10 Most Ineffective Exercises

[Mom2Seany]

thanks for all the info. i have been doing the vertical leg crunch, the bicycle maneuver and normal ab crunches along with the side bend.

[tobetheman]

For a second I thought it had said bent over rows, which are okay as far as I know and pretty effective too. I have done upright rows and that is a really dumb exercise for most people. I could only this this helping professional bodybuilders at most, but even then I can't imagine they would use it, cause they are pretty well informed. Any one had any problems with some other common lifts over the years?

[Kontessa]

I am new to working out and do not know what to call things. I just did my first PUSH work out and they had an ab work out (I think LOL) and Lay flat on the floor with a hand weight on your chest. Legs flat and stay flat. Sit up and lift the weight up into the air and over your head and stretch up.

Is this the flat sit up that is a no-no? (And by the way I can not do without a jerking movement I worry is more in my back then abs.)

Help Please!

[UWPiPhiAngel]

I've been doing side bends and the thigh machines... guess I better stop! But one thing I don't understand is don't you have to burn off the fat/love handles before your waist starts getting bigger due to muscle gain?

[ennay]

ok, on the adductor/abductor thing

Are they going to help you lose weight? No, they are very small very strong muscles being worked out.

However they are not "useless", many people have groin or knee instabilities because of weak adductors.

If you like to play any type of sport, these machines can help you not get injured. And not getting injured is VERY important to weight loss.

[ennay]

Originally Posted by Stevi-rocks

I'm gonna second the confusion of "Two pounds per week". Does that mean the weeks I have zero loss then the following week see a 5lb loss, its muscle? My loss is a total roller coaster ride. There is no consistentcy week to week.

No - erratic weight loss is due to changes in water weight. Most people have erratic weight loss, you have to look at the AVERAGE weight loss.

It is not unusual for the body to hoard water while you are losing weight --after all, it assumes you are going to gain it back soon and it might need that water to process the excess calories you will be taking in. After awhile it decides to let it go and fwooosh...5 lbs. I typically lose in a pattern like 0, 0, -1 +1 , -4, +1, -1, 0 0 -4....

As for the 2 lb max statement - thats a pretty broad generalization and dependent on many factors including how much excess weight you have, etc.

[Mami]

Hellcatjill, that is exactly my view. I agree with all the other points, though I have been doing the upright row on occasion and will now stop (who wants large traps anyway as a women?!), except that I also had very noticeable results from the adductor machine (never noticed much from the abductor though). My thighs were also bigger but it was obviously muscle. Mind you, I did not do 20 to 30 reps, rather I do a max of 15.

[Lisa36]

What are these 2 exercises....I've never heard of them. (tells you how much time I spend in a gym

. Bicycle maneuver
2. Captain’s chair

[AnAbsoluteDiva]

I disagree on 1, 2, 4, and 10.

Training the abductors does yield fabulous results (dimple on the outer part of the leg the way dancers have) and training the adductors (inner thigh) keeps it in balance. (You have to train opposites such as hamstrings and quads, chest and back, biceps and triceps, to achieve balance and reduce injury.) So I think he is off on the abductor/adductor thing. Ask a hockey player or figure skater if abductor/adductor muscles don't need training.

Range of motion is adjusted at the seat. The more you progress in your flexibility training, the more you can adjust the seat to have greater range of motion.

No one has ever suggested that weight training was designed to SHRINK AN AREA. For God's sake, weight training is about developing a muscle under the skin so that when you SHRINK THE AREA WITH FAT LOSS, the muscle will appear.

Upright rows do not work the traps. They work the anterior deltoids and they slam. Look at Madonna's shoulders, or Angela Bassett's shoulders. You will become injured doing ANYTHING if your form is whacked. Even a bicep curl. And yes, even walking.

Cardio - as someone previously said, it's all about the fuel.

Don't believe everything you read without doing the research first.

[AnAbsoluteDiva]

Originally Posted by Mami

(who wants large traps anyway as a women?!),

The uprights don't work the traps but I had to tell you that that there is nothing more beautiful than a well-developed back on a woman. To see the traps, the lats, and the rhomboids chiseled out is amazing! And you won't get big because you can't get big. Unless you're mixing testosterone in your tea.

[idahotater]

1. Adductor Machine -- The adductor machine is the exercise unit that you sit in while placing the inner part of your legs against a pad. You then push the legs toward each other, with the goal of reducing your inner thighs. Maybe you perform 20, 30 or even more reps to affect the area. This exercise will not reduce your inner thighs. You’d need enough resistance to create an impact on the muscle, so more than 15 reps aren’t going to accomplish anything. More importantly, it’s not the best range or plane of motion (direction) to affect the inner thigh.

2. Abductor Machine -- The abductor machine is the opposite of the adductor. In this case, you sit in the machine and place the outer part of your legs against a pad. You then push your legs away from each other, in the hopes of reducing your outer thigh area. Pushing the legs outward accomplishes very little for the outer thigh. Again, the plane of motion is ineffective. You say you can feel this machine? I can also feel my chest muscles if I perform a dumbbell press very slowly with a pair of five pound dumbbells, but that doesn’t mean it’s accomplishing my goal. There’s more to the puzzle than just feeling it.

Well, darn. If there's time for nothing else I always made time for these two before I left the gym. Ah well.

[samanthaf63]

Very interesting. I once spent 6 weeks working out faithfully at Women's Workout World and at the end of it, they measured me - half inch here, half inch there - and 2 inches off the waist, which I wasn't even bothering about. Argh!!!!

[houseelf]

Great list, Meg! My lower abs are very resistant so maybe if I mix it up a bit it will help. Of course, I realize losing excess weight will also help! I can feel muscles under there, they just have a nice soft cover over them right now.

[Diva]

Okay, my question is this. When we ly on our side on the floor and do the leg lift's for both the inner and outter theighs, are we waisting out time there too? Just about every exercise DVD I have, we do this at the end of the cardio in addition to crunches and stuff. I'm confused now.

As for Curves, I remember they had machines for everyone of then No-no's on the list. I never felt like I got a good enough work out @ Curves and ended up cancelling my membership. I guess I'm a cardio junkie. If I don't get a good sweat, a nice heart rate and become winded (in a good way) I am so not satisfied. I try to get at least 30 minutes to an hour or so of cardio at least 3 to 4 day's a week, more if I can.

[handkl]

Thanks for this great info.