A lot of us are or have been guilty of following what we see someone else doing in the gym. You know the deal -  You see that extraordinarily fit guy or girl performing that exercise and you figure, hey if they're doing it and look like that, I'm going to do it and I'm going to look like that too. Not so fast my overly ambitious Blog buddies!

I am in the gym everyday and everyday I see 90% of the people working out, performing crazy looking and less than effective exercises or performing exercises with terrible technique & form. You know some of the people who are guilty of these fitness crimes may actually look awesome. There are a number of possibilities how this could have happened: Chances are that they're either genetically gifted, they're doing all other exercises perfectly or they're chemically enhanced. Unfortunately what works for them most probably won’t work as well for you. It’s easy to get caught up in what other people are doing, so don’t do it.

I was doing a back workout yesterday and one of the exercises that I performed was the narrow (neutral) grip pull-up. Most of you know that I love to constantly mix up training variables and may even perform an unusual looking exercise that WORKS FOR ME.

Sometimes I strap a neutral grip bar over a pull-up bar and when I reach the top portion of the exercise, I touch my forehead on the pull-up bar. It's MY way of gauging that I've reached my full range of motion for this particular exercise. I had finished and made my way over to another exercise station. Well, I guess some guy had been watching me do pull-ups and began doing what he thought was the same exact thing. 

I suddenly heard some one cry out, "That Hurts!" It was that guy! He was looking over at me and when he saw that I had received his primal screech, he said, "I tried doing those pull-up thingy's and it hurt my head when I hit the top!"

I was not only embarrassed (for him), but I couldn't believe that he would do something like that just because he saw me doing something like it. By the way, I touch my head on the pull-up bar VERY GENTLY and I wear a hat - He didn't do or have either. Again, touching my forehead is just a personal means to gauge my range during the exercise. 

Anyway, I said to him, "bro, why in heaven would you bang your head SO hard and why didn't you just ask me what I was doing?" He said, "It just looked so cool so I thought I'd give it a whirl". I had to explain to him why this might not be the most efficient exercise for him and ultimately showed him proper form using another piece of equipment.

Next thing I know, he's doing the same movement, but this time, he's tweaking his head and neck out to the sides of the pull-up bar as he reaches the top, to avoid hitting his head. He's now doing something FAR WORSE – This tweaking of the head & neck can severely damage the neck area!  He realized that he was using improper form and than decided to improvise that form to make what he'd been doing wrong, even worse. EiYeiYei!

My best advice to anyone who is a little lost when it comes to exercise selection and proper technique & form, is ask for EXPERT advice. Even if you see a trainer performing something for themselves, don't assume that they are in teaching mode. Listen we are all human and humans make mistakes. I should have been more aware that people were watching me train. I am a well known trainer and he wanted to emulate what I was doing. I would NEVER have my client touch their foreheads on the bar during a pull-up exercise.

The message here folks, is knowledge. If you want to include the most effective exercises in your workouts, go out and purchase a fitness book that has great exercise descriptions. Ask the librarian if they can recommend a good book. How about hiring a certified fitness trainer, even for one session, and have them run you through the best exercises for a major muscle group. Look for certifications like NSCA/CSCS, NASM, ACSM, ACE, etc.

From now on, when you’re in the gym, pay more attention to the movement patterns of exercises. If you notice someone performing overly funky looking movement patterns, chances are it's not a legit exercise. If you see someone that you admire performing an exercise that interests you, don’t be shy! Go up and ask them what muscles they’re working and ask them the name of the exercise – If they don’t have a name, run away. Ask them how that particular exercise manages to optimally stimulate the muscle they intended to train. If that person is well educationally well equipped and hopefully cool, they will explain the why, what & how for you.

If you need help, please call on me!

Keep Going!

James Villepigue CSCS