Some of your favorite exercises are putting unwanted pressure on your bones. After all, you want to help your body, not hurt it. That's why Redbook Mag suggests that you stop performing these workout moves:
These can put way too much strain on your neck. "You're really better off just doing a standard sit-up because your abs are going to work much harder from the top to bottom,"
"This exercise—where you hold yourself up at the edge of a bench and, using only your arms, lower yourself up and down—is a really unsafe and unnatural position for your shoulders." You should grab some weights instead and hold them over your head.
"While these machines seem like a great option for trimming your inner and outer thighs, the unnatural position they put your body in is all the more reason to skip 'em." Instead, you should try doing some clockwork lunges.
"If you're doing a side bend with any sort of weight, you're really building that oblique muscle, which is going to give the appearance of a thicker middle." You should do woodchoppers with weights instead.
These can really stress out your bones. That's why you should do squats instead.
Leg Extensions often isolate the quadriceps without concurrently engaging the supportive muscle groups that are active during compound movements, such as squats. This can lead to imbalanced strength development and may not provide the functional fitness benefits that more holistic exercises offer. Adding to that, the fixed movement pattern does not mimic everyday activities or sports movements, potentially limiting the transfer of gym gains to real-world strength and mobility. If knee health is a concern, this particular exercise might increase the risk of injury due to excess strain on the knee joint, especially if performed with heavy weights or improper form. It's typically more beneficial to opt for exercises that work multiple muscle groups simultaneously, ensuring a more efficient and well-rounded workout.
These are great for your abs, but horrible for the rest of your body. That's why you should do 90 degree toe touches instead.
You should do shoulder presses. Just don't do them on the machine, because that machine will limit your movements.
You're putting a lot of unnecessary stress on your knees. You should be doing basic squats instead which works your hamstrings, quads, and glutes.
What exercises do you always skip?