what exercise is most often done horribly incorrectly?

[#1can]

my vote goes to cleans. some people just can't do them.

today at the gym i saw some guy doing a combo deadlift/reverse curl that i assume he thought was approximately a power clean. it was also almost a crunch at the top of the motion because his hips were so far in front of his feet and shoulders.

honourable mention (of course): squat

any other funny ones?

 

[CarnalSalvation]

I have to go with the bench press, if only because it is done so much more often than the other lifts, and usually with terrible form.

Prison/Football Bench-Unrack, unlock your elbows, sink bar 3-12" into your chest, push bar back up, and put it in the rack as soon as possible (before lockout obviously!). If you haven't managed to bench more than the guy next to you yet, simply lift your ass off the bench as far as you need to in order to cut the ROM enough for you to bench more than him.

Team Bench- Unrack, have partner do a deadlift negative to get the bar to teh chest, then have them row or shrug it off you while you push on it for them. This is a great way to overload yoru upper back if you have somebody willing to get under the big weight and humiliate themselves by pretending to bench it.

Gymrat Bench- Unrack, lower to your neck, but make sure to take about 45 seconds on the negative. Alternatively, if you don't want to injure your shoulders, you can stop when your elbows hit a 90 degree angle and just push back up from there.

 

[The Big Dipper]

Hmm I am tempted to film my bench form for critique...

 

[Alon]

Hmmm I reckon the squat, most people don't bother doing cleans but when they squat they're go down (unevenly) like they're stepping onto an alien planet, knees wobbling and stuff.

There was once this really tall, skinny (but nasty) hurdler I saw at the uni gym squatting. She loaded up 140kg without a warmup, basically sank into the pins (which weren't deep enough even for a quarter squat) then with a surprised look unloaded it, put the bar back and tried it again - failing miserably again. The funniest part about all this is that she was too much of a pro-track athlete to listen to or ask for advice.

 

[LCDforMe]

Hmm I am tempted to film my bench form for critique...

Do it.

 

[TheNerdKing]

I have to go with the bench press, if only because it is done so much more often than the other lifts, and usually with terrible form.

Prison/Football Bench-Unrack, unlock your elbows, sink bar 3-12" into your chest, push bar back up, and put it in the rack as soon as possible (before lockout obviously!). If you haven't managed to bench more than the guy next to you yet, simply lift your ass off the bench as far as you need to in order to cut the ROM enough for you to bench more than him.

Team Bench- Unrack, have partner do a deadlift negative to get the bar to teh chest, then have them row or shrug it off you while you push on it for them. This is a great way to overload yoru upper back if you have somebody willing to get under the big weight and humiliate themselves by pretending to bench it.

Gymrat Bench- Unrack, lower to your neck, but make sure to take about 45 seconds on the negative. Alternatively, if you don't want to injure your shoulders, you can stop when your elbows hit a 90 degree angle and just push back up from there.

You forgot the ego bench.

Load up a big bar with atleast 405lbs over what you can actually do.

Get under it. Have someone huge there to spot.

Unrack it and immediately drop it on your chest hard, use the bounce + hip lift to get it 4 inches off your chest.

Have the spotter save your life.

Get up and say "Damned, I almost had it. Probably would have got it if I hadn't done that 2nd warmup set @ 115."

I shit you not, I've been in the gym when this has taken place.

I laughed out loud at the guy and his stupid friend.

 

[rickdog]

I have to go with the bench press, if only because it is done so much more often than the other lifts, and usually with terrible form.

Prison/Football Bench-Unrack, unlock your elbows, sink bar 3-12" into your chest, push bar back up, and put it in the rack as soon as possible (before lockout obviously!). If you haven't managed to bench more than the guy next to you yet, simply lift your ass off the bench as far as you need to in order to cut the ROM enough for you to bench more than him.

Team Bench- Unrack, have partner do a deadlift negative to get the bar to teh chest, then have them row or shrug it off you while you push on it for them. This is a great way to overload yoru upper back if you have somebody willing to get under the big weight and humiliate themselves by pretending to bench it.

Gymrat Bench- Unrack, lower to your neck, but make sure to take about 45 seconds on the negative. Alternatively, if you don't want to injure your shoulders, you can stop when your elbows hit a 90 degree angle and just push back up from there.

YOu also forgot to mention the guys that just have plain terrible form on the bench. I have seen (mostly H.S. kids) do the bench press with a couple dimes on each side, unrack the weight, bring it down, bring up right arm to lockout, now start working on left arm until spotter grabs it and finishes rep for him. Then he decides to go for a second rep. They are lucky they are so weak, that way no serious injuries are incured.

 

[Noskill]

People who bench with their legs in the air, as in at the top portion of a lying leg raise. Those guys participate in natural selection.

Powerclean probably win for ugliness though.

 

[CarnalSalvation]

Yeah, but who the fuck cares about powercleans? That's like saying people are doing their cable crossovers all wrong. it might be true, but it doesn't really matter either.

 

[Alon]

Yeah, but who the fuck cares about powercleans? That's like saying people are doing their cable crossovers all wrong. it might be true, but it doesn't really matter either.

Go collect piss

 

[-V-MuayThai-V-]

Another good one is the lateral pull-down, where they swing their whole body back to try to pull it down. I've seen a guy doing a cable row and instead of sitting up straight and pulling the weight with his arms he'd just swing all the way back and almost lie down as he let the weight pull him back up, it was horrible, I was waiting for him to destroy his spine.

Also, when I see someone do a set of curls after their bench press they swing the weight back. I just wonder, were people always this stupid or are we about to have a horrible horrible epedemic of lower back injuries?

 

[Lard-ass]

I just cant get over the fact that 95% of every person I see squatting in my gym are done quarter-style with narrow stance, heels on a board, knees drifting forward. Its scary to think that this is the people who actually squat, the rest dont even bother.

 

[thecas]

Another good one is the lateral pull-down, where they swing their whole body back to try to pull it down. I've seen a guy doing a cable row and instead of sitting up straight and pulling the weight with his arms he'd just swing all the way back and almost lie down as he let the weight pull him back up, it was horrible, I was waiting for him to destroy his spine.
?

Why cant he be intentionally working out his back muscles, like those which will help you pull a heavy bag r something, where it is not possible to push?

 

[yomon]

pushups

people generaly suck unless given instruction. and for the love of crap stop looking at the damn floor during pushups.

 

[fat_wilhelm]

Another good one is the lateral pull-down

FYI... "Lat" stands for "latimus dorsi" not "lateral".

I've got to agree w/ Carnal on the bench, just for the sheer variety of ways you can fuck it up.

Last year, I had to save two guys' lives almost simultaneously. These dudes who are notorious for trying to bench more weight than they can handle were on separate benches. I was at the squat rack just watching out of the corner of my eye, thinking that this was going to be disastrous. Note that neither would ever ask for a spot up front despite my insistance many times that they do so, rather than relying on someone to bail them out.

I watched one guy struggle w/ the bar on his chest for a good thirty seconds before he let out this quiet little "help". I walked over and yanked the bar off of him, turned around and heard "over here, too". Save #2, followed by a lengthy explanation of how he's fasting for Ramadan and normally he can do this weight w/ ease. Really? What about the other twelve times I saved your ass?

Then, of course, there's the guy who does ask for a spot, can't do the first rep, then says, "three more" and I'm like "what the fuck?". Suddenly, it's high pull day.

 

[Lard-ass]

LOL fat_wilhelm. "help, over here too" hahahaha

 

[graedy]

pushups

people generaly suck unless given instruction. and for the love of crap stop looking at the damn floor during pushups.

Or people repping out like crazy and then you say: "All the way down and all the way up!" - Three reps later they lay flat on the floor

 

[SmashiusClay]

pushups

people generaly suck unless given instruction. and for the love of crap stop looking at the damn floor during pushups.

I used to know a guy who'd throw his head backwards and forwards while doing pressups, once actually saw (and heard) him headbutt the floor during a PT test. Truly classic to watch.

 

[rickdog]

I used to know a guy who'd throw his head backwards and forwards while doing pressups, once actually saw (and heard) him headbutt the floor during a PT test. Truly classic to watch.

hahahahaha, looks like his momentum got the best of him.

 

[bacon]

pushups

people generaly suck unless given instruction. and for the love of crap stop looking at the damn floor during pushups.

Every year I've coached wrestling (5 yrs) I've had to spend a good half hour showing how to do a pushup properly. I then spend the rest of the season reminding/enforcing proper technique. Half the kids have their asses in the air like bike racks, the other half have their arms so far apart that their elbows don't even get close to 90 degrees on the downward motion. EVERYONE has their head in the mat. :icon_evil