My Top 7 Useless Gym Exercises

In the past, I’ve shared my top exercises muscle gain and fat loss, featuring a variety of multi-joint, compound movements for your upper body (e.g. push-ups, pull-ups, rows, dips, etc.), lower body (squats, deadlifts, lunges, etc.), and core (planks and rotational core exercises). These “many muscle” exercises provide the most bang for your buck during your workouts to generate maximum results in minimal time. Even better are total body exercises like a curl to squat to press or a squat thrust variation that takes the meaning of a whole body workout to a whole new level.

But, I think we’ll switch it up a bit today and focus on the worst and USELESS exercises you can add to your training routine. The following list features movements that I wouldn’t be caught dead doing - movements that deliver crappy results and flat our hurt people - movements that have far greater risk than reward:

My Top 7 Useless Gym Exercises of All Time

1) Abs Machine
Crunches and sit-ups only promote excessive flexion of the lumbar spine and tend to cause neck and back pain. What’s worse than crunches or sit-ups? Doing a similar movement with added weight in a machine that only trains your body in an unnatural front to back motion in a seated position!

Yes, abs machines, like crunches and sit-ups, do make your feel your abdominal muscles, but there are far better ways to accomplish this without the high risk of short and long-term injury to your spine.

Remember, the true function of your core is stabilization, both static and dynamic- to be able to maintain a neutral, straight-line position from your hips to your shoulders in all 3 planes of movement (front to back, side to side, and rotational) no matter what the external stimulus may be.

2009 Upgrade: For rock hard, athletic abs focus on pillar stabilization exercises like front, side, and back pillars and ground based rotational core work like chops variations and upper body twists.

2) Back Machine
Well, if I think the abs machine is useless, how do you think I’m going to feel about the back machine? I mean this is just such a stupid exercise for so many reasons.

First of all, people already use too much “back” on most movements because of tight hips and inactive/weak glutes. Thus, I prefer to focus more on hip extension movements that strengthen your butt rather than continually overloading the spinal erectors. Plus, adding in corrective stretching for the hip flexor complex, the hip rotators, and the hamstring complex that opens up your hips and alleviates excessive spinal flexion and compressions is literally exactly what the doctor ordered.

Second of all, just like the abs machine, this bootleg exercise trains your body in one plane of movement in a fixed path and as a results doesn’t work your key stabilizer muscles.

Lastly, the way that most people perform this movement in such an out of control manner for speed just makes me want to vomit. It literally looks like they are trying to lie down for reps- is this the type of movement that we want to get really good at? Wait, don’t answer that ;)

2009 Upgrade: For a strong, stable back focus on deadlift, good morning, and hip extensions variations while simultaneously focusing on the corrective stretching and self-massage of the Lumbo-Pelvic-Hip (LPH) complex. A prone cobra, or airplane as it is sometimes called, is also a great exercise to improve spinal erector endurance while simultaneously improving scapular strength and stability.

3) Leg Extension Machine

This exercise is a personal one for me. When I first started weight training, I did whatever it took to keep pushing my training loads up, I abused this exercise like you wouldn’t believe.

I remember loading close to 200lbs and doing 20+reps at a frantic pace where the whole universal machine that the leg extension apparatus was attached to would shake like it was about to break down. After all of that, yes, my legs would burn, but I remember having sore knees only a short few days after.

Here’s the bottom line with this exercise- it will wreak havoc on your knees! The excessive compressions on your patella will without a doubt results in the brake down of articular cartilage which will in turn results in a bunch of arthroscopic knee surgeries to remove loose bodies and eventually full blown crippling arthritis. Avoid this machine like cancer!

2009 Upgrade: For strong, stable knees, focus on both knee-dominant (lunge, step-up, and single-leg squat variations) AND hip-dominant single-leg exercises (single-leg hip extension, deadlift, and good morning variations) to prevent strength imbalances between limbs AND to prevent strength imbalances between your front and back thighs and your inner and outer thighs.

4) Pec Fly Machine

If your goal is tear your pecs and totally ruin your rotator cuff, then I highly recommend that you add this exercise to your routine. I think the chest fly machine actually gets even more play then the bench press, which is considered to be the most popular exercise for men.

Again, the use of a machine versus doing a dumbbell fly alternative eliminates the use of the key stabilizer muscles surrounding your shoulders. Furthermore, the common male desire to use maximum weight to build a chest he can be proud of typically results in overuse injuries like shoulder impingement or biceps tendonitis.

2009 Upgrade: For strong, stable shoulders focus on performing an equal amount of pushing and pulling exercises. In fact, more pulling exercises initially may be a good idea if you find yourself heavily internally rotated and hunchbacked from years of focusing on your beach muscles (chest, abs, and biceps) while neglecting your rear shoulders and upper/mid muscles. The best pushing exercise you can do is any push-up variation as it not only safely trains the entire front side of your body but also engages your upper back musculature in a way that the bench press does not. Furthermore, every year people die from bench pressing, but there has never been a reported death from performing a push-up! (FYI, this is not an exaggerated stat.)

5) Elliptical Machine

Ok fine, if you are really, really overweight and haven’t exercised in over a decade, then I think an elliptical has ‘some’ use. But, other than that, I think it’s relatively useless.

Yes, it is a low-impact alternative to running on a treadmill, but there is very little range of motion during the movement and does not burn nearly as many calories as the machine claims it does.

Furthermore, the elliptical is not a good machine to do intervals on because it promotes excessive hyperextension of the knee. This can easily result in injury at high levels of speed and resistance.

Think about it - what’s the first machine people who are new to cardio exercise jump on? The elliptical! Why? Because it’s so EASY!

At the end of the day, you can read a magazine while on an elliptical, so how much benefit do you really think you will get from this overpriced waste of space?

2009 Upgrade: For optimal results during your cardio training, you must focus on intervals. They burn 9 times more body fat than aerobics and also result in greater improvements in overall conditioning than long, slow, boring cardio. If you are overweight/de-conditioned and/or have joint issues, the best place to start an interval training program is on a spin bike, or better yet, an Airdyne Bike which has both upper and lower body attachments to make it more of a total body conditioning experience. If you need to do your cardio equipment-free and/or at home or on the road, use body weight based exercises like jumping jacks, stationary running, split jumps, etc.

6) Abductor/Adductor Machines (aka. the Sex Machines)
Ah, the sex machine… this one just makes me laugh. It certainly takes me back to the days where my meathead buddies and I would shamelessly gawk at this outrageously good looking gal who did 1,000 reps on the adductor/abductor machine to fit into her “skinny jeans.”

But, I can assure you this machine had nothing to do with her nice bod- rather it was a combo of genetics, a clean diet, and being a tri-sport athlete that did the trick.

Women all over the world seem convinced that this “naughty” exercise can some how help them rid themselves of the thunder thigh/cellulite situation.

How many times have I heard: “What exercises can I do to get rid of this flab inside my leg?” Too many times!

Seriously? You know that spot reduction is a myth by now, right? I’m sorry to say, but, no amount of direct inner or other hip-thigh work will burn that ugly fat covering that sexy toned musculature everyone wants to see, so let it go.

So the first thing you need to do is clean up all of the crappy carbs in your diet and starting consuming lean proteins, healthy fats, and fruits and veggies every 2-4 hours while plugging water like a fish.

Then you need to get off this sex machine and get real with a total body workout!

2009 Upgrade: The best exercises for your inner and outer-hip thigh will come from band-resisted hip walk variations, side pillar variations, and any and all single-leg exercises, especially lateral lunges. My favorite lateral lunge is the Valslide Lateral Lunge that simultaneously stretches and strengthens your hip musculature.

7) Leg Press Machine
It never ceases to amaze me how we all look for the easy way out when it comes to working out. It’s clear why people prefer to leg press - they get to lay or sit on their a$$ depending on the exact type of leg press machine being used.

If you want both nice legs and a flat midsection then you need to squat! How do you expect to squat when you’re sitting down? Please explain that to me.

But squats are tough because they require a whole body effort, an effort most people aren’t willing to put in explaining why they get horrible results form their workouts.

The leg press could very well be a major contributing cause for the rapidly increasing number of bulging and/or herniated discs among exercise enthusiasts. People always use way too much weight and use poor form resulting in brutally compressive forces on the spine.

Seriously, if you are opting to leg press over squatting, then you don’t know squat! (Get it? Haha)

2009 Upgrade: The best (and safest) exercises for your lower body are a healthy combination of double-leg and single-leg exercises using free weights and body weight based exercises. Be sure to perform an equal amount of knee-dominant lower body exercises (e.g. squats and lunges) and hip-dominant lower body exercises (e.g. deadlifts and single-leg hip extensions) to make your knees, hips, and back bulletproof. In fact, most people are very knee-dominant and could benefit to start by performing a greater number of hip-dominant movements to balance out their lower body musculature.

You’ll notice once common trend among all of these useless exercises: they all involve MACHINES!

Get off those useless machines and focus on functional movements using free weights, bands, stability balls, etc. Not only will you ramp up your fat-burning and muscle-building pursuits, but more importantly you won’t end up hunchbacked in a wheel chair by the time you turn 50 ;)

Understanding Metabolism and Caloric Expenditure

So this week I though I’d focus on education. There are a lot of misconceptions when it comes to fat loss, and what exactly the body is doing when it’s burning fat. I think it’s really important to understand how the body works regarding fat loss, and what is the best way to accomplish it in terms of training methods.


METABOLISM

The body’s metabolism (or metabolic rate) is what controls how many calories an individual can burn each day. The body’s thyroid affects and controls metabolism, and is a huge factor in your muscle mass.

Let’s do some math:

For every pound of muscle you put on, it takes approximately 50 calories per day to maintain. Quite literally, these 50 calories is the amount needed by the muscle to just sit there. It does not take into consideration the amount of calories expended in training to develop and maintain that muscle.

Therefore, 1 lbs of muscle needs 50 calories per day = 18 250 calories per year (which is the approximately 5lbs of fat).

What does this mean? Well, if you’re able to gain 5 lbs of lean muscle, it will help you burn off close to over 26 lbs of fat over the coming year.

So ultimately, the trick to fat loss is not dependent on how many calories you can burn during a period of exercise; it is how many calories you can get your body to burn all the time. The bottom line: if you increase your lean muscle, you increase your metabolism, thus burning off more fat, even when you are not exercising. This is the KEY to long- term fat loss.

CALORIC EXPENDITURE

Fat loss is essentially simple math: you must burn off more calories than you consume. It’s that simple for the body, regardless of what all the different fad diets out there advocate – high protein, low carbohydrate, low fat, etc., the rule remains the same. As I discussed in the metabolism section, the key to long-term fat loss is to teach the body how to burn calories, even when it is not exercising.

I cannot even remember how many times people have approached me saying: “I barely eat, and I still continue to gain weight!” It is classic, people starving themselves in a futile attempt to lose weight fast. STARVING YOURSELF DOES NOT WORK!!! Was that clear enough? It is only a temporary solution, but most of the time, people gain the weight right back, sometimes heavier than they were before they started some form of a low-calorie diet.

I will say it again and again until it sticks in your head: you must burn more calories than you consume, NOT consume less calories.

What form of training burns the most calories? Aerobic or Anaerobic exercise?

Answer: ANAEROBIC EXERCISE (i.e. resistance and weight training). Why? Because your body’s lean muscle tissue is the most active tissue in the body and requires the most energy to function. Where does the body get energy? CALORIES! Getting my drift?

AEROBIC EXERCISE does NOT produce the best fat loss results. What do I mean by aerobic exercise? For example, steady state cardio such as running on a treadmill/outside, elliptical machines, jogging or walking for an hour. Anyone that tells you that steady state cardio is good for fat loss has not been doing his or her research. If you want to learn more about why cardio does not work, feel free to read my previous blog posts. I want to focus today’s post on Anaerobic training.

Anaerobic training is based upon an EPOC principle: Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption (which used to be referred to as oxygen debt). Anaerobic training consumes a lot of calories during exercise, but, your metabolism also stays at a high rate after you exercise. The recovery period of the body to return to pre-exercise levels can take several minutes for light exercise (i.e. aerobic training such as jogging), several hours for very intense exercise (i.e. anaerobic cardiovascular training) and up to 12-24 hours and longer for prolonged exhaustive exercise (interval and/or circuit training with resistance).

In summary: if you want to burn fat and keep it off for good, you need to exercise with resistance. This can come in the form of weights or your own body weight. You also are better off doing full-body programs, because the more muscles you use, the more calories you burn. If you train like this, you definitely will put on enough lean muscle to elevate your metabolism, thus burning off more calories than you consume, for a longer period of time. Intensity equals results – if you work hard, you WILL get results!

Important Fitness Info For Parents and University Students

Today’s post is for any parent who has a child about to enter University, or for anyone who has had a similar university experience for him/herself.

For those that don’t know, I specialize in instructing fat loss boot camps for mothers (www.byebyebabfat.ca). I could not help but keep them in mind this past weekend when I went out with a bunch of high school friends. Almost all of us put on some weight when compared to high school, but I would say that the pounds piled on a lot faster once we entered our first year of College/University.

We are already in May, which means seniors in high school are already knees-deep in the senior slump that typifies the last semester prior to graduation.

But, what they (and their parents) should be most concerned about is fighting the scary trend of gaining 15+ lbs their first year in college/university.

Seriously, they might soon start calling it the FIRST YEAR 50 if someone doesn’t step in right NOW and educate our youngsters about proper training and sound nutrition.

I know firsthand how important this info is and I wish someone shared it with me before I graduated high school.

Before I share my top 10 tips to fight this trend, let’s first identify why this is important, beyond the obvious health benefits:

1. Perception is Reality: Studies show that leaner, more attractive people are more employable and earn higher wages- it’s a fact! If you want a fighting chance of getting and keeping a job, in addition to climbing the corporate ladder, you simply cannot overlook your personal appearance and presentation.
2. Build a Recession-Proof Body: Whenever the economy is struggling and companies are forced to tighten up their budgets, they’ll “trim the fat” from their employee base (both literally and figuratively). If it comes down to two people with equal skills, the leaner, healthier employee will always win!
   

So enough with the politics already, let’s get to the goods:

The Top 10 Tips to Fight the First Year 15

TIP #1 - Invest in a Whole Body Workout

Perform a five-exercise circuit employing body weight-based exercises that’s designed to work your upper body, lower body, and core within the same workout at least three times per week with a day of rest between workouts

- Alternate between 50 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest for each a double-leg (e.g. squat), push (e.g. push-up), single-leg (e.g. lunge), pull (e.g. row), and core (e.g. plank/bridge) exercise.

- Perform up to 4 rounds without rest for a killer 20-minute total body workout that you can do anywhere

TIP #2 - Harness the Power of Intervals

- Interval training is scientifically proven to burn nine times more body fat than ordinary exercise and elevates metabolism for up to 24-48 hours following your workout.

- Perform cardio intervals on non-strength training days three times per week. Selecting your cardio exercise of choice, alternate between 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest and repeat this 30 second interval eight times for four total minutes followed by a one-minute rest. Repeat for up to 20 total minutes.

- This routine works best on a stationary bike (airdyne), for indoor/outdoor running, or for body weight cardio exercises that you can do at home like running in place or jumping jacks.

TIP #3 - Eat AND Hydrate Early and Often

- Eat immediately upon waking and then every two to four hours to starve fat and feed muscle.

- By continuously fueling your furnace, and eating some animal protein (meat, eggs, cheese, etc.) at every feeding, you'll also keep your metabolism revved up throughout the day and prevent overeating.

- Drink 2-4 cups of water immediately upon waking and then 1-2 cups of water every 2 hours, in addition to drinking 1-2 cups of water for every 15 minutes of activity.

- Consume 3 servings of green tea per day.

TIP #4 - Think Fiber When it Comes to Carbs

- Eat an unlimited amount of fibrous, cruciferous green veggies to fill your belly both during and between meals (avoid corn, peas, carrots, beets, and potatoes)

- For optimal fat-burning, try to limit fruit and other carbohydrate consumption to within 1-2 hours post-workout when your body best tolerates starches and sugars.

The Carb Reduction Plan:

Step 1 - Replace all white carbs with 100% whole grain carbs and all refined sugars with natural sugars

Step 2 - Limit all whole grain starch and natural sugar consumption to within 1-2 hours post-workout or immediately upon waking for breakfast

Step 3 - Replace all starches and sugars with fruits and veggies

Step 4 - Replace all fruits with green veggies

TIP #5 - Focus on Stabilization Exercise for Flat Abs

- Integrated total body training and sound nutrition is the key to burning the fat covering your abdominal muscles so you can “see” them- spot reduction doesn’t work!

- Pillar stabilization, both static and dynamic, is the key to developing rock hard abs, preventing injuries, and improving posture- NOT endless crunches and sit-ups!

- The pillar collectively consists of your shoulders, hips, and core. It is your body’s powerhouse, foundational to all movement.

- For maximum benefits, you must seek to maintain a tight pillar position during all movements by actively pulling your navel to your spine, engaging your glutes, and maintaining a straight line from the heels through the shoulders.

TIP #6 - Be a Flexible Eater

- Allot yourself 1 or 2 “reward meals” per week where you can enjoy the indulgences of college life in MODERATION as needed!

- Be sure to plan your reward meals in advance based on your weekly schedule and be sure to earn them with compliance at all other times!

TIP #7 - Take These 2 daily Supplements for Life

- Daily Multi-Vitamin for Your Gender

- Daily EFA/Fish Oil Supplement

TIP #8 - If you Booze, you WON’T Lose!

- How much damage? A 12-ounce beer contains about 0.6 ounces of alcohol. If you consumed 5 of these, your body would be inhibited from fat burning for up to 6 hours. This is aside from the fact that your body will actually be storing fat during these 6 hours! The more you drink, the longer your body is inhibited from burning fat in addition to a greater fat build up from excess acetyl CoA. As you can see, one day of binge drinking can set you back days if not a full week when it comes to fat loss!

- What’s the worst-case scenario? Mixing alcohol with sugary beverages promotes even further fat gain due to the resulting insulin surge that triggers fat storage (e.g. regular beer or cocktails mixed with regular soda and/or fruit juice)

The Bottom Line...

If you want to be lean, you must minimize ALCOHOL consumption!

If you must drink:

a) Choose wine or hard liquor and “light” beer
b) Limit alcohol consumption to 1-2 days per week with a 1-2 drink per day max

TIP #9 - Sleep, Stretch, and Self-Massage

- Sleep: Get at least 6-7 hours (ideally 7-8) of restful sleep per night and take 1-2 hour naps to fill in the gaps. Establish a pre-bed routine and avoid caffeine after 2 pm.

- Stretch: Ideally perform Dynamic Stretching to preferentially mobilize joints BEFORE exercise and perform Static Stretching to preferentially lengthen muscles AFTER exercise

- Self-Massage: Spend at least 30-60 seconds massaging sore and tight areas of the body before and after you exercise to regenerate your muscle and connective tissue in order to prevent nagging aches and pains in the joints

TIP #10 - Build-Your-Own Dorm Room Gym

Mandatory Items (less than $100):
- Foam Roller
- Tennis Ball
- Hex Dumbbells
- Resistance Bands

Premium Set-up (less than $200):
- All of the above
- Door/Wall-Mounted Pull-up Unit
- Stability Ball

It is my sincere hope to you either use and/or pass on these 10 simple strategies to secure yourself a future filled with health, happiness, and longevity.