Keeping You Safe: Exercises you’re doing wrong

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WMBF) - We have the top three most common exercises that people do incorrectly which could lead to serious injuries.

Orange Theory Studio Manager Melissa Brown said the exercises are a squat, a push-up and a hip hinge, which is done with a deadlift or any bent-over row.

“From our youngest members to our oldest members, everyone has issues with certain things,” said Brown.

Brown, who is also the head coach, first showed us the squat.

“If you don’t start it the right way or don’t go into the correct form, you can injure your back, your knees. You can bend at the wrong point and if you continue to have the same repeated issue, then you’ll just have ongoing injuries. It’s something that’s very hard to correct because you get into the same habit of going into that bad form every single time,” she said.

To perform a perfect squat, Brown said feet should be hip distanced apart, hips are square with your feet and then you sit back and slowly bend your knees to form a 90-degree angle.

“Very important also, making sure your chest is nice and proud. I always tell people if we’re going to do a squat, look in the mirror and use it. If you’re going down into a squat, make eye contact with yourself. If you’re looking down, you can’t, you know you’re going forward too much,” said Brown.

The second common exercise is a push-up.

“Back in the day, when we’d first do a push-up, you’d come up and you’d have your elbows sticking way far out. So, it’s changed a little bit. Now, we want to do it at a 45-degree angle and we want to make sure that we’re not putting too much pressure on our shoulders. Also, a lot of people tend to want to let their midsection fall, so letting your back fall and your spine is coming down a little bit, so you want to have that straight spine,” Brown explained.

She said if this full-body exercise is done incorrectly, you could hurt your shoulders and neck. Brown then demonstrated how to do it correctly.

“When we put our hands down, we’re going to have them under where our chest is at and make sure that our wrist is in line here with our shoulder, and taking it, our elbows to more of a 45-degree angle instead of out to our 90,” she said.

You can also do a modified position where your feet are a bit wider, your knees are on the ground and you do not cross your feet.

“Very common mistake also is just bobbing the head as we go down. So, making sure we’re in that plank position, going down nice and slow and then coming up with that same tempo,” said Brown.

The final exercise was the hip hinge. It’s a movement that Brown said is paired with weights to complete a deadlift or a bent-over row, that works your arms and lower body.

“The difference here is when we’re going into a squat, we’re bending our knees but when we’re going into a hip hinge, we’re bending at our hips and pushing back. So, a lot of people kind of forget that we to keep our back, focus on that spine again, nice and straight when we go into this movement,” Brown said.

She added if you bend in the wrong place, your spine could get out of line and you can experience lower back pain. We first learned how to do a hip hinge before adding any weight.

“We’re going to have our feet hip distanced apart here. Just a slight bend in our knees, just a little bit to take off the pressure. Now, we want to think about doing, I almost want to put my hands right here on my hips. So, you want to feel as you bend down, your booty is going to go back and you’re going to feel your hips just creasing back a little bit here. So, you’re wanting to make sure your chest is parallel to the ground and your eyes are going to be down,” said Brown.

She then demonstrated the hip hinge with weights to perform a deadlift.

“Getting our feet ready here. Slight bend in our knees. Most important thing, roll your shoulders back to make sure that that back is nice and straight. So, we’re going to keep those weights on our legs, here. This is where we start our hinge. So, push the booty back, let that chest come forward nice and slow, as we come down, we’re going to feel that pull in our hamstrings as we come up.”

Next, we worked on the exercise called a bent-over row.

“I’m going to go down into my hinge position, making sure that my chest here is parallel to the ground and then we’re just going to pull that weight up, making sure that we have that back nice and straight,” said Brown.

It’s also important to keep your head down to refrain from hurting your neck and spine. Whether you’re exercising at home or at a gym, Brown said it’s best to first check with your doctor and a personal trainer.

“If something’s not feeling good, make sure you talk to somebody. It’ not worth injuring your body if you’re feeling something wrong,” she said.

Learn more at Orange Theory Fitness

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