exercise no-nos

it'd just hit me that i've been posting up a lot of useless stuff on this blog, like my own trivial issues, etc. so this time, i'll educate you guys on some info i've just read about exercising. i got this info from MSN.com by the way.

1. behind-the-neck pull downs are BAD. that's because this kind of exercise strains your shoulders. the alternative: front pull downs. not only it's easier to do, it accelerates your muscle growth!
   
2. behind-the-neck shoulder presses are also BAD, for almost the same reason as #1. its alternative: alternating shoulder presses. this is usually done with a Swiss ball.
   
3. straight bar curls, be it "palms in" or "palms out" are BAD. it puts your arms in an unnatural position, and in doing so you'll be stressing your elbow joints, which can lead to tendinitis. the alternative: E-Z bar curls. these bars are angled such that it does not put any stress on your joints.
   
4. leg extensions are BAD too! the reason why is because the muscles that make up our quadriceps are supposed to work together as one. somehow, when a person does leg extensions, the muscles are activated independently. while the difference may be small, it still makes a BIG difference in the long run. so, instead of doing that, an alternative is doing squats.
   
5. of course, i saved the best for the last. guess what? sit-ups are BAD. unbelievable? well, research shows that not only is sit-ups one of the least effective abdominal exercises that you can do, it's also bad for your neck. its alternative is bicycle crunches. the same study conducted shows that bicycle crunches are 250% more effective than traditional crunches and sit-ups. so forget about sit-ups! it's useless anyway.