Many athletes performing various dangerous exercises get injured and microtrauma. The slightest violation of technique when working with extreme loads and chronic overtraining are the two main causes of injury. But a considerable number of athletes manage to injure their joints and muscles, working with impeccable technique and avoiding constant overload.

This happens because trainees perform often and in large quantities in those exercises that are considered harmless, but in fact are extremely harmful to the joints and tendons.
For example, avoiding heavy squats, the athlete prefers leg extensions. This exercise is useful - as a warm-up, or as a "pumping" exercise. But if you do leg straightening with serious intensity - in 5 - 6 sets, 6 - 10 repetitions, with the appropriate weight, and even 2 times a week - this will negatively affect the knee joints.

Knee joints

When an athlete performs leg extensions in the "power" mode, the knee joints are injured. With low weights and high reps, these injuries are negligible, and almost not felt - because in this case the weight moves due to the front muscles of the thighs, and the knee joint is involved to an extremely small extent.
Another injury-prone exercise is half-squats. In this case, as well as with extensions, when working with low weights and a high number of repetitions, the semi-squat is practically not dangerous. But a heavy approach of 6 - 8 repetitions negatively affects both the knees and the spine. Unpleasant sensations in the sacrum and pain in the knees are the consequences of heavy squatting up to half the amplitude.

Bad for elbows

Bench press wide grip- an exercise common among athletes who want to make their own chest wider. In fact, the “wide” bench press is not only unproductive for developing chest width, but also dangerous. The elbows in this exercise are located in a completely unfavorable position for the bench press - therefore, with a lot of weight and an average number of repetitions (another mode is not at all productive for pumping up high-quality muscles), there is already a big risk of getting an elbow injury. In addition, there is a risk of stretching the tendon chest muscle.
To "expand" the chest, it is better to prefer push-ups on the uneven bars and pullovers with a dumbbell, lying across the bench. You can also bench press with a D-bar, but it is inconvenient to work with such a neck in “serious” sets. Pullovers by themselves will not add width to the chest, but they are able to develop the serratus muscles - the same muscles that give perfect look inflated chest.

Neck joints

For shoulder training, it is better to prefer all pressing exercises, except for the press from behind the head. This exercise is considered one of the best for building breathtaking deltas. This would be so if the shoulders at the base did not have fragile joints. It is this factor that makes overhead presses a very traumatic exercise.
In the military press, or in the dumbbell press, the shoulders are in a biomechanically advantageous position for developing force. Performing these exercises in the average number of repetitions with serious weights, the risk of injury is extremely small.
By avoiding the above "harmful" exercises, you can train for a long time without the risk of harming your joints, ligaments, and tendons. And avoiding squats and all compound exercises is not necessary. Performing squats, bench presses and deadlifts, a person will progress into old age. Unless, of course, he does it correctly - adhering to the cyclicity in training, proper diet and avoiding stress.

The well-known proverb “Physical education heals, but sport cripples” can be rephrased as “The right physical education heals, but the wrong one cripples.” Indeed, physical therapy (exercise therapy) can cause serious harm to health, and its classic movements will turn into exercises that are dangerous for the spine and joints, and other body systems.

Therapeutic physical movements turn into dangerous exercises if the rules of exercise therapy are violated during classes:

1. Majority special exercises performed only in the absence of pain syndrome. At the acute stage of the disease or during its exacerbation, as well as in the early postoperative period, breathing exercises and a small amount of exercise that affects healthy joints.
2. The lesson can be carried out in the absence of high intracranial and blood pressure. Elevated body temperature, an acute period of an infectious disease, a sharp exacerbation of any other chronic pathology, poor health are direct contraindications to therapeutic training.
3. The type, number of repetitions and approaches, the sequence of execution, the amplitude and pace of movement, the amount of physical activity received from a particular exercise and from the lesson as a whole, are among the indicators that the attending specialist must approve.

Example by analogy. The doctor wrote a prescription for taking the medicine: 3 times a day, 2 tablets, after meals, drinking 250 ml of water. The patient bought a drug with a similar name, drank it 5 times a day, 4 tablets before meals, and swallowed the tablets without drinking. The conclusions are obvious.

1. Each exercise therapy should begin with a warm-up of the joints and muscles, and end with a final relaxation exercise. Even healthy, but “unheated” joints are easily injured, and therapeutic movements performed without prior warm-up will turn into exercises that are harmful to the spine. Excessive haste at the end of the lesson will nullify all efforts.
2. You can do it only after 60-90 minutes after the main meal. Violation of this rule additionally loads the body, distracting it from the process of digestion. In addition, in case of problems lumbar, classes on a full stomach can lead to an exacerbation of the pathology, since the biomechanics of movements will be different from the usual.
3. It is necessary to strictly comply with Golden Rule» Exercise therapy - if pain occurs, the session ends immediately. If the problem occurs the next time, a doctor's consultation is necessary.

On a note. If you take a shower, then refrain from tempering procedures, and before swimming in the pool - do not steam! When you receive water procedures after physiotherapy exercises, the initial water temperature should not be lower than 29 ° C.

Exercises that are dangerous for the joints of the back

So which exercises are bad for the spine, and when does "medicine turn into poison"? The video in this article will not be presented, but exercises dangerous for the spine will be accompanied by a photo and an explanation.

cervical

For diseases cervical spine (see) some exercises should be performed with extreme caution. The price of ignoring the warning is too high - fainting, memory impairment, ischemic stroke, paralysis of the hands.

Image and title	Common Mistakes and Recommendations
	The warm-up before the main part of the lesson should begin with the joints of the legs, then the lower and middle sections of the spine, shoulder girdle, and only after that warm up the neck. Movements should not be abrupt, jerky, or performed through effort or pain. To strengthen the muscles of the neck, perform static exercises with tension.
	This exercise is forbidden to perform with hernias in the cervical region. From everyone else, it will require especially increased attention. Before performing this kind of neck twist, it is better to get a “training” consultation from an orthopedist or sports doctor.
	While strengthening the abdominal muscles, do not "pull yourself by the neck" by clasping your hands behind your head. This leads to the fact that the load on the abdominal muscles is reduced, and the cervical region, on the contrary, is overloaded. You should not train the abdominal muscles with arms stretched up. While pumping the press, keep your hands in the following positions: a) crossed on the chest; b) brushes near the ears; c) stretching forward along the body.
	With pathologies of the cervical region, you can’t swim with the Brass and Butterfly styles - these are harmful exercises for the spine. Moreover, if you are not trained to move in the water in the Freestyle (Crawl on the front), then the only way left for you is the Crawl on the back.

Important! Despite the assurances of numerous private clinics and centers dealing with the treatment of back pathologies about the healing power of manual manipulations, the WHO instruction prohibits the use of chiropractors for patients diagnosed with hernia. intervertebral disc and instability of the spinal joints.

Thoracic

Despite the fact that pathologies of the thoracic spine are rare (see), and for him there are exercises for the spine that are harmful in their biomechanical component.

lumbosacral junction

Image	Description
	If you are worried about the lower back, then you should refrain from tilting to the side, combined with turns. You can lean forward, but at the same time you need to slightly bend your knees and maintain the natural deflections of the spine.
	The girl in the photo performs one of the options for the Bridge exercise, which are only suitable for people with healthy spine- bent at the waist. With a problem back, this exercise should be done so that the spine always remains straight (green line). V starting positions: standing or lying on your stomach - bending your back is also prohibited.
	Everyone's favorite exercise Kitty (gets angry, rejoices, looks at the tail), is also on the list of prohibited! If you need to perform movements in an emphasis on your knees, then your back should be flat. The exception is the cervical region. From a standing position, you can also not lean forward on straight legs, rounding your back.
	Absolutely all exercises that are performed in a sitting position are dangerous for the spine with lower back problems. Exercise therapy should consist of 20% of exercises in a standing position and 80% of lying down.

All parts of the spine

The photo gallery below of prohibited exercises for diseases spinal column does not need additional comments.

Will have to give up playing football, volleyball, basketball and tennis. Cycling - after consulting a doctor

And in conclusion, we recall once again that physical therapy exercises will be useful and effective only if the therapy plan with their help is developed by the attending physician, taking into account all the nuances of the state of health and individual characteristics of the development of the disease.

Did you leave the gym with back pain? We know this: a sharp pain pierces your back and you, leaving a workout, hobble to the house, and the question: “Why does it hurt like hell?” is soon replaced by the question: "How long will I endure this?". At the same time, the majority mistakenly blame the pain on the exercise after which it appeared - and this is not always correct. The key to such injuries is a sedentary lifestyle. Sitting in the car or at the desk in the office, you are already laying the groundwork for future back injuries. According to Mary Ann Wilmarth, Ph.D., physical therapist and founder of Back2Back, sitting puts stress on the spine and requires continuous tension on the back muscles. Therefore, some exercises can be compared to the last straw that broke the camel's back. But if you can’t avoid a sedentary lifestyle, try at least once and for all to exclude the following exercises from your workout:

DANGER: Sitaps

Hands clasped behind your head, a tense back and a school friend sitting on your shins - this exercise is familiar to everyone from physical education lessons. And it is one of the most harmful for your spine. At the very least, if your hands are squeezing your neck, it puts unnecessary pressure on upper part spine. (Technically, it can even cause a herniated disc.)

It is necessary that your body is set in motion by the muscles of the abdomen and back, and not by the arms. If you feel tired, take a break.

USEFUL: Pilates

According to Mary-Louise Bird, PhD from the University of British Columbia (Canada), our muscles do not cope with the load as well as we think. Pilates is aimed at improving the interaction between the head and the body - it teaches, in particular, how to correctly strain the muscles, avoiding injury.

Mary Louise Bird: In fact, doing Pilates, you teach the muscles to properly accept the load. As a result, you not only reduce the risk of back injury, but also treat your spine - according to the Journal of Sport Rehabilitation, Pilates can treat lower back pain.

DANGEROUS: Military Barbell Press

As with sit-ups, they are harmless in and of themselves if done correctly. But it is very easy to make a mistake here and the price of a mistake can be high.

Mary Ann Wilmarth, Physiotherapist:

USEFUL: Plank

Performing the plank also puts strain on the back muscles, but unlike the barbell, the plank static exercise, which minimizes the risk of injury.

Mary Louise Bird: The bar creates a uniform load on the muscles of the abdomen and back, strengthening and protecting them from damage.

DANGEROUSLY:

Of all the leg machines, this one is the most dangerous!

It looks cool, no doubt - but hurts the back. According to Wilmarth, exercising on such a machine - when your legs are higher than your head - requires you to keep your back still at an unusual angle. Of all the leg machines, this one is the most dangerous. In addition to the risk of damaging the muscles, you can also earn a number of back injuries that you will not even know about - they will appear later.

Mary Ann Wilmarth, Physiotherapist: Lifting heavy weights over your head puts a lot of strain on your vertebrae. For beginner powerlifters, spinal injuries are the biggest threat.

USEFUL: Balance exercises

Can you close your eyes and accurately hit the tip of your nose with your finger? Or is it easy to balance while standing on one leg? Such skills are due to what doctors call the term "proprioception", or a sense of the position of the body in space. According to Alan Resnick, Ph.D., an orthopedic surgeon from Connecticut (USA), proprioception helps to avoid loss of balance and movements that could potentially lead to back injuries. To develop this "sixth sense" there are special techniques. Resnick recommends an exercise in which you stand on one leg and raise the other leg high, bent at the knee, for ten seconds, after which you switch legs - and so on ten repetitions once a day.

DANGER: Incorrect barbell squats

As you already understood, working with a barbell is always a risk of getting back problems. Though squatting - and great exercise, any minor mistake (or decision to take too big weight) may result in injury.

Mary Ann Wilmarth, Physiotherapist: Most often, beginners face injuries, confident that the wrong execution technique will not lead to serious problems. It often doesn't work - and the fact that you've been injury-free so far doesn't necessarily mean you're doing it right. As for the optimal weight for squatting with a barbell, you need to start with the number of kilograms that you weigh yourself.

USEFUL: Yoga

Like Pilates, yoga improves the strength and flexibility of the spine and back muscles. Wilmart especially recommends two poses, Camel Pose and Child Pose, which are great for stretching your back and protecting it from injury.

Ecology of life: Health. Try to avoid these exercises or do them correctly so as not to harm your health.

We talked a lot about mass useful exercises that will improve your health, you can lose weight, get in great shape. But, we have never talked about what not to do in gym and even more so at home. Therefore, this article will focus on exactly this topic - harmful exercises that can cripple, bring pain to your body, and adversely affect your health in general.

Harmful exercise

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We all know that exercise stress good for health, as it strengthens the muscles, tendons, spine and joints. But, even the wrong execution morning exercises can lead to irreversible consequences, therefore, we decided to collect for you popular harmful exercises that you probably often do out of ignorance.

Harmful exercises for the spine

The back and spine are the most vulnerabilities on the human body. It is enough to twitch sharply, and you will immediately get a stretch. We present you a list of the most dangerous exercises for the back.

1. Lumbar bends. Such deflections are contraindicated for those people who have any back problems. The fact is that such deflections can reach the very spine, as they say, to the bones, and if you have a displacement, curvature, or something else, then you can only make it worse. You must understand that this does not mean that you do not need to do these backbends. Just don't do them abruptly and the amplitude should be small.
2. Inclinations, oddly enough, can also bring a bad imprint on your health, if done incorrectly. And if you decide to do twisting with a sore back when bending over, then you fall into a special risk group.
3. Twisting the back and shoulder girdle can also be harmful to health, therefore, they must be done slowly and without straining the back muscles. Such an exercise from useful often becomes harmful due to improper twisting.
4. Try to avoid exercises in which you need to lift or strain both legs at the same time. They are often recommended for training the abdominal muscles, without thinking about how they affect the back. When working the hips in this exercise, the load always goes to the lower back.
5. When you perform an exercise where you need to reach your toes with your hands, then there is a special load on your back. Hard-to-reach muscles are tensed, which is very good, since they also get a workout. But if you pull them, the pain can stay in your body for months.

Harmful leg and knee exercises

In addition to the back, the legs can also suffer, they are also at risk. Let's take a look at the most dangerous exercises that can cause harm if done carelessly.

1. Deep squats. They are quite difficult to do, although they have a positive effect on health. But, if you do deep squats incorrectly, you can damage your knees, as they are at risk. Just remember that you don't need to bend your knees more than 90 degrees, and the buttocks should be at their level. Only in this case, the chance of harming yourself is minimized, but many “athletes” of home origin try to wipe the ground with their booty, and they think that this will make them slimmer.
2. Tilts to the feet sitting position. This is a popular exercise, but it has its drawbacks. When you do it in a sitting position, then knee joints experience incredible stress if the legs are straightened. Therefore, no matter what you are told, when doing this exercise knees should be slightly bent.
3. Any tilting with the rotation of the body is also dangerous. This exercise is at risk not only because of the back, but also because of the knees, which can get injured.

Harmful exercise

There are a few more common harmful exercises that should not be done.

1. Don't lift heavy weights. Many novice athletes think that if they take heavier dumbbells, if they lift the barbell, they will become stronger. But in fact, it is on this exercise that many people get injuries that do not allow them to practice any sport at all.
2. If you have problems with your legs, then you should not run, in the hope that training will reduce the problems. On the contrary, you just add them to yourself.
3. Rope jumping. It should be noted here that by themselves, jumping rope is not harmful, but how you land is important. In no case should you jump on the entire foot, that is, it should not be in the same position. Just like walking. You must jump on your toes, then do not damage your spine, knee joints, and internal organs. Do the exercises correctly and you won't get hurt.

Now you know the most harmful exercises. Try to avoid them, or do them correctly so as not to harm your health. Take care of yourself and be happy!