As I design fitness programs for individuals, I sometimes find it a bit tricky to ensure each person gets the most benefit from the exercises they're doing.
In no small measure, that's because each person has a unique anatomical structure. Some differences are quite significant — obviously so between men and women.
What it comes down to is that in the gym, one size does not fit all. This is why it's important to seek the advice of the experienced trainers at your fitness center — and not the person at the next rack, no matter how easily he or she seems to be working the weight stacks.
Here are three familiar exercises and some things to think about to get the most results when using them in your strength training:
Bench press
To my mind, this is the No. 1 utilized weightlifting exercise in the gym. It's also the one that can cause the most injuries.
The concern is greatest when the barbell is lowered to the chest, and the chest muscles (which insert into the upper arm) become stretched and vulnerable.
The main focus is arm length, specifically the length of the forearm. The longer the forearm, the lower the arm goes and the more the chest muscle gets stretched.
Chest size also can play a role; those with more of a "barrel chest" lower the bar a shorter distance.
Those with long arms and small rib cages face the most risk when attempting to execute a full, "touch the chest" bench press.
Solution for the long-armed: Use a narrower grip on the bar than you normally do. Feel free to experiment with your grip distance, but a good place to start is to put your hands at or just inside shoulder width.
This will intensify the work on the biceps and triceps. You may not be able to handle as much weight as you can with your hands wider apart, but you'll eliminate the potential for overstretching your chest muscles.
If you prefer a normal hand grip, I'd advise shortening the "lowering phase" so that you stop the bar short of your chest. But don't enter a competition with that technique — your lift will not be counted.
Bicep curls with bar
The concern here is the elbow angle between the upper arm and the forearm and the subsequent amount of wrist break required to perform the curl.
When you hang your arms at your side (palms forward, thumbs lateral), the more your forearms hang away from the side of your body (usually to a greater degree in women), and the more wrist break is required. That can be painful.
E-Z curl bar
Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto
Solution:Use an E-Z curl bar, the type that looks like it has pronounced waves in it compared to traditional straight bars.
Gripping the bar on the downslope turns the hand and wrist on an angle toward your body and reduces wrist tension. You can also reduce wrist tension simply by using two dumbbells for your bicep curls.
Dumbbell bent-over rows
The usual method that I see people using for this exercise tends to be bad for everyone, especially those working with heavy weight.
Normally, this exercise is executed with one arm holding the dumbbell, bent at the waist with your trunk parallel to the ground. Another common execution is to grasp the dumbbell in one hand and put the opposite hand and knee on a bench to support the back.
Most people simply jerk the upper arm and elbow of the arm holding the dumbbell as high as possible, then return the arm and dumbbell to the full down position. This is particularly true of people using heavier weights, say, more than 50 to 60 pounds on the dumbbell.
The shoulder joint is like a golf ball sitting on a shallow tee, held together mainly by the rotator cuff muscles. The shoulder with the dumbbell is in a slanted-down position, compared to the shoulder of the arm on the bench, and starts from an unstabilized position. Injury from this exercise tends to accumulate over time rather than happening at one particular moment.
Solution: Pull the shoulder back before lifting the dumbbell.
Stabilizing the shoulder before the lift puts the joint in a stronger position and also will maximize the muscle contraction at the end.
A slight downside is that you may find you must reduce your dumbbell weight, but that's OK because your will be doing beneficial muscle work, not superfluous joint momentum.
Doing exercises like this the right way will go a long way toward supporting lifelong strength and fitness — without injury.
Bob Thomas is director of the Navy Wellness Center in Pensacola, Florida. Email him at jomof14@cox.net.