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Home > Active Living > Active living safety tips > Exercises that could be harmful
Exercises that could be harmful
Some exercises are best avoided because they can cause damage to bones, muscles and surrounding tissues (musculoskeletal injury). They may make it more likely that you will injure yourself or worsen a pre-existing injury or medical condition. You can avoid or modify potentially harmful exercises to make sure you are exercising safely.
Bouncing while stretching
It is mistakenly believed that bouncing helps muscles to stretch further, but sudden overstretching causes muscle fibres to contract in an attempt to prevent injury. Bouncing is not only counterproductive but can cause small tears to the muscle tissue, which are experienced as muscle soreness or tenderness.
Suggestions include:
- Don’t bounce.
- Concentrate on slow, sustained stretches.
- Hold the stretch for 10 to 20 seconds.
- Once the muscle feels comfortable, gently increase the stretch and then hold again.
Standing toe-touches
It’s not true that toe-touches strengthen the abdominal muscles or the lower back muscles and hamstrings. Bending down to touch the toes can unnecessarily overstretch the lower back muscles and hamstrings and stress the vertebrae, discs and muscles of the lower back and hamstrings. Adding a twisting movement to the toe-touch can, over time, cause damage to the joints.
Suggestions include:
- Avoid standing toe-touches altogether.
- Stretch the hamstrings and lower back muscles by placing one foot on a low bench or chair, with both legs slightly bent so as not to stress the knees joint and gently reach forward with your arms.
- An alternative hamstring stretch involves lying on your back with both knees bent. Lift one foot towards the ceiling, by straightening the leg, keeping the knee slightly bent and supporting the straight leg by clasping both hands behind the knee. Hold. Repeat for the other leg. You should feel the stretch on the back thigh of the straight leg.
- An alternative lower back stretch involves sitting cross-legged on the floor. Slowly lean forward over your legs reaching your arms out to the floor. The aim is to put your forearms on the floor in front of you. Hold. You may need to sit on a few cushions to allow your knees to drop closer to the floor and make the stretch easier.
Full squats
Full squats push the knee joint past 90°, whether they are done with or without a barbell or a weight held across the shoulders or in the hands. This may strain the ligaments, cartilage and muscle of the knee joint and/or lower back, and could create problems with the tracking (movement) of the kneecap.
Suggestions include:
- Perform half-squats instead (45° bend of the knee).
- If you need guidance, ask someone else to tell you when your knee joints have closed to about 90°. You could also use a mirror or seek instruction from a qualified fitness professional.
Sit-ups
Two common but potentially harmful variations include anchoring the feet or keeping the legs straight along the floor. The hands are then cupped behind the head or neck, and the upper body lifted. These types of sit-ups strain the lower back and tend to target the muscles of the hips and thighs rather than the abdomen.
Suggestions include:
- Avoid this style of sit-up altogether.
- Perform abdominal curls instead. Lie on your back with your knees bent, feet flat on the floor and arms either folded on your chest or alongside your body. Breathe out and curl your ribcage towards your pelvis.
Double leg raises
This exercise involves lying on your back and raising both legs at the same time. This places enormous stress on the lower back. Another potentially harmful variation is to lie on your stomach and lift both legs at the same time.
Suggestions include:
- Don’t do double leg raises.
- Perform the exercise one leg at a time, making sure your hips remain stable throughout the movement.
- Keep the other leg on the ground and slightly flexed.
Shoulder problems
Lat pulldown behind the neck and behind the neck press should be avoided, especially if you have been told you have instability in the front of your shoulder.
General cautions
Suggestions include:
- When performing side bends, slide your hand down your leg to support your torso.
- Avoid exercises that involve holding the arms above shoulder height for long periods of time, as this can injure the shoulder joints and associated neck muscles.
- Don’t perform rapid head circles. Slow the movement down and concentrate on sustained stretching of the neck muscles.
- Perform waist circles in a slow and controlled manner.
- Be guided by a qualified exercise physiologist or physiotherapist and only perform prescribed exercises if you have a disc bulge or prolapse.
- Star jumps should be avoided during pregnancy due to forces on the pelvic floor muscles.
- Increasing the speed of any exercise can increase the risk of injury.
- Avoid or modify any exercise that causes you pain or discomfort.
Where to get help
- Your doctor
- Physiotherapist
- Exercise physiologist
- ‘Go for your life’ Infoline Tel. 1300 739 899
Things to remember
- Some exercises are best avoided because they can cause damage to bones and muscles (musculoskeletal injury).
- Potentially harmful exercises include bouncing while stretching, standing toe-touches, full squats, straight-legged sit-ups and double leg raises.
- Avoid or modify any exercise that causes you pain or discomfort.
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