The Common Lifting Mistakes To Avoid! (Are You Guilty Of These?) | Lifting Guide

 In this article, today, we will be going over 20 things that people commonly do in the gym, things that you might be doing right now during your workouts, but that are ultimately Mistakes You Should Avoid. This will be a mixed bag that includes certain exercises that you'll be best off steering clear of effective exercises but that people very commonly need to do better. And I'm even going to throw in a few gym etiquette mistakes here, too. So, I've got 20 points to cover here. And let me know in the comments which ones you think are the worst or if there's anything else you would add to this list.

 If you're new here, then hit that subscribe button below and turn on notifications to stay up to date on future articles. And let's jump into it. All right, mistake number one on the list, one that might ruffle some feathers right off the bat because it's a really popular exercise, and that is front raises. Now, it's not that front raises are going to hurt you. But in the majority of cases, they're just unnecessary because most lifters already get more than enough front delt stimulation through all of their basic chest and shoulder pressing exercises, and their front delts are already overdeveloped in comparison to the side and rear heads, which are a lot more important for achieving that round, sort of CAP shoulder look. 

So if you insist on doing front raises, that's ultimately up to you. But aside from a very small percentage of cases, you're wasting your time and effort overall. Number two is a Bosu ball squat or a Bosu ball, whether standing on a BOSU ball and doing curls or overhead presses or using it for chest presses or push-ups. Okay, this doesn't improve the functionality of the exercise; it doesn't increase muscle stimulation or do anything useful. It puts you in a less stable position and reduces the force you can generate against the weight. So forget the bosu ball; you don't need it; exercise on a solid, steady surface. 

Number three is reverse grip triceps extensions. Using your reverse grip has no beneficial effect on activating your triceps. It doesn't hit the triceps any differently or in some special, unique way, and there's no advantage to it. However, there is a disadvantage: it puts your grip into a weaker position and makes the exercise more awkward to perform. If you want to maximize the stress on your triceps, there's no reason not to use a standard neutral or pronated grip. And you can use the grip that feels most comfortable for you. Number four is flaring your elbows out during chest pressing exercises. 

When you flare your elbows directly out to your sides at 90 degrees, or even worse, if you position your elbows behind your body, you will be putting a lot of stress on your shoulder joints, which can add up over time. So, make sure to tuck your elbows slightly at roughly a 75-degree angle. Number five is using excessive spotter assistance during your sets. So I see this in the gym where someone loads up way more weight than they can handle. Then, their spotter has their hands on the bar, helping them with every exercise rep. Now, this needs to be clarified. 

If your spotter has to assist you right from the get-go, then the weight is too heavy, and you need to lighten it up and use a weight you can handle on your own through a full range of motion. Not only do you look like a complete goofball when you train this way, but it also increases your chances for injury and prevents you from accurately tracking progressive overload because you can specifically measure how much weight you're lifting versus how much the spotter is lifting. 

So, aside from the odd time when a spotter might assist you on the last rep of an exercise, you should only do some reps with others. Number six is the cable squat. So, this is an exercise that women tend to gravitate towards. And I see it being shown in many of these Instagram booty workouts and YouTube glute-building tutorials. And I see it being done in the gym all the time as well. The problem with this exercise is that the resistance line needs to pull in the right direction. 

It puts minimal tension on your quads and glutes because it's pulling your body forward towards the machine. If you want to train your quads using a cable machine, you should be standing right up close to the machine so that the resistance is pulling in the right direction. However, cables are not the best tool for quad training overall. There are much better exercises; number seven is a gym etiquette mistake: lifting directly in front of the dumbbell rack. When you stand right in front of the dumbbells doing your curls, shoulder raises, or whatever else, you're blocking other people from getting in. And then they must stand there waiting for you to finish before they can get to the dumbbells.

 So, grab the dumbbells you need, take a couple of steps back and leave enough room for people to get in and out of the rack. If you have enjoyed this article, hit that Like button below to let me know. I appreciate the support. And number eight is standing dumbbell external rotations. So, a lot of people use this as a shoulder warmup. I even see more experienced lifters doing this, too. And personal trainers, you know, train their clients using this exercise. But this movement makes no sense. If you want to stimulate the rotator cuff, the resistance must be pulled. 

Meanwhile, with dumbbells, gravity pulls straight down toward the floor. Justisometrically contracting your biceps and your front delts. Now, external rotations are a great warmup movement. But to warm up your shoulders with this, you need to use a cable or a resistance band, or you can do it with dumbbells, but you need to be lying on your side. Number nine is the behind-the-neck pull-down. Not only does this exercise put your shoulders into an awkward, excessively externally rotated position, but there's no advantage to it compared to a standard pull down to your upper chest. 

Now, I'm not saying you're guaranteed to get hurt doing this, but there's no good reason to do lat pull-downs this way in the first place. It's riskier but with no real reward; number 10 is plate exercises, another common trend you'll find on Instagram these days. Because, hey, there are only so many barbell and dumbbell exercises you can show your audience. So, I'll get creative purely for being creative. Even if there's no inherent advantage to the exercise, which in this case, there isn't, plates are just more awkward to grip; they make it harder to apply progressive overload. It's great for clicks and views from beginning lifters who need to learn better because of the novelty factor. But ultimately, there's no point to this. 

Alright, number 11 is performing leg presses with your hands on your knees. This is another bizarre lifting technique that I always see in the gym. If you have to press with your hands on your knees to lift the weight, then the weight is just too heavy in the first place. Or the weight isn't too heavy, and you're just making the exercise easier for yourself and reducing its effectiveness. Not to mention that for proper leg pressing form, you want to hold on to the handles so that your lower back stays firmly planted in the seat with your hands on your knees; your lower back will be much more likely to roll backwards. 

And that's going to increase your chances of injury. You know, you'd never do dumbbell curls and then use your opposite arm to help out on every single rep. And so there's no reason to do leg presses that way. Either number 12 is a combo exercise, whether a squat into a lateral raise, a lunge into an overhead press, or a row into a biceps curl. These movements might look cool on Instagram. And they seem innovative and unique on the surface. But there's no good reason to do your exercises this way. 

And that's because your strength will differ depending on the movement pattern you're performing. And sometimes very significantly if you're combining compounds and isolations. So, using the same weight for two movements like this makes no sense since one will be under-trained relative to the other. So, instead, do one movement, use the appropriate resistance you can handle for that specific movement, and then do the next movement separately. Use the appropriate resistance you can handle, alternating back and forth between different movement patterns in the same exercise. 

There's no point to that. Okay, number 13 another gym etiquette mistake. And that is a super setting between multiple pieces of gym equipment simultaneously. Now, if the gym is quiet and you know you're using machines that don't get much traffic, it's probably not a big deal. But otherwise, don't be the guy who loads up the leg press, drapes his towel over the seat and then walks to the other side of the gym to claim some other piece of equipment or even multiple pieces of equipment, and then super sets back and forth between all of them. There's no real advantage to super sets in the first place other than potentially as a time saver. And it could be better etiquette. Suppose you're forcing someone else to wait for you to complete your sequence of three exercises before they can access the equipment you're using. Number 14 is excessively heavy lateral raises. 

So lateral raises are a great exercise to target the side delts, but they put the shoulder into a more vulnerable position overall. You'll want to stick with a more moderate weight for slightly higher reps on these. And you might be fine for the short term, but it will eventually catch up. Grabbing onto a pair of heavy dumbbells and heating them around using a ton of momentum is a bad idea; hey, you don't need to do 50-pound lateral raises to stimulate shoulder gains effectively. So focus on technique and control with ease. I would always go about eight reps per set in perfect form. And more like 10 to 12 reps per set and higher is ideal most of the time. Number 15 is dumbbell Triceps Kickbacks. Now, if you liked this exercise, I'm not saying you can't do it; it does work your triceps to a certain extent. But they're much better options. Overall, dumbbell kickbacks have an awkward resistance curve where, at the bottom, they're really easy, and there's almost no tension on the triceps. 

And then, as you kick the weight back, it suddenly becomes much harder. So it's easiest in the position where your triceps are the strongest, and then it's hardest where your triceps are the weakest. If you're going to do kickbacks, I suggest using cables because that will allow for a much more natural resistance curve. And you'll find that it feels smoother and more natural. Overall, number 16 is upright rows using an excessive range of motion. So, pull the weight up to your neck with your elbows up towards your ears. So, if you're going to do upright rows at all, the weight should ideally be pulled no higher than to the point where your elbows are in line with your shoulders. And it would help if you were using moderate weight for slightly higher reps.

 Otherwise, you're running the risk of injury since the full range of motion upright rows for most people put their shoulders into an awkward, internally rotated position. Using really heavy weights adds to the stress. Now, some people can do a full range of motion in upright rows with no problem, but for the majority, it's probably something you'll be best off avoiding. Wait, number 17 is the rolling dumbbell shrug. Now, this isn't as common in gyms as it used to be, but it's where someone performs a shrug and then rolls their shoulders in a circular motion, either backwards or forward. Ultimately, there's no point to this because the resistance pulls down in a straight line. And so, the only way to work your traps is by moving your shoulders straight up and down; rolling your shoulders around doesn't add anything to the exercise. Alright, number 18, the gym is adequate again. The one that drives me the most insane is people who don't rerack their weights after being in gyms for over 20 years. 

Now, I'm pretty much at the point of supporting life imprisonment for people who do this, people who blatantly load up barbells or dumbbells or whatever else, perform their sets, and then walk away, leaving the weights for somebody else to clean up. Now, I understand that the laws of physics are highly complex and not yet fully understood. But from a probability standpoint, weight plates generally only spontaneously rock themselves with human intervention. So there is no excuse here; don't be that guy. If you were capable of loading up the bar, then you're capable of unloading it as well. Rocking your weights is a basic common courtesy. Number 19 is the standing plate press; this exercise feels like it's hitting your chest hard. 

But that's only because you're forcefully squeezing your hands together; you can get the same effect by sitting there with no weight and doing the same thing. The standing plate press doesn't work your chest effectively because the resistance pulls in the wrong direction. It needs to be pulled back toward your body. But instead, it's pulling straight down toward the floor. It's just an isometric contraction for the front delts. If you want to do plate presses, they must be done lying down. But standard free-weight presses are going to be superior either way. And finally, number 20 is side bends using a weight in both hands. I'm not a fan of side bends in the first place because they're much better exercises to train your obliques if that's an area you want to train in the first place. 

For example, the cable choppers or twisting rope crunches will be much better exercised. But side bends are especially bad if you're holding a weight in both hands because the weight on one side is a counterbalance. And so you're getting little of a training effect. You're aimlessly moving your body from side to side and more or less completely wasting your time. So those are the 20 mistakes I've got for you today. I could easily list 100 More of these if I sat down and took the time. There needs to be more accurate information out there when it comes to effective muscle-building training. 

And if you want to make sure that you're on the right path toward your goal physique, using legit evidence-based principles that work without all the gimmicky nonsense, head over to Shawn nell.com/custom. Fill out the short form there, and I'll send you back a solid structured plan that you can follow 100% Free based on your current condition, goals and experience level. This includes not just a training plan but a nutrition plan you can click here. We'll use the link in the description box below regarding effective supplementation.