What was the latest piece of gym equipment that caught your eye, but you were unsure of how to use it?  What was the last exercise you watched someone perform, and you thought “I should be doing that”?

We are all searching for new ways to spice up our exercise routines.  The key is ensuring that any changes are appropriate and safe for you.  There are four fundamental principles by which to guide your decision of adding a new exercise or deleting a current exercise.  Let’s dive in!

Principle 1:  Physics

“When resistance training, the resistance should oppose the movement directly,”¹ or in Newton’s words, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.”

Let’s make this principle real.  When performing a bench press - pushing weight away from the chest -, the resistance directly opposes the movement, as it pushes the weight towards the body.  This example is a correct application of physics. 

Conversely, do you recall the days of walking with ankle weights?  When you walk, your body is moving forward in space.  The ankle weight is not providing resistance against the forward motion.  It is actually creating a downward force.  Sports specific training corrected this issue by creating a parachute that an athlete could drag, thus creating the appropriate direct opposition of movement.  The athlete is moving forward, while the parachute pulls the athlete backward.

Principle 2:  Biomechanics

When resistance training, respect the body’s natural movement patterns.

The field of biomechanics investigates human movement.  It delves into how the muscles and joints work together and helps scientists understand how injuries occur.  

Think about a standard squat.  See, in your mind’s eye, where your hips, knees, ankles and feet are located.  Your body was built in a way that allows you to squat down towards the ground and to stand back upright.  

Now think about performing a squat on a BOSU ball.  Standing on the round side of a BOSU ball places the knees, ankles, and feet in a position that does not occur in everyday life.  The joints do not align in those abnormal patterns.

Principle 3:  Progression

“To continue seeing gains and improvements from an exercise program, the intensity of the exercises must gradually become increasingly more challenging.”²

Let’s use the bench press again to bring this principle to life.  You mastered the bench press, and you are ready to increase the challenge to keep progressing in your program.  You change the flat bench press with a barbell to a flat bench press with dumbbells.  This progression is perfect!

On the other hand, the following scenario is messy.  You mastered balancing on one foot for a full minute, and you are ready to progress.  Balancing with your eyes closed is a natural progression.  You try balancing on one foot with your eyes closed, but you quickly lose your balance.  You try again, but this time you balance on one foot, close your eyes, and place a hand against the wall for balance.  The only accomplishment here was mixing a progression (eyes closed) with a regression (hand on the wall).  A more suitable progression is to continue balancing on one foot with eyes open and to add an element of movement, such as having a mini stability ball tossed to you.

Principle 4:  Risk-Reward Ratio

Do the benefits of performing the exercise outweigh the risks (ie injury potential)?

Exercise selection is not a “one-size-fits-all” situation.  An exercise that may be incredibly risky for one individual may be foundational to another individual.  For example, think about someone who recently underwent rotator cuff surgery.  There are a series of exercises to help strengthen the rotator cuff and to aid the healing process.  

Conversely, that same program is not appropriate for a professional baseball pitcher because pitching greatly fatigues the rotator cuff.  Add an excessive amount of rotator cuff exercises on top of the daily pitching practice, and the risk for injury is substantial. 

How does this all apply to you?  All of these principles boil down to the truth that you are unique!  Simply because you see someone doing an exercise at the gym that looks neat, does not mean the exercise is appropriate for you.  Before trying a new exercise, run it through the above principles.  If it fails at any point, move along to the next exercise.

If you need any help in exercise programming, consider working with one of the YMCA of the Pikes Peak Region Personal Trainers.  They are trained to create customized programs and to handle all these principles for you.  Check out the PPYMCA trainers here:  Meet Our Personal Trainers.

Be safe!

1.  https://www.acefitness.org/education-and-resources/professional/expert-articles/5389/5-exercises-trainers-should-never-do/

2.  https://www.acefitness.org/certifiednewsarticle/684/ace-integrated-fitness-training-ift-model-for-functional-movement-and-resistance-training-phases-3-and-4/