10 Exercises You're Wasting Time on and 10 Effective Alternatives

Using a Seated Leg Curl Machine

Why? It seems like it should help you get rid of fat on your outer and inner thighs. But alas, this is not so. Exercises that target only one part of the body will not help you lose weight.

What to replace it with? Lunges forward, backward and to the sides. These exercises will tone and make your entire body, including your hips, stronger. Plus, they're more practical and give you more endurance for everyday life (unlike a machine, according to Greg Justice, owner and founder of AYC Health & Fitness in Kansas City).

Secrets of performing the leg curl exercise

1. You need to hold on to the handles of the simulator tightly, as if pulling your body towards them. This allows you not to move during the training process and maintain the appropriate position on the bench.
2. Even with significant effort, the pelvis should not be torn away from the arch of the simulator. If this happens, the effectiveness of the exercise decreases.
3. When bending movements, it is necessary to achieve maximum contact with the buttocks. This technique makes it possible to use the widest range of movements, which contributes to the correct formation of muscles.
4. To increase the load, once you reach the bottom point, you do not need to fully straighten your legs.
5. Movements for lifting are carried out quickly, for lowering the load - slowly.
6. The body position should remain unchanged. It is unacceptable to move the hips and pelvis on the bench during the exercise.
7. During the event, you can provide additional stress on your calves by simply pulling your socks towards you.
8. If you do not have adequate physical training, you need to start with light weights. Excessive loads can lead to muscle and tendon injury.
9. Before performing the exercise, you need to warm up the muscles and do some stretching.
10. If you have a history of back or lumbar injuries, you should definitely consult a doctor. Inappropriate loads can lead to significant deterioration in health.

Ab exercises

Why? Simply because they are not that effective. Research has confirmed that abdominal exercises are less effective at stimulating muscle fibers than exercises aimed at stabilizing the spine (planks).

What to replace it with? Plank (read “Keeping the Plank: A Set of Simple and Effective Exercises for a Beautiful Body”). By doing this exercise, you will use more core muscles than an ab crunch. In addition, doing a plank will prevent you from straining your back.

Execution technique

Leg bending in a sitting machine, starting position

1. Adjust the position of the leg curl machine's arm pads to suit your height. To do this, first adjust the position of the seat back so that it supports your back straight while performing the exercise. Sit in the machine, stretch your legs and place your shins on the lever pads (the rollers should be about 5-10 cm below your calves).
2. Secure your hips with a special support pillow located just above your knees.
3. Grab the handles of the machine with your hands to stay in one position during the exercise.
4. As you exhale, begin to pull the weight towards you, bending your knees. Try to keep your body still. Bend your legs as much as possible and hold the tension in the muscle for a second.
5. As you inhale, slowly return to the starting position, straightening your legs and lowering the weight. Repeat the exercise.

Leg bending in a sitting simulator, execution technique

Bends to the side with a gymnastic stick or turns

Why? You may think that this way you are strengthening your core muscles or burning fat, but in reality you are not. In reality, when you work with a weight behind your neck and start twisting and turning the barbell, there isn't that much resistance. It's better to train against gravity.

What to replace it with? Side plank static or dynamic. This is a gravity-resistance exercise that effectively works your muscles.

Benefits of sitting leg extension exercise

• The undoubted advantage of this exercise is the involvement of stabilizer muscles.
• Also, the exercise does not cause compression of the spine at all.
• Allows you to work only the quadriceps muscles of the thighs.
• This exercise is excellent for warming up the knee joints. It can be performed at the very beginning of leg training.
• Leg extensions in the machine will be an excellent choice from a number of exercises for training the quadriceps of a beginner athlete.
• In leg training, this exercise is the first or final exercise before training the calf muscles.
• Despite the high load on the ligaments and knee joints, when performing the exercise with a small, moderate weight, the leg extension machine helps strengthen the ligaments of the knee joint. This exercise is actively used in the rehabilitation therapy of athletes after injuries.

Leg bending on a machine from a lying position

Why? When you do exercises lying down, your spine is not involved, and you train the least amount of muscles. In addition, such an exercise turns out to be useless in real life: it is unlikely that anyone can name at least one reason why we need to bend our legs from a lying position.

What to replace it with? Raising the leg back from a standing position. This exercise activates the posterior part of your body, which includes your lower back, glutes, thighs, and calves, while also working your core muscles to maintain balance. Most importantly, this exercise develops the flexibility and balance skills necessary in everyday life.

How can you replace leg curls in a lying machine?

In some cases, it may not be possible to perform leg curls on the machine. But this exercise can be replaced with any other aimed at developing the back of the thigh muscles. Suitable for these purposes:

• squats with a barbell placed on the back;
• sissy or hack squats:
• lunges:
• front squats;
• leg press on the machine.

The listed types of loads on the legs have almost the same focus; accordingly, they can be used as formative ones.

At home, it is recommended to perform leg curls with a dumbbell while lying down. To do this, you need to lie on the floor, put your head on your arms bent at the elbows and lift your legs with a dumbbell sandwiched between your feet. The exercise does not require any special equipment or special physical training, so it is also accessible to beginners. You need to start with a small weight, which you can gradually increase. It will be difficult for beginners to work with a large weight, since they will not be able to securely fix the dumbbell with their feet. In addition, there is the possibility of injury. Weight is selected individually depending on physical development.

Dumbbell arm extension

Why? You won't be able to lift a heavy enough weight and still maintain proper arm position. Usually the shoulder begins to sag and the effectiveness of the exercise is lost.

What to replace it with? “Skull crusher”, or French bench press for triceps. The exercise will allow you to pump up your triceps muscles without losing the shape of your arms. The skull crusher position allows your elbows to remain where they should be and thus receive the necessary load.

Analysis of the exercise

Anatomy exercises

What muscles work:

• The main mover is the thigh biceps; The popliteal, calf, and gluteal muscles help with movement. But in the version of working in simulators, the help of non-major muscle groups is minimal;

Benefits of Exercise

• Allows you to form a beautiful back surface of the thigh, works not only the biceps of the thigh as a whole, but also forms a beautiful “peak of the biceps”;
• Allows you to work with both one leg and two legs, ideal for those who have imbalances in muscle development;
• Training the hamstrings is necessary for those bodybuilders who avoid deadlifts and concentrate on squats. Bending will help protect the knees from injury due to uneven muscle development;
• It is convenient to pump the hamstrings on a bench with a “kink”; it allows you to reach a more stretched position and increase the amplitude, without increasing the load on the knee, and without overloading the cruciate ligament;
• The simulator allows you to achieve perfectly symmetrical muscle development

Flaws

• Sometimes athletes get their heels too low on the pad and their hamstrings are not isolated enough. In such a situation, it turns out that the calves become clogged and fail earlier than the hamstrings.

FITNESS. Video lesson “Lying leg curls in a simulator.”

Calf raises while standing on the machine

Why? The machine puts all the weight on your shoulders, which puts stress first on your back and then on your calf muscles.

What to replace it with? Sprint. It's better than regular running for developing your calves. Sprinting activates more fast-twitch muscle fibers, which are responsible for muscle growth and development.

If sprinting isn't for you, try calf raises using your body weight. If this seems too easy for you, then try doing this exercise on one leg.

Training without simulators. Part 3

Continuation of the previous article about training without machines.

Leg press in the simulator

Target: Quadriceps. Of course, the ideal option would be a barbell squat, but (for safety reasons) it requires special racks that your home gym may not have. However, if you have reliable wrist attachments that can handle heavy weights, you can do squats with dumbbells. Signature Variation - Wall Squat: Place your back against a wall and “slide” down until your thighs are parallel to the floor. The soles should be pressed to the floor, the back should touch the wall; hold in this position for 10-15 seconds, then return to the starting position. Gradually increase the time you stay at the bottom. You can adjust the load by pressing your hands on your hips.

Key Point: To further increase the load, take dumbbells in your hands and place them with the butts on the top of both quadriceps.

Leg bending in the simulator

Target: Hamstrings. The optimal replacement is lying leg curls with a dumbbell. Lie face down on a flat bench, hold a dumbbell between your feet and perform a standard leg curl. The fact that in this version you also need to hold the dumbbell between your feet does not interfere with the matter at all - on the contrary, it increases the load on the stabilizing muscles, which can only be welcomed. Signature Variation - Single Leg Deadlift with Dumbbells: Stand up straight, hold dumbbells in your hands, and place your feet shoulder-width apart. Step forward with one foot 15-30 centimeters. Raise your head and chest, straighten your back, straighten your “front” leg at the knee (but not all the way) and lean forward from the hip. When lowering your body, pay all your attention to the “front” leg - the “back” leg serves only for support. The dumbbells are lowered along with the body (along the “front” leg); when they “slide” to the middle of the shin, begin to straighten, concentrating on contracting the biceps of the “front” thigh. Key Point: Do the target number of reps with one leg first before switching to the other. Use wrist straps if necessary.

Leg extension in the simulator

Target: Quadriceps. If nothing else comes to mind, try seated dumbbell single leg extensions; in this version, the dumbbell replaces the entire machine! Sit on a bench, knees slightly further from the edge, suspended. Secure a dumbbell across the ankle of your working leg and straighten your leg, extending the knee joint. Then lower your leg to the starting position and repeat all over again. Signature Variation - Back Squat: Grasp a door frame or other stable support with one hand and hold a barbell plate to your chest with the other hand. Take a very narrow stance and rise up onto your toes. Having filled your chest with air, lean back, bending your knees, and lower your body as low as possible. The heels still do not touch the floor. Then tighten your quadriceps, straighten and return to the starting position. Key Point: For balanced muscle development, hold the weight with each hand alternately, AND never allow your heels to touch the floor.

Thus, we have given you recommendations on how to replace almost any “gym” exercise with free weights. But still, if it is possible to use simulators, then use them. For example, at https://www.well-mir.ru/life-fitness-trenazhery/ you can find a trainer for any muscle group.