3 Most Dangerous Exercises

Oh man, that’s easy,” my chiropractor said when I asked him to list the three most dangerous exercises – that gives him, the awesome Dr. Michael Sommers of Evolve Chiropractic – an ENDLESS stream of clients.

“It’s not even close. The most common exercise that causes injuries in my patients is heavy deadlifting,”he said.

“But wait,” I said while shaking in my head in disbelief, “Why are your patients, who are mostly runners, even doing that exercise?”. I was so confused that his average client would choose to use this advanced lift.

“You’ll see in a moment when I tell you the 3rd most common exercise that causes injury,” Dr. Sommers said, making me very curious. “But for now, the 2nd most common exercise that people are doing wrong and causing all types of injuries, is the Kettlebell Swing. Most people do it wrong.”

Ouch. I love both of those exercises, but I know how to do them properly. They have never caused me injury.

“Okay, okay, so what’s the 3rd most dangerous exercise?” I asked.

“Without a doubt, it’s Cross-Fit. It’s almost unbelievable. Cross-Fit injuries keep me busier than treating runners with overuse injuries, and even sends me more patients than work-related upper back and neck pain,” he said.

“Yes, I can imagine,” I said, but coming to Cross-Fit’s defense, I added, “But Cross-Fit is not a particular exercise…and besides, we both know that it’s the instructor that is probably to blame for most of those injuries, right?”

“Yes, that’s part of it…but most people just are not cut out for Cross-Fit,” Dr. Sommers explained. He then added, “Here’s what I’ve found after treating hundreds of Cross-Fit patients:

1) Women are most likely to injure their neck due to high-rep kettlebell swings or deadlifting during a Cross-Fit workout.
2) Men are most likely to hurt their low backs from heavy deadlifting or high-rep kettlebell swings in a Cross-Fit workout.
3) The only people that are “Built for Cross-Fit” are advanced men and women with a lot of muscle mass. Skinny, weak, beginners should stay far, far away from Cross-Fit. If they don’t, it is guaranteed they will get hurt.”

“But WHY are these people doing Cross-Fit?” I asked, still in disbelief.

“I don’t know!” he replied with exasperation and threw his hands in the air. “They think they need to do Cross-Fit to increase their 10k race time, but that’s the WRONG choice of exercise. There is NO good reason for most people to be doing Cross-Fit, period. Men and women will get better results from doing safe, structured workout routines, like Turbulence Training.”

Now I had to agree with that, of course.

And so I ask you…and your workout friends…

Why are you doing that?

Why are you using the exercises that you use?

Have you been taught perfect form by a qualified trainer that is more concerned with your technique than by how fast you can go and how many reps you can do in a certain time period?

Does your workout give you a safe, progressive system that focuses on improvement in your results rather than comparing your “score” against someone else’s “sloppy technique score”?

The truth is that the deadlift and kettlebell swing do NOT have to be dangerous exercises, but when you put those exercises into the WRONG – and dangerous system – they become exercises with the power to hurt.

So here’s what I recommend that you do:

1) Stop using the deadlift and kettlebell swing until you have had expert personal instruction from a great trainer in a non-rushed setting where the trainer has the time to show you perfect technique.

2) Don’t rush your workouts. Don’t use sloppy technique on any exercise. And don’t do anything that doesn’t feel right. If it hurts, don’t do it. If you’re not sure how to do it right, don’t do it.

As my friend and TT Summit presenter Alwyn Cosgrove says, “No one should get hurt in our workouts. That’s our #1 responsibility as trainers.”

Trainers should follow the Doctor’s Hippocratic Oath: “Do no harm.” If a trainer is sending clients to Dr. Sommers, that means their is a problem with their workouts!

3) If you need safe, effective workouts that don’t use advanced exercises – and that don’t require fancy equipment – simply stick with the

Home Workout Revolution and Turbulence Training workout videos.

You can get them both for one low price here:

Get ALL of my safe and effective fat burning workouts here

Helping you get fit and stay safe,

Craig Ballantyne, CTT
Certified Turbulence Trainer

PS – Need help? Here it is…

And if you have any questions about any exercise, just let me know over on my Facebook page and I’ll be happy to answer your questions.

Check out the great content from yesterday’s QnA session here

I love doing those QnA’s!

PPS – Today’s Kickbutt Mindset Tips:

Eliminate distractions, temptations, and negativity. Clear the path, and it will be easier to follow. Eliminating obstacles and temptations in your life is often more important and effective than planning to do the right thing.

Keep on pushing, testing, tweaking, tracking, failing forward, learning, and applying these new lessons. The right attitude goes a long way.