5 Exercises to Avoid at the Gym

Most of you might think that all exercise moves are good, safe and effective. But the truth is that some of the machines in the gyms aren't safe at all, especially for those with joint, muscle and health problems.

Here are a few red flags to look for when trying to figure out if an exercise move is risky:

• Any unnatural or unusual movement pattern in the exercise.
• Any movement that requires joint flexibility that is above or beyond your range of motion.
• Any exercise with risks of injury that outweigh the potential benefit of the exercise itself.
• Any movement that causes pain or discomfort
• Any movement that enhances muscular imbalances that are already present.

The following 5 exercises to avoid at the gym pose high risk:

1. Behind-the-head lat pulldowns: Only people with extremly flexible shoulder joints can do this move.

The alternative move: Do lat pull downs by pulling the bar down in front of you (not below your collar bone). Sit with spine straight, abs pulled in and torso back slightly.

2. Seated leg extensions: This poses major risk to the knees.

The alternative move: Squats and lunges with or without added weight. If you can not perform squats and lunges do to a lack of of strength, start with simple ball squats or modified "mini" lunges. Only lower yourself part way, gradually increasing your range of motion as you get stronger.

3. Squats or leg presses with deep knee bends: When your knees bend to deeply, your spine cannot maintain proper alignment. This can increase your chances of straining your lower back muscles or damage to spinal discs. Bending the knees to deeply can cause injury or damage to your knees.

The alternative move: Squats and leg presses. Never bend your knees or hips more than 90 degrees.

4. Upright rows: This move can compress the nerves in the shoulder area, impinging the shoulder.

The alternative move: Instead of standing while doing an upright row, try bent-over rows, bending forward 90 degrees at the hip, holding the weight down beneath your shoulders with hands slightly more than shoulder width apart. Lift the weights straight up towards your chest until elbows and shoulders form a straight line. You can also try front or lateral shoulder raises.

5. Inner and outer thigh machine exercises: Can strain the small muscles surrounding the knees and aggravating lower back and hip problems. Your inner and outer thighs are ment to support movement, not be the prime movers like they are in these exercises.

The alternative move: Standing adduction, standing abduction, lying adduction, lying abduction, pilates exercises or similar movements that use resistance bands or a cable cross machine.