13 Worst Exercises to Skip & Avoid (Stay Injury-Free)

This exercise can put undue strain on your muscles and spine from the forward craning of the neck and unnatural shoulder rotation.

Front of the Neck Lat Pulldowns is proven to be more efficient in muscle stimulation.

With this lat pulldown alternative, you can feel confident that your muscles are targeted efficiently without risking injury [1].

Remember to use proper form to not put excessive pressure on the lower back and pelvis.

How to do lat pulldowns:

1. Set up the weight to your desired amount of resistance and adjust the pad to sit on your thighs.
2. Place your hands outside the bend of the bar.
3. Sit down ensuring your torso is upright and pull down to the top of the chest.
4. Pause for one to three seconds, then push your arms back up under control.
5. Repeat until you reach the desired amount of reps.

3. Dumbbell Side Bends

One of the main drawbacks of this exercise is that it involves excessive lateral bending and spine twisting, which will put unwanted strain on other parts of the body.

Maintaining your spine properly aligned can be challenging, which is crucial for isolating the obliques and getting the most out of the exercise.

If you want to engage your core muscles without putting undue stress on your spine, try the hanging oblique knee raises instead.

This exercise allows you to target your obliques while boosting your balance level.

It is essential to maintain steadiness in the movement as a swing-like movement can cause injuries.

How to do the hanging oblique knee raises:

1. Hang on a pull-up bar. Keep your body straight and your feet and knees together.
2. Move the legs upward, keeping your knees in line with your right arm creating a ninety degrees angle with your hips.
3. Slowly retract them back down to the starting position to alternate to the left arm side in the same manner.
4. Repeat until you reach the desired number of reps.

“The hanging knee raise is an efficient and effective core exercise that increases functional strength, muscular development, and control in your abdominal muscles. This exercise is great for improving grip strength since you’re hanging by your own grip throughout each set.”

- Tyler Read, Editor at Healthline.com

It may seem like a great exercise for shapely glutes, but studies show that it can cause injuries such as iliotibial band syndrome [2,3].

If you want to build booty gains and prevent injuries, ditch the hip abduction machine and try some functional exercises that mimic natural movement patterns, such as squats, hip thrusts, and deadlifts with a resistance band.

How to do banded hip thrusts:

1. Sit on a bench and loop each end of the resistance band around your feet. Then, center the band in the middle.
2. Grab the band in a U-shape and pull it up onto your knees and sit it down on your waist.
3. Keep your knees at a ninety degrees position, scoot away from the bench, and get the middle of your back onto the bench, while keeping your feet underneath your knees.
4. Thrust your hips forward and pause for three seconds while squeezing your glutes.
5. Bring your hips back down to return to the starting position.
6. Repeat until you reach the desired number of reps.

5. Barbell Jump Squats

Barbell jump squats can put a strain on your lower back and joints. Body weight jump squats or adjusting the placement of the weight can help you achieve the benefits of barbell jump squats without discomfort.

How to do jump squats:

1. Place your feet slightly wider than hip-width apart.
2. Lower yourself into a squat, keeping the pressure on the high and glutes, and bringing your hands in front of you.
3. Push through your heels to jump up.
4. Land softly to go back to the squatting position.
5. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.

“This exercise uses your lower body muscles as well as your core: abdominals, glutes, hamstrings, and lower back. The squat jump exercise ranks near the top of the list for developing explosive power using only an athlete's body weight.”

- Elizabeth Quinn, Editor at Verywellfit.com

Sit-ups are not a functional movement of the human body and can harm your spinal health due to repetitive flexion on the midline.

Plus, sit-ups can exacerbate the issue if you're dealing with Diastasis Recti or kyphosis.

As an alternative, try incorporating leg lifts into your exercise routine - they are a safer and more effective way to strengthen your core without harming your spine.

How to do leg lifts:

1. Lay on your back, place your hands by your sides and head relaxed firmly on the ground.
2. Keep your back firmly pressed to the floor and extend your legs up.
3. Slowly lower the legs halfway.
4. Repeat as many reps as you comfortably can.

7. Smith Machine

​​The Smith machine is considered unsafe due to its increased risk of injury as it forces your body into a fixed bar path, which can lead to suboptimal positions and overloading of the joints.

Removing the major benefits of free weights, such as the need for stabilization, the smith machine restricts natural movement and can lead to accidents.

Instead, it's recommended to use alternative equipment such as kettlebells, resistance bands and dumbbells.

Functional movements like pulls, presses, squats, and lunges allow for a more natural range of motion and reduce the chance of injury.

How to do a dumbbell squat:

1. Stand up straight holding a dumbbell in each hand with your feet hip-width apart and toes slightly pointing outwards while.
2. Inhale as you slowly lower your torso by bending the knees until your thighs are parallel to the floor while maintaining a straight posture.
3. Exhale as you straighten your leg to go back to the starting position.
4. Repeat until you reach the desired number of reps.

The upright row can put unnecessary pressure on your nerves when you lift the weight toward your chin, potentially leading to a rotator cuff injury.

Fortunately, there's a safer alternative: the face pull with a rope attachment.

How to do face pull with a rope attachment:

1. Set up your pulley so that it’s about chest height.
2. Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, grab the rope attachment with an overhand grip, and take two steps back facing the pulley.
3. Pull the rope towards your face while keeping the elbows higher than your wrists.
4. Come back forward to the starting position.
5. Repeat as many reps as you comfortably can.

9. Bicep Curl

The bicep curl comes with some potential drawbacks related to posture and form as your shoulders are forced into an extreme level of internal rotation.

As a result, your rotator cuff is placed in a compromised position, increasing the likelihood of shoulder impingement and discomfort.

Additionally, the bicep curl exercise doesn't offer the full range of motion that a weight-based curl does.

For a safe and effective way to tone your biceps, you may want to consider bicep curls with dumbbells.

How to do a bicep curl with dumbbells:

1. Hold one dumbbell in each hand, place your arms in a neutral position hanging by your sides, and stand with your feet hip-width apart.
2. Curl the dumbbells up to your shoulder level while keeping a relaxed and stable upper body.
3. Rotate your hands back down to the starting position.
4. Perform the desired repetitions.

“This exercise is generally recommended for most people. But if you have an arm injury or experience pain during the motion, do not continue. You can expect to feel fatigue and even burning in your biceps and forearm muscles after a few lifts, and this is desired to get your muscles to strengthen and grow.”

- Paul Rogers, Editor at Verywellfit.com 

Leg extensions put unnecessary tension on the anterior cruciate ligament and increase the risk of patella displacement, but it also places maximal force on the thinnest portion of your knee cartilage called the knee cap.

Exercises such as squats, deadlifts, lunges, and Bulgarian split squats offer safer and more effective options for those seeking to strengthen their quads and glutes.

How to do a lunge:

1. Place one foot in front of the other.
2. Drop your upper body straight down with your chest up and knees behind your toes.
3. Repeat until you reach the desired amount of reps and switch to the other leg.

11. Superman

This exercise can cause back pain as it forces your lower back to overextend repetitively.

The reverse back extension is a safer alternative that doesn’t contribute to bad patterns and won't force your lower back to overextend.

How to do reverse back hyperextension: 

1. Lay face down on a hyperextension machine or bench with your hips against the hip support pad and hands holding the ankle pads.
2. Extend your legs until your body is parallel to the floor.
3. Hold for a second then bring your legs back toward the base of the bench to return to the starting position.
4. Repeat reverse hyperextension until you reach the desired amount of repetitions.

The kipping pull-ups can put a lot of stress on your shoulders as you’re hanging from a bar. Instead, opt for the conventional pull-up.

It is a more beneficial exercise without risking injury.

How to do pull-ups:

1. Place your hands on a bar shoulder-width apart with your palm facing forward.
2. Pull your body weight up towards the bar until the bar is at chin level
3. Lower yourself back down in a controlled manner until your arms are fully extended.
4. Repeat as many reps as you comfortably can.

13. Chair Dips

Bench/chair dips can harm your shoulder joints due to the internal rotation of your shoulders.

To prevent any potential injury or discomfort, try incorporating triceps extensions to target those muscles without unnecessary strain.

How to do triceps extension:

1. Stand or sit down on a bench and grab one dumbbell.
2. Bring the weight over your head. Keeping your elbows close to your ears and pointing forward, fully extend both arms.
3. Slowly lower the weight, bringing the dumbbell behind your head.
4. Come back up to reverse the movement.

“Doing the triceps extension while standing challenges you to engage the core to stabilize the lower and mid-body while you move both arms simultaneously over your head.”

- Malia Erey, Personal Trainer & Editor at Verywellfit.com

Working out requires energy, so taking days off between workouts is important for your body to recover and rebuild muscle tissue.

Aim for 1-2 rest days per week, depending on activity level.

Taking the time to rest in between sets gives your body and mind a chance to recover from the physical and mental strain of exercise.

During this recovery period, your muscles can repair themselves, rebuild strength and prepare for the next set.

Failing to rest properly in between sets can cause fatigue and increase your risk of injury [4].

The best way to ensure proper recovery is to allow at least one minute of rest in between each set.

This will help you maximize your results while avoiding any potential muscle soreness or burnout.

4. Improper Breathing

When you don’t breathe correctly, it can cause your heart rate to spike and negatively affect the quality of your workout.

When lifting weights, for example, you should always exhale as you lift the weight and then inhale as you lower the weight.

This will help ensure proper oxygen flow throughout your body and help prevent fatigue.

Additionally, make sure that you’re taking deep breaths during cardio exercises like running or cycling to keep your heart rate in check and positively affect the quality of your workout.

5. Lifting Heavier than Your Max Capacity

This is one of the most common mistakes I notice at the gym.

Starting too intense can lead to burnout or even injury.

Start slowly and gradually increase intensity over time rather than going all out immediately.