Fitness is like a relationship, you can’t cheat and expect it to work. Because it helps you become fit. But what is more important is that the technique you are following and the body postures shouldn’t be wrong. However, we tend to make mistakes, which instead of helping us in improving cardio vascular function, body movement and strength, cause harm to us. Here are some mistakes that you should avoid in your fitness routine to make it a healthy and effective one.
Letting your knees cave in
1. Also called valgus, this can cause knee injury due to stress on knees usually when you are doing weightlift exercises like squats. The knees must bend outwards to avoid stress. Also clench the side muscles of your hips to keep the knees from buckling under the weight.
2. Raising elbows too high on the bench press
Doing so puts stress on your shoulders and causes injury. It also makes the exercise harder as the bar has to travel a longer distance. It’s better to keep the elbows close to the chest to reduce some stress from shoulders and improve chest and triceps.
3. Taking small steps when lunging
This puts the knee ahead of the front foot putting pressure on the knee. Instead of doing so, you should take wider steps and push your heel into the ground to ensure your knee doesn’t move ahead of your heel.
4. Jogging on your heels
This tires you out easily. It also shakes your ankles, knees and hips, which over the time could develop into
shin splinters, knee pain and other leg injuries. It’s better to run on the balls of your feet to absorb the shock.
5. Bending the back while doing a deadlift
This puts pressure on your spine, which can damage nerves and spine discs. It also limits you from lifting more weight. You should maintain a straight back with a natural curve in the lower back. Also bring your shoulders down together and squeeze your abs.
6. Bad neck positions
People tend to look down or straight ahead while doing squats, push ups or deadlifts. This strains the cervical spine. It’s better to pack the neck, point chin down, make a double chin and keep it that way while doing squats.
8. Not using legs during bench press
Before bench pressing, drive your feet into the ground and stick your bottom to the bench to stabilise your body. Otherwise you may get stuck and even injure yourself.
Rowing without using your shoulder blades
If you do this while rowing with dumbbells, your elbows will move too far behind your ribcage, which reduces the benefits to your shoulder and back strength. When you row, your shoulder blade should glide inwards over the ribcage.