He concluded with the idea that just because you see results, doesn’t mean you’re doing exercises correctly.
TITLE Boxing Club Nash trainer, Jarrod Houston, has a 1st-degree black belt, 3 fitness-related certifications, a Master of Arts and Education degree, and has worked with notable figures such as Shawn Porter, Anthony Levine, Bobby Bones, and Lauren Alaina. Besides his more well-known clients, Jarrod has trained kids as young as 4, elderly adults as old as 78, and one young adult with cerebral palsy. His work experience and passion for connecting with people has allowed him to gain extensive knowledge on the common mistakes most people make when performing simple exercises. To help you avoid these mistakes, Jarrod came up with the top 3 moves that he most often sees people do incorrectly and is telling us what exactly most people do wrong, why it could be dangerous, and how to perform them correctly.
Squats
Time and time again, Jarrod has seen people squatting with their knees going over their toes, leaning too far forward, and dropping their head down toward the floor. Squatting with incorrect form can lead to unwanted pressure on the lower back, so he always tells people to align their knees and toes, to look forward, and to put their shoulders back. “Most people don’t feel the injury now, it’s the process of doing it wrong over and over again that will lead to injuries with the knees and lower back later in life,” Jarrod harped on. He concluded with the idea that just because you see results, doesn’t mean you’re doing exercises correctly, so it’s very important to make sure!
WRONG
- Knees over toes
- Leaning forward
- Dropping head toward the floor
RIGHT
- Align knees
- Align toes
- Look forward
- Shoulders back
Click here for a visual.
Pushups
“The number one mistake I see is people having their elbows straight out, instead of 45 degrees from their waist,” Jarrod told us. The problem with incorrectly placing the arms when doing a pushup is that it puts pressure on the rotator cuff and AC joint. “If you do that pushup incorrectly, over time, you will have shoulder pain, because you are partially dislocating your shoulder when your elbows are out, every time,” he told us. Jarrod compares pushups to doing a bench-press because it’s also made up of 3 parts, back, triceps, and chest. While performing a pushup, if the elbows are out, then only one muscle group is getting activated. “It’s also a misconception that a ‘girl pushup’…I hate that word…is easier than a regular pushup, it’s not, people just aren’t doing it correctly,” he enlightened us.
WRONG
- Elbows out
RIGHT
- Elbows are 45 degrees from your side.
Click here for a visual.
Sit-ups
When talking about common core exercises, Jarrod told us that most people don’t know how to do a proper sit-up, which can lead to a lower back injury. The biggest issue he usually sees is people leaning backward, letting their lower back sag toward the ground, leading to no core engagement. “Most people move their neck and head, or they’ll just use momentum to get up, then arch their back as they go back down,” he told us. Jarrod suggests slowing the movement down. He prefers holding a half crunch for 10 seconds, to isolate the rectus abdominals, then slowly coming up. “I always tell people to squeeze their belly button like they’re trying to drive it into the floor,” he told us.
WRONG
- Arching the back
- Lower back sagging
- Using momentum
RIGHT
- Straighten back
- Keep spine aligned
Click here for a visual.
Overall, Jarrod stresses the importance of doing research when it comes to exercising, to ensure you’re always performing movements in a way that won’t damage your body!