You know the importance of the correct form of performing each and every exercise you do. It’s so crucial that you get it right that no matter how small the weights and the number of repetitions, you better do it correctly. Fail to do it right and you risk to look stupid, your performance suffers, and worst of all, you can get injured.
So today we’re looking at the top 7 worst exercise form fails that you can see people doing over and over again. When will they learn, that’s what we ask, and we start our countdown in hopes of helping you to avoid the same mistakes.
Squat Form Fails
It’s one of the best compound weight training exercises but it has one of the most complicated forms to get right, too. Here are the main three fails happening with this exercise.
- Turning the knees inward when bringing the weight down and squatting back up is a common mistake and it’s not only bad for your knees, it destabilizes you during the exercise. So keep the knees turned slightly outward at all times.
- Rounding the back is a major mistake and it’s the main cause of back injury. When doing a squat, always keep the back straight and rigid, and pull your hips back.
- Coming up on the toes happens mainly because you’re not setting your hips back enough. Imagine sitting back in a chair when you perform a squat to really move those hips back and thrust them forward as you squat up.
Deadlift Form Fails
It’s another classic exercise with a tricky form to get right and the culprit of many exercises fails. Here are the main fails of this exercise.
- Rounding the back, just like with squats, is the main source of problems and lower back injuries. When deadlifting, always keep your back straight and your core tight.
- Letting your shoulders pull forward is another common mistake so make sure to squeeze them back and it will also help you keep your back and posture correctly during the exercise.
- Lifting the chin up too high or keeping it down too low contributes to bad posture as well and makes it hard to keep the back straight as your body tends to follow your line of sight. Keep the chin in a neutral position and look straight.
Bench Press Form Fails
Moving on to the next classic source of exercise fails – the bench press.
- Lifting the hips up is something you see many athletes do as they press a heavy weight. Make sure your hips are always set down flat on the bench.
- Bringing the barbell down too little is a very common mistake as guys try to increase their press weight too much. If you can only bring the weight a few inches down, lower the weight for a full range of motion. The barbell should touch your chest before you press it back up, otherwise, you’re just working your arms, not the chest.
- Leaving the shoulders loose is the main source of injury doing the bench press. Always make sure your shoulders are back and tight for the right form.
Pull-Ups Form Fails
One of the best body weight exercises if done right can do a lot for your muscles, unfortunately, most guys get it completely wrong and waste a good exercise.
- Using momentum by swinging up the bar to crank out more reps is not a good way to do pull-ups. Always use slow and controlled movements, even if that means you can only do half the reps you could do by gaining momentum.
- Not contracting the shoulders is another mistake that causes you to lose a great chance to work the lats. Instead of just doing arm pull-ups, contract those shoulders back to engage more muscles, and it will actually allow you to do more reps.
- Incomplete pull-ups are yet another common mistake when guys do try to cheat their way into more reps. Remember, the full range of motion of the pull-up is pulling your chin up over the bar, so don’t settle for those half pull-ups.
Bicep Curl Form Fails
The best isolation exercise for the biceps and the favorite among the guys trying to get those big arms. Yet it’s the object of so many fails that it’s not even funny.
- Keeping the elbows bent is the number one mistake you see guys making. It usually happens because they pick up too heavy weights and compensate with their shoulders. Well, that’s no way to work the biceps. Make sure your elbows are fixed in a stable position as you bend them and contract the biceps fully before lowering the weight down.
- Gaining momentum is another mistake, although it has a place in negative curls (where you’d use some momentum to bring a bigger weight up and then focus on extension). However, when doing regular curls, the momentum should be out of the picture, especially swinging your body back.
Push Up Form Fails
One of the most popular exercises there is, but also one that attracts many mistakes.
- Letting the hips down is a common mistake you’ll see with guys and girls with a weak core. The key to a correct push-up is keeping your spine straight and core tight at all times.
- Not letting the body down enough for a full range of motion is another mistake. A full repetition consists of the chest almost touching the floor as you lower down, so make sure you get that range of motion to the full extent to benefit from this exercise.
Ab Crunch Form Fails
Probably the most popular exercise for the abs, unfortunately rarely done correctly.
- Keeping the back straight is the first mistake because it’s so counter-intuitive. Usually, we keep our back straight in most exercises, but in this case to really work the abs we have to flex the spine and contract the ab muscles really tight.
- Putting hands behind head and pulling yourself up is another mistake and that’s not what you want to do. You’re compensating by pulling with your arms and that can even lead to neck injuries. So don’t do that, let the abs do all the work.
These are just 7 of the most common exercise form fails, but keep in mind, that you can fail during any exercise, so make sure to always get the form right. Start with lower weights to get used to the correct range of motion and always use controlled movements. Remember, quality is much more important than quantity when it comes to exercising.
