We know you’ve already got a lot on your plate and you really have to cut the fat these days. When one of the most common excuses we hear for not hitting the gym is that there isn’t enough time, productivity and efficiency are key when you work out. You have a job, family, friends, and more to deal with on a daily basis, not to mention finding an hour to head to the gym to improve your physique so you want the best bang for your buck when you’re in the gym.
After all, we’d hate for you to go to the gym for a month and not be rewarded for your work—especially if things like your diet and sleep are on point. Certain exercises, such as the ones listed below, just won’t get you results anytime soon.
“You’re wasting a lot of time and energy on things that don’t give you the desired effect when you could be putting that time and energy into much more productive exercises,” says Wayne Westcott, Ph.D., exercise science director at Quincy College in Massachusetts. He estimates that nearly half the people in the gym could substitute their usual strength training routine with better exercises to achieve their goals faster and more effectively.
Of course we want to point out that there are very few exercises that are completely useless across the board, but here are the ones that are less worthy of your time—particularly if strength is your goal.
“The primary reason I would call this move useless for most people is the fact that the Smith machine locks you into a guided bar path, which will reduce the co-contraction of the quads and hamstrings. That decreases hamstring activation because they don’t have to counteract the quads as much and the bar is already being stabilized.” – Craig Rasmussen, C.S.C.S., Training Director at Results Fitness in Newhall, CA
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Standing Chest Flye
“It doesn’t work the chest at all because the chest isn’t working against gravity. What it is working are your shoulders, holding the weights against gravity in a lateral raise position. So I’m not saying it’s a bad exercise, but people think it works your chest, and it doesn’t.” -Wayne Westcott, Ph.D., Exercise Science Director at Quincy College in Quincy, MA
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Tricep Extension or Dumbbell Kickback
“Triceps extensions or dumbbell kickback is a classic one that most people will waste a lot of time on. You can create a whole lot more of a training effect from doing things like pushups and any kind of presses. So that’s where you’re better off spending your time.” – Craig Rasmussen, C.S.C.S.
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Dumbbell-Loaded Side Bends
“Unfortunately, when you’re holding two dumbbells, one in each hand, each dumbbell counterbalances the other. There’s not much muscle effort when they balance each other out so it’s a useless exercise. People think they’re getting a workout but they’re really not.” – Wayne Westcott, Ph.D.
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Leg Extension or Leg Press
“The hamstrings are not very active at all during leg extensions or leg presses so there’s a lot of sheer force and compressive forces created on the knee. It’s better to do something like a lunge or a squat where that knee extension motion is involved, but you’re also utilizing a whole lot more muscle fibers around that joint.” – Craig Rasmussen, C.S.C.S.
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Plate-Loaded Machines
“Training on machines can be very intense and developmental of some qualities. However, in terms of efficient use of time, machines allow us to train in one plane of motion, but we move in three planes. Machines allow a primary motion in one plane, and the other two planes are stabilized by the motion or apparatus. If we train with free weights, we have to control all three planes. Using this thought process, training on machines is 33 percent as useful as training with free weights.” – Charlie Weingroff, DPT, Physical Therapist, and Performance Coach in New York, NY
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Russian Twist
“If there are any two motions that yield negative adaptations in the structures of the spine, they are loaded movements and repeated movements of trunk flexion and rotation. While these exercises, like forms of crunches and Russian twists, can be very intense, there are dozens of other options to train those spinal muscles for the same fitness without the wear and tear of the spinal structures.” – Charlie Weingroff, DPT
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Bicep Curl
“For curls, you are better off doing chinups, pullups, or various pulldown exercises because you’ve got multiple joints involved so you can use a whole lot more weight and put more stress on the target muscles. Stress is a good thing because that is what causes adaptations. There’s a time and place for those single-joint exercises, but it’s primarily for putting the icing on the cake when you’ve already got the cake baked. People make the mistake of putting the frosting on before they really have any cake.” – Craig Rasmussen, C.S.C.S.
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Pilates
“Most people who excel at Pilates already have great flexibility. While not impossible, very few people improve in Pilates when they are already inflexible. Pilates happens to be a useful warmup or cool down if coached properly, but it is a terrible waste of time for improving strength or movement in already limited individuals.” – Charlie Weingroff, DPT
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Abductor/Adductor Machine
“Most people’s reason for doing these exercises is that they’re trying to reduce fat inside their legs or outside their legs. There are much better alternatives for that. Exercising the muscle below the fat doesn’t do anything directly to the fat above it. You can get the same stabilizing muscles and the main prime mover muscles involved when doing things like step-ups. Doing a lunge also recruits your adductors and abductors more effectively.” – Craig Rasmussen, C.S.C.S.
