Exercise safety Part 4

Sit-ups

Two common but potentially harmful variations of the sit-up include anchoring the feet (where your training partner holds your feet) or keeping the legs straight along the floor. The hands are held behind the head or neck, and the upper body lifted. These types of sit-ups strain the lower back and tend to target the muscles of the hips and thighs rather than the abdomen. Suggestions include:

• Avoid this style of sit-up altogether.
• Perform abdominal curls instead. Lie on your back with your knees bent, feet flat on the floor and arms folded across your chest or alongside your body. Breathe out and curl your ribcage towards your pelvis.

Double leg raises

Avoid double leg raises. This exercise involves lying on your back and raising both legs at the same time. This places enormous stress on the lower back. Another potentially harmful variation is to lie on your stomach and lift both legs at the same time. An alternative is to perform the exercise one leg at a time, making sure your hips remain stable throughout the movement. Keep the other leg bent, with your foot on the ground.

Behind the neck press

The ‘behind the neck press’ or ‘lat pulldown behind the neck’ should be avoided, especially if you have been told you have instability in the front of your shoulder.

Stretching and exercise safety

Stretching, warming up and cooling down were previously thought to aid injury prevention during exercise. However, there is not a lot of evidence that these activities are effective in reducing exercise injury risk.

There is some evidence that warming up and cooling down might help to reduce muscle soreness after exercise, even if they don’t prevent injuries. Careful stretching can be included as part of your overall warm-up and cool-down routine. Some people also find psychological benefits in stretching and warming up to put them in the right frame of mind for exercise or to help them relax after exercise.