5 Exercises in the gym you should NOT! do

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/five_exercises_you_should_stop_doing_forever

Over at Gordo's endurancecorner.com he's set up "The Big Steel Challenge" for January.

Very simple concept - see how much steel you can lift in a month. Nothing like a little competition to get people to completely annihilate themselves!

The link above is a good one to read. Every time I'm in a public gym I see people doing things that are detrimental. Most of that comes from doing exercises that have historically been done by most gym rats. But we've learned a lot in the last 100 years!

I do love Swiss Ball twisting crunches as they are very effective and not harmful if you only minimally round your lumbar spine. That's not contradictory to what they say in the article, just clarifies it.

Varying your training is nice as its good to keep things fresh and stimulating, but in the gym its best to stick with the safe, proven exercises in sets and rep ranges that are within the norm.

Focus on good range of motion and continuous tension on the muscles you're intending to work and you'll make good progress with minimal setbacks.

Keep the fluff time to a minimum by keeping your work rate high.

And remember that muscle = metabolism. Very important concept. More on that some other time.

Cheers, Scott

http://www.scottmolina.com