Science Update: Biomechanics of Free Weight Exercises

Not all standard free weight exercises actually work the muscles they were designed to strengthen, and some can even be harmful. However, by using the principles of biomechanics, trainers can design free weight exercises that are safe and effective.

I got started years ago writing about biomechanics and what's good or not so good about certain exercises, when I wrote a Letter to the Editor (not this Editor, of course) about an exercise that a particular magazine called the Cobra. To perform the Cobra, exercisers would lie down on their side near the low pulley of the cable cross machine. (This was way back when the only cable machines in a standard gym were the lat pulldown and, maybe, a cable cross.) Then, exercisers performed what was basically a single-arm lat-pulldown-type of motion.

How this differed from simply sitting upright on the lat pulldown machine and performing a one-arm pulldown using a single handle, I don't know - and the magazine never said. But that's not the main issue. The problem is, the magazine claimed that exercisers could perform the same exercise in the same body position using a dumbbell. However, with the cable, exercisers pulled somewhat horizontally against a horizontal resistance. But, if they used the dumbbell option, they'd be pulling horizontally against a downward resistance. Not only are these not at all the same exercise, but the dumbbell version becomes a nonsensical "exercise," with absolutely no resistance to the alleged target muscle.

Even after all these years, poorly designed free weight exercises like this still exist. The good news is that further examination of the biomechanics of many exercises has led to some "new" techniques that can improve results. Not all dumbbell exercises are equal. Some are inherently better than others. That's not just my opinion; you can prove it with biomechanics. Some of your favorites may be ineffective and even potentially dangerous. And, some standards can be made even more effective with the proper application of basic biomechanics.

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