10 Weight Training Exercises to Avoid If You Want to Build Muscle Fast

Exercise selection is a critical aspect to any training program. This keeps lifters constantly in search of the next greatest workout routine or exercise. In that search for exercises to build muscle and burn fat people come across a few exercises to be avoided if t want to add more muscle mass quickly and safely. This article lists 10 exercises that are to never be in your workout routine.

In general you are going to want to stay away from any bodybuilding or weight training programs that relies heavily on isolation exercises or weight training machines. Basically any program that falls into this category is a complete waste of your time.

To be a little more specific the following 10 exercises are to never be included in any of your workout programs, that is if you're looking to build muscle mass as quick as possible.

1. Starting off the list is the leg extension. This one is deceiving as it gives you a good burn but it is utterly useless. There is absolutely no carryover between your leg extension strength and any other exercise in the gym. As mentioned before this is an isolation exercise and that's on our list of exercises to avoid. Another reason to avoid this exercise is because of the shearing force it creates on your knees. This may be the most stressful exercise there is for the knee there is in the gym.

Instead of the leg extension opt for a compound exercise such as the front squat. Squats are an excellent exercise to develop your quads. The front squat tends to place a little extra stress on the front of your leg if you're looking for even more quad activation.

2. At number two and not far behind is the Smith machine squat. If you're looking to add as much muscle mass as possible the squat is an excellent exercise but just not in a Smith machine.

The problem with this exercise is that you are locked into a particular movement pattern that's not natural, and this creates a lot of stress on your knees. Another drawback to the Smith machine is a lack of core stabilization. The regular squat requires your core, low back and abs to stabilize your spine. You lose this benefit when you're locked into a machine. This can lead to severe imbalances and injuries.

Though this does not make my list absolutely no exercise should be performed in the Smith machine, with the exception of push-ups and invert it rows. These two exercises are fine because its your body moving not the bar and the weight stack.

So add to the Smith machine to the no go exercise list and include bench pressing and shoulder pressing in the smith machine. Again your body is not needed to stabilize the weight and is locked in a pattern which can develop imbalances that will later cause injury.

3. Initiating squats with the knees. A proper squat is initiated with the hips sitting back. Many people initiate the squat with a bending of the knees and push them forward. There are two problems with this method. First and most important is that it adds unnecessary stress to your knees. Secondly it doesn't recruit the glutes and hamstrings as much, limiting the amount you can squat.

4. Bench dips are to to be avoided. I do have to admit that I use to do these to work my triceps at one time. But now that I'm older and wiser, I know better. To make it worse I use to stack plate upon plate on my lap to make it more difficult.

The problem with these kinds of dips is that it puts your shoulder in a bad position leaving it susceptible to injury. I know you can get a great pump from it, but down the road it can lead to serious shoulder issues. Parallel bar dips and close grip bench are effective alternatives to work your triceps, and are both much safer and easier on your shoulders.

5. Not every gym has this machine, and that's a good thing. The back extension exercise machine is a definite apparatus to stay away from. The problem with this machine is that you are loading your spine and low back while it's in the hyper extended position. This puts unnecessary stress on your vertebrate. This exercise is so bad I don't think that any gyms even have this machine.

If you're looking for exercise to work your low back compound movements are best, like the dead lift and squat. If you do one isolation exercise that will strengthen your low back stick with our RDL's or reverse hyper extensions.

6. This next exercise is predominantly done by women but again is a waste of your time. Abduction and adduction machines, you know the machine, the one where you open and close your legs. This exercise is just plain useless and won't build your leg muscles, help you tone your legs, or burn an fat.

Most people have an imbalance between the two movements, working this machine does nothing to fix the problem but may actually create more of an imbalance. You're best to just keep on moving.

7. Ab machines are doing you a disservice. Your core is meant to function as a stabilizer. So working your abs in isolation like you do on a machine is not how they do their job. Many of the machines attempt to take the hip flexors out of the movement but in reality your abs don't work that way. Your core is meant to protect her spine so it is best to do exercises that do just that.

Why not try front and side planks or dead lifts and squats without a belt. This will definitely work your core muscles the way they are designed to.

8. The lat pull down behind the head can cause some serious damage to your shoulders and in particular your rotator cuff. There is absolutely no reason to do this exercise. The same goes for pull-ups, there is no benefit to go behind your neck. The same goes for the shoulder press. Keep the bar in font of your body. Much safer on your neck and shoulders.

9. The ab twist machine is a killer too. Having your lower body fixed and rotating your upper body against heavy weight is hard on your lower back. Your core is designed to resist motion not create it.

Instead try chops or static hold against resistance. This is much safer and effective for core development.

10. This last exercise, although safe irritates me every time I see it. That is the triceps kickback. Doing this exercise while lunging doesn't make it any better. I see this move in aerobics classes all the time and it just makes me wonder who runs these classes. It's not going to help you lose weight or tone up your arms. Get rid of it.

If you're looking to get big and strong or want horseshoe shaped triceps, this will not do it. With those 5 or so minutes that you waste doing this useless exercise you could have done a few sets of close grip push-ups and have gotten much better results.

There you have it, 10 exercises to avoid if you're looking to add more muscle mass and get big and get a better workout.

These weight training exercises are not listed in any particular order, they are all to be avoided equally. There are many more exercise not included on this list but these are some of the more common ones I see limiting people from getting results in the gym. So if you have these in your current workout routine it is time to scrap them and implement the changes I have suggest.


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