The number one excuse people give for not working out is that they do not have enough time for it. Everyone is pressed for time, so but some people, especially martial artists, always seem to find some time for physical training. Since exercise time is precious, we should not squander it on exercises that are inefficient, ineffective, or unsafe. Ralf Hennig, author of Four Way Burn, points out some moves and techniques he thinks should not be used because they waste time or put you at risk for injuries.

Not the Bee’s Knees

Lifting extra heavy weights with just your thighs invites injury. This refers to the leg extension machine which isolates the muscles in the front of the thighs known as the quadriceps. Besides straining knee ligaments, this exercise may overdevelop the quads, making the back of thigh muscles (hamstrings) more likely to snap, especially if they are tight and weak in comparison to the quads. Stick to squat-and-lunge type moves for safer, superior thigh muscle building.

Pain in the Neck

Unless your shoulders are super flexible, any exercise where you push or pull a bar that is positioned behind your neck may damage the delicate rotator muscles and lead to chronic shoulder, upper back, and neck pain. When using the pull-down machine at the gym, it is best to sit up straight and pull the bar down to your chest.

Rabbits Beat Snails

Some exercisers set their cardio machines to slow every workout under the misconception that moving at a snail's pace burns more fat. The truth is that varying pace and intensity and mixing fast and slow speeds is a far more successful weight loss strategy since it addresses the body's different energy systems and muscle groups.

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