In a new video on the Athlean-X channel, strength coach Jeff Cavaliere CSCS lists five common exercises that he has discovered are frequently performed incorrectly, and that even experienced lifters could begin to do wrong as they begin to fatigue. For each example, he provides information on how to easily correct these flaws in your technique, to get the most out of your workouts.
glute bridge
This movement requires full hip extension, but as Cavaliere explains, what often happens is that people go into an anterior tilt, where the hip bones drop and lean forward. This means that instead of your gluteal muscles doing all the work they should, you end up recruiting your lower back, putting you at risk for injury. “You want to make sure you’re doing this with a posterior tilt, tucking your tail down,” he says.
Lift
“If you do your pull-ups with your knees crossed, you’re not doing your best,” Cavaliere says, adding that this creates “energy drains.” Instead, he suggests pointing your legs out in front of you, which “creates a much more efficient transfer of power through your hands to lift your body up into space.”
bank dip
Hand placement really matters here to avoid putting unnecessary pressure on your shoulders. The instinct will be for the hands to move forward with the fingers gripping the edge of the bench. It is more recommended that you plant your hands on the bench looking sideways. “It’s a very subtle and simple change,” says Cavaliere. “By doing this, I open up my shoulders, put them in more external rotation… I’d say you get a better contraction in the triceps.”
swing with kettlebell
Instead of going back like they should, to recruit the glutes, people often do more of a squatting motion, bringing the quads into the exercise. Also, too much emphasis can be placed on moving the kettlebell through space, which is really “just for the ride” as you complete the hinged motion pattern.
Push up
Flaring the elbows at a 90-degree angle is a common technical error in push-ups that Cavaliere has pointed out earlier. But this creates a much shorter distance for you to lift your body. “Our heads sink to the ground faster, giving us the illusion that we’ve actually reached the bottom of the rep when our triceps and chest have actually had to do a lot less work,” he says. Tucking your elbows in so that they are about 45 degrees away from your body will make the exercise more difficult, but also much more effective.
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