If exercises like planks and tricep kickbacks are programmed into your weekly workouts, it’s time to replace them for more effective muscle-building moves.
Exercise scientist Mike Israetel revealed five of the worst—yet extremely common—exercises and offered better alternatives for each: planks, Supermans, rack pulls, tricep kickbacks, and single-arm dumbbell presses.
Planks are the go-to ab exercise for many, but according to Israetel, it’s just smoke and mirrors—giving you the illusion that you’re doing something, while you’re actually not doing much at all. Aside from an isometric contraction from your abs, planks don’t harness a lot of muscle growth, he says.
Instead of planks, swap in ab rollouts. They train your core through a full range of motion, giving you the highest tension at the bottom and almost zero at the top, which matches the force exposure needed for maximum hypertrophy.
Though it’s not an isometric movement, Supermans don’t allow you to get much range of motion. Israetel suggests trading out Supermans for flexion rows (skip to 5:25 in his video below if you’re not familiar), especially if you were using Supermans to target your back and posture.
Israetel admits rack pulls can have a place in advanced powerlifting programs, but for most lifters, snatch-grip deficit deadlifts are a far better choice.
“Typically muscles get bigger and stronger best when you train them through a big range of motion and challenging positions, and the rack pull literally obviates both of those conditions,” he says.
Tricep kickbacks load the muscle in its weakest, most shortened position and offer almost no tension when the triceps are lengthened, Israetel explains. It’s a backwards setup for growth.
Swap them for dumbbell skullcrushers instead. They let you hit peak tension at the bottom stretch, while the top is the easiest—flipping the force curve compared to tricep kickbacks.
Last on the list is single-arm dumbbell presses, where one arm works while the other is stuck holding—either overhead or at shoulder level.
If you’re holding one dumbbell fully extended while pressing with the other, you’re just wasting energy on something that doesn’t lead to any real adaptation in that straightened arm, Israetel explains.
By the time you switch sides, the arm that was holding is already fatigued, which means you’ll likely lift less weight or do fewer reps. He says you’re better off doing dumbbell presses with both arms, or training single-arm variations using a machine.
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