, so as soon as I finished my PWO meal, I decided to research behind the neck pulldowns. I was surprised to see how many mixed views there are on this exercise. Many people say to avoid it (even on this forum), yet it is included in many of the workouts on this site. This got me thinking about what other exercises people claim you should avoid. I started looking around the web and found this article on bb.com:

Five Exercises you MUST Avoid

I was disappointed to see that upright rows are considered dangerous since I love the rows/military press superset described in 13 Weeks the workout.

Personally I have decided to continue behind the neck pulldowns since I love the pump I get in my teres major, but I am going to be more careful when doing them from now on, and I'll never go below the ears. What does everyone else think about this and the other "dangerous" exercises?

diatribe · #2 05-01-2007, 07:23 AM

Wow! Bummer, I love rows. Perhaps I should lay off them. I wonder what the mods think???

klosey · #3 05-01-2007, 07:32 AM

rows are a good delt exercise if you use the delts to pull up to the bottom of chest and not above like that exercise picture shows

behind neck pull down again i get no problems if i stop behind head and not touching back of neck like the picture shows

behind neck press i stop behind head same as front press about eye level any lowel pushes the joints

with little changes these exercises are safe and very effective

Xyphos · #4 05-01-2007, 07:50 AM

My chiropractor (who practices ART as well) told me the same thing. That front rows were bad for you as I came to him with shoulder problems and told him that I was an avid user of front rows. I have since stopped doing them and my shoulders are starting to feel better. Also, when I first tried behind the back lat pull downs it was very painful and don't do them anymore.

Growth In Motion · #5 05-01-2007, 10:43 AM

Doesnt concern me, i dont do any of them anyway lol

The only time theres a barbell behind my neck is when im squattin my a$$ off! Hell yea!

badblood909 · #6 05-01-2007, 11:02 AM

Upright rows are one of my favorite exercises [img]/forum/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

IIRC, it's ok to do them with a wider grip.

Dzoni · #7 05-01-2007, 11:31 AM

Behind the neck pulldowns should be done no lower then your ear level. That is to avoid injury, if you do it right, they are as good as front pulldowns.

Grizzly · #8 05-01-2007, 11:39 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Behind the neck pulldowns should be done no lower then your ear level. That is to avoid injury, if you do it right, they are as good as front pulldowns.

[/ QUOTE ]

I've also read that you shouldn't lean your head forward to make room for the bar, same thing with behind the neck shoulder presses. The pics on that site show the person leaning foward as the bar comes down.

And as for the upright rows, as another poster mentioned, I've read that as long as your grip is wide, it reduces the chance of any pinching in the rotator cuff.

richnewton · #9 05-01-2007, 01:14 PM

I don't do either of these lifts. I also don't do behind the head military press and I see a lot of people doing that one.

Vamoose · #10 05-01-2007, 01:22 PM

upright right rows should be done with a wide grip. you should pull the bar-bell up towards your chest to the point that your elbows are at a right angle. beyond that all you're doing is a crappy trap lift.

if you experience any problems substitute for hang cleans or high pulls. different exercises because of the explosive nature of the lifts, but recruit similar muscle patterns.