3 Lesser Known Exercise Myths

1. If your shoulders hurt, you need to do more face pulls.

Most people who suffer from shoulder pain have tight upper backs, and the upper back tightens further by doing more face pulls, likely making the problem worse.

Instead, perform exercises that don't require your shoulder blades to be locked together and down (like in the bench press) and include exercises that allow for the shoulder blade to freely glide along the ribcage like push-ups, landmine presses, Y raises and cable presses.

2. Machines are for bodybuilders and the elderly only.

Wrong. Machines can benefit everyone. And I mean everyone. Gen population, elite level athletes and everyone in between.

Machines do a few things barbells and dumbbells can't. They provide high levels of stability and challenge the muscle differently than free weights.

3. Every exercise needs to be performed with full range of motion.

The exercise's range of motion always depends on the objective of the exercise.

Consider how many contexts exercise is used: athletics, rehabilitation, bodybuilding, strength sports, health & wellness, etc.

Because the desired outcome between these contexts is drastically different, differences in the exercise range of motion will exist.

Think of the bodybuilder who stops a few inches shy of lockout to keep tension on a specific muscle. What about the athlete performing high squats to train a particular sport position? Or what about the person moving through a full range of motion to maintain joint health and integrity? See, the context is important.