DO I HAVE TO DO THIS EXERCISE?
By Andy Hillocks
After having a brief chat with a member the other day, they were having shoulder pain when benching. After analysing their form it was clear to me that they hadn’t quite got the hang of the movement pattern. Luckily at Halo we have an abundance of machines so that there is always an alternative to suit your needs. I suggested using a machine which helped understand the movement pattern and with a few tweaks we were pressing with no shoulder pain.
Don’t feel you have to do a certain exercise, for example squat, bench, deadlift. These are exercises beginners feel are a necessity within a program, but they are actually very complex, multi-joint exercises. Whether you’re bench pressing with a barbell, a machine, or a rock, your body doesn’t know, the goal should be to lift a certain load from A to B as efficiently and safely as possible.
If an exercise is causing you pain or you don’t enjoy it, why are you still doing it? Stop searching for the perfect program with the perfect exercises and focus on the best exercises that suit you and your goals and build your program around that.
About the author
After studying Sport & Exercise Science at Portsmouth University Andy realised his passion was to help the general population better their lives through health and fitness. Andy believes that training and eating nutritious foods shouldn’t be seen as a hindrance on an individual’s life, it should be seen as a way to improve it. Andy feels it’s his job as a personal trainer to educate his clients on training and nutrition so it can become an enjoyable part of their lifestyle.
