Guilty

So, I came across an AOL blog post that was basically a rip-off of a piece Men's Fitness magazine did on "Six Exercises to Avoid."

Ah yes, the dreaded Internet list. This one basically said there are six exercise machines guys tend to use a lot in gyms that they claim actually cause more injuries than using free weights.

So, decided to take a gander through and see how many of the dreaded six I'm actually doing:

Leg Extensions: Well, I'm 1-for-1. The recommendation is to do squats instead. Which quite honestly, I should be giving a try anyways.

Behind-the-neck lat pulldown: Nope. I'm a front guy, and wide grip quite frankly feels strenuous enough on my shoulders. So I switch between wide overhand grip and shoulder-width underhand grip. With that I (and probably you) lift more weight, anyways. Ego boost!

Chest fly: Crap again. But the alternate suggestion is dumbbell flys, and I've honestly never felt comfortable doing those. So I don't expect to change in the future.

Seated hip abductor: Nope. I don't like machines that remind me of medieval torture devices. Even if it's not the really bizarre ones from good movies.

Seated rotation machine: I don't even think my gym has one. If I'm going to do something like that, I'd rather just use a medicine ball.

Smith machine: I'm going to go with a no on this because it's talking about squats. I don't use a Smith for squats, but I've use it for upright rows. And I do notice I lift more weight (like 20, 25 percent more) using the Smith than with a barbell.

So, 2 for 6, and a kick in the pants to do an exercise I probably should have been doing a long time ago.