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3 Biggest Workout Mistakes and How to Fix Them

Don’t make one of these workout mistakes when doing box jumps! Credit: expertinfantry

Workout Mistakes to Avoid

2. Plyometrics. Exercises such as box jumpsmultidirectional drills and cone jumps are designed to increase muscular power and explosiveness. Appropriate strength, flexibility and postural mechanics are necessary in order to avoid injury. Incorrectly landing on your heel or the ball of your foot, however, can increase impacting forces and make you prone to injury.

The Fix: Learn how to land correctly. Learn this before you move into full jumps and hops. Focus on landing softly on the mid-foot and then roll forward to push off the ball of the foot—avoiding excessive side-to-side motion at the knee in the process. To further reduce the risk of injury, be sure to complete a dynamic warm-up before performing plyometric exercises.

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Comments

6 Comments
  1. Courtney says:

    I can definitely vouch for the kettlebell advice! I do CrossFit, and hated any workout involving KBs because I found the movement to be impossible. Turns out, when you let your hips do the work and hinge rather than swing, you feel SO much more powerful [maybe they should stop calling them KB “swings” – it’s quite misleading!]. I was lucky to get the movement down before suffering a back injury, and was INSTANTLY able to grab a KB ten pounds heavier. My tip is: you know you’re doing it right if your glutes BURN after the workout!

  2. You’ve hit on some of the biggest dangers lurking for people new to exercise! Regarding plyometrics, landing is a critical skill that is not taught. This leads to injuries for girls who end up playing things like soccer. We like to have people START from a good landing position and drive into “triple extension” – finishing with their arms in the air. Kind of jumping in reverse.

  3. Jared Coad says:

    Great Post….The KettleBell might be the single greatest piece of workout equipment ever made!! If you are just getting started with the bell or not sure what weight to get, you may want to make a T-Handle….perfect for 1 or 2 hand swings, and to figure out what weight you should be using.

    RKC delivered to your door get wicked expensive. I put up a how to video if you are not familiar with the T-Handle or Hungarian Core Blaster as it’s also called
    http://xtremestack.com/kettlebells-are-expensive-make-one-at-home-its-easy/

    Hope this helps save you some dough, Great post

  4. Andrew Fox says:

    Great insights in all three areas. Form, posture and body mechanics are hugely important factors that dictate the overall effectiveness of a workout.

  5. Mike Luque says:

    This advice about landing doesn’t make sense. When you land from a jump, just as you would when you step down a stair, you land on the ball of your foot, not mid foot. The true reverse of the jump is to use the ball of the foot as the initial landing point, to use the calf muscles before the force transfers to the knee. You wouldn’t go from mid foot TO the ball. You’ll always land on the ball of the foot first.
    But yes, land softly. Like a ninja.

  6. Tina says:

    Good article, there were a few new to me ideas.

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