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WEIGHTLIFTING
EXERCISES ATHLETES SHOULD NOT DO
Steve Daisey
MPT, CSCS
The following exercises,
while in some cases appropriate for general exercisers, are considered
inappropriate for athletes due to various reasons shown. Athletes
are a very unique population, with specific demands placed on them
far beyond what normal, everyday people encounter. It is important
to compliment those demands, and not confuse athletic movements with
exercises that force the athlete into movements that counter their
sport.
| EXERCISE |
REASON |
| Upright
Rows |
The
upright row increases the risk of shoulder impingement due to
the internal rotation of the shoulder at the top of the movement.
The same range-of-motion and power can be trained safely and
more functionally with a dumbbell
shoulder press. |
| Barbell
Shoulder Press |
This creates
excessive back and neck strain to lower the bar in front of
the head. Lowering the bar behind the head is just as, if not
more stressful to the shoulders than a behind-the-back lat pull-down.
Shoulders can be trained safely and more functionally with a
dumbbell shoulder press. |
| Incline
Press |
Once
thought to build up the clavicular head of the pectorals (“upper
pecs” in bodybuilding lingo), research (1,2) has shown
this to be largely untrue. A close-grip
bench is more effective at building the upper pectorals
because ot the shoulder flexion component needed to recruit
the clavicular head. Further, the incline press position narrows
the thoracic outlet, creating a risk for impingement of the
brachial plexus (the nerves exiting the neck and going into
the arms). |
| Power cleans
/ Snatch / Clean-and-Jerk |
This group
of exercises is still very controversial at this point, as many
strength and conditioning professionals believe strongly in
the usefulness of these types of exercises. The belief is that
the explosive nature of these exercises has good carryover to
athletic movements. The other camp states that explosive type
exercises can be designed to be more functional to the sport
than Cleans, etc. They feel that the form of these are peculiar
to Olympic weightlifting and require a high degree of skill
only applicable to that sport. |
| Knee
Extension |
This
is a non-functional bodybuilder exercise. The quadriceps simply
do not act in isolation in the manner trained with the knee
extension exercise. Research (3) shows that open chain knee
extension places a great deal of stress on the patellofemoral
joint and ACL in a manner that may be unsafe and inappropriate
for athletes. |
REFERENCES:
1. Barnett
C, Kippers V, Turner P: Effects of variations of the bench press exercise
on the EMG activity of five shoulder muscles. J Strength and Conditioning
Research, 1995, 9(4), 222-227.
2. Clemons JM, Aaron C: Effect of grip width on the myoelectric activity
of the prime movers in the bench press. J Strength and Condition Research
1997, 11(2), 82-87
3. Parker MG: Biomechanical and histological concepts in the rehabilitation
of patients with anterior cruciate ligament reconstructions. JOSPT
July 1994, 20(1):44-50.. |
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