Personal Trainers Show 10 Mistakes We Need to Stop Making During Workouts

Getting your dream body can take much longer if you are doing your exercises incorrectly. Even if the activities seem like nothing special, mistakes can occur in something random like how you place your feet, bend your knees, or arch your back. As a result, this incorrect positioning might lead to injuries later on. So, checking to ensure you’re not making any mistakes is crucial, even if you’ve been doing the same workout forever.

Bright Side always opts for safety and effectiveness during workouts. And we feel the urge to share these tips with our readers, to make sure they get the best out of their workouts. Take notes!

1. Lat pull-downs

The most common mistakes made while doing lat pull-downs are pulling the bar down below your chest and letting your elbows move beyond your back, putting the bar behind your neck, or positioning your arms too wide.

How you should do it:

• Arch your back, to bring your chest toward the bar.
• Keep your neck aligned with your spine.
• Position your hands on the bar, just a little wider than your shoulders.
• Make sure your elbows are pointed straight down.

2. Lunges

Lunges are trickier than they seem at first. Letting your front knee collapse in, leaning forward, back leg is straight instead of being bent, front heel coming off the ground — these are the most common mistakes that many people continue to make for years!

How you should do it:

• When you step forward, make sure that your leg creates a 90° angle.
• The front knee shouldn’t go beyond your toes.
• The rear knee should be kept parallel to the ground.
• The spine should be kept straight.

3. Single-leg bridge

Many people fail to position themselves correctly while performing this challenging variation of the bridge exercise. They usually don’t keep one of their legs bent at a 90° angle, and they don’t raise their second leg high enough.

How you should do it:

• Lie on your yoga mat with your knees hip-distance apart.
• Squeeze your glutes and bring one leg toward the ceiling, keep it straight.
• Engage your hips and support yourself with your second leg that should be bent at a 90° angle.

4. Cable crunch

If while doing a cable crunch you keep your torso completely straight, move your hips back and forth, or sit on your booty — you are doing this exercise completely wrong.

How you should do it:

• Keep your hips locked.
• Lean forward at the torso.
• Crunch down by contracting your abdominals (your spine should be round). Keep your head down.
• Hold the rope handles by your ears.

5. Rope pushdowns

Here, the most common mistakes are positioning your elbows outward on the downward push, bending your back forward, forcing the weight down, and not contracting your triceps.

How you should do it:

• You are allowed to lean forward a little bit and bend your knees slightly. Position your feet less than hip-distance apart.
• Keep your elbows tucked and close to your body.
• Resist contracting your spine, instead make sure you engage your tricep muscles as you push the rope down.

6. Squats

Doing squats wrong might lead to pain in your lower back and improper weight distribution in your legs and feet. A lot of people do them while shoving their knees too far inward, which can also lead to knee injuries.

How you should do it:

• Keep your torso and back straight. Make sure your weight is in your heels.
• Track your knees over your toes.
• While squatting, let your hips go down below knee height.

7. Push-ups

Classic push-ups are not very easy to perform, which can lead to a lot of incorrect positioning, like an arched back, unengaged abdominals, and hands that are not placed parallel to your shoulders. Also, many people rush the exercise, which leads to its low effectiveness.

How you should do it:

• Lie flat on the yoga mat, place your hands at chest level, with your arms bent out at a 45° angle.
• Push yourself up with your hands, and bring your whole body up.
• Keep your spine straight, your legs aligned with the rest of your body, and your belly and pelvis tacked in.

8. Plank

Performing a plank incorrectly won’t challenge your muscles hard enough and will make all your efforts ineffective. First, you are not supposed to arch your back, as this puts pressure on your spine and arms instead of your abs. Second, some lower their hips instead, also making their core muscles less engaged.

How you should do it:

• Keep your back flat and in one line with your legs.
• Look down to bring your neck and head in alignment with your spine.
• Support yourself on your elbows, while engaging your quads, glutes, and most importantly, your core.

9. Bent-over row

Many people make their legs completely straight while performing this exercise, which makes it hard to maintain your body position and balance. Also, rounding your back is a common mistake, which can lead to severe back pain.

How you should do it:

• Keep your knees slightly bent at 15-20°.
• Keep your spine straight and your lower back in a neutral position.
• Pull your dumbbells up against your lower chest.

10. Donkey kicks

This very effective exercise can be completely spoiled by improper positioning. The most common mistake is keeping your back arched, because you are trying to bring your leg higher. Also, you are not supposed to crane your neck up or do the moves too fast.

How you should do it:

• Keep your back and neck neutral, but your core engaged.
• With your knee bent at 90°, raise your leg up and press with your foot up toward the sky.
• Align your glute with your spine.
• Squeeze this glute muscle at the top of the movement and bring the leg back.

Do you do any of these exercises? Which exercises do you find the most effective? Let’s share our opinions in the comments!