You are if you follow cookie cutter workouts from that trendy fitness magazine 'to a tee'. All workouts should be personalized to fit your goals, your fitness level, and your skills. Even published exercise programs can do more detriment than good. My public service announcement for the day is "THINK BEFORE YOU LIFT, KIDS!" and at the next boot camp I will dress as the PSA mascot 'Lifty the Lemming' instead of Smokey the Bear. Just kidding.
Here's the quick and dirty if you're interested in what prompted this post.
During one of my workouts in the gym this week, my "Spidey sense" started to tingle. I noticed three guys taking turns doing push-ups on the squat rack next to me. I glanced over a few times and saw that they were incorporating different push-up varieties but their forms were off doing the more esoteric push-ups. The second thing I noticed was the use of a squat rack to do push-ups. Just a little odd i thought.
Over the next 45 minutes I saw this behavior repeated 7 more times by groups of two, three or four. Next to me and on another rack across the floor!
That's roughly 25 guys in the span of 45 minutes doing the exact same workout! I thought I was in the twilight zone! Finally, the curious George in my decided to ask the last group..."Is there a push-up competition coming up with prize money??" Nope. I was informed that an article appeared somewhere promoting push-ups on this particular day to get you ready for Spring/Summer.
Upon further discussion I learned that they were supposed to do 125 push-ups overall. I asked a few questions and found out that:
My professional observation is that they had poor form; all three variations stressed their shoulders in an improper way.
In a nutshell...
If you have any questions, contact me.
Here's the quick and dirty if you're interested in what prompted this post.
During one of my workouts in the gym this week, my "Spidey sense" started to tingle. I noticed three guys taking turns doing push-ups on the squat rack next to me. I glanced over a few times and saw that they were incorporating different push-up varieties but their forms were off doing the more esoteric push-ups. The second thing I noticed was the use of a squat rack to do push-ups. Just a little odd i thought.
Over the next 45 minutes I saw this behavior repeated 7 more times by groups of two, three or four. Next to me and on another rack across the floor!
That's roughly 25 guys in the span of 45 minutes doing the exact same workout! I thought I was in the twilight zone! Finally, the curious George in my decided to ask the last group..."Is there a push-up competition coming up with prize money??" Nope. I was informed that an article appeared somewhere promoting push-ups on this particular day to get you ready for Spring/Summer.
Upon further discussion I learned that they were supposed to do 125 push-ups overall. I asked a few questions and found out that:
- They had no idea why they were doing push-ups. Nor-Why? ( a few guesses though.)
- None had done any push-ups recently.
- All of them were doing a variation or two that they had never done.
My professional observation is that they had poor form; all three variations stressed their shoulders in an improper way.
In a nutshell...
- Have a well defined goal (Like a helicopter mom, I will not stop saying 'HAVE A WELL-DEFINED GOAL").
- If you see or hear of a workout, think about whether or not it helps you towards your goal.
- If I'm training an engaged couple to prepare for their wedding pictures and warm weather honeymoon, their workout is completely different than someone who is a serious rock climber or Tough Mudder participant.
- Ask why are you doing "prescribed workout". It protects you from overuse. 125 push ups?! Really? Say hello to 'overuse' injuries!
- Have your form checked out. This allows you to make progress faster and keeps you injury free.
- Use resources like me so you can carve your own path instead of following the heard off the deep end.
If you have any questions, contact me.
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