Do Trendy New Exercises Work.

A client asked me why I don’t write much about techniques and best exercises to do. There are 3 important things to remember when reading about the new and trendy exercise that “fixes” all or “best” exercises.

1. Your specific outcome.

Everybody’s bodies are unique and have their own sets of positives and challenges. One technique may not be right for your circumstance because you may have an old injury or may not be aware you are actually making your posture worse or some movements cause pain later on in the day.

Let’s take a look at an exercise, example: the dumbbell shrug (or weighted shoulder shrug). This exercise can be good for developing strength in your shoulders and upper trapezius and can be a safe exercise when performed correctly. Now lets look at it from the stance that lots of us work in a stressful environment and that most of us carry that stress tension in our shoulders, causing our shoulders to elevate and our trapezius to shorten. With this in mind we should be working on lowering our shoulders back down, not up. Each exercise should be thought out to what you need and what your goals are.

2. Applying what we read.

We can read something that is great and then when we go to apply it, we think we are doing it right and really, we are not (it’s being human). Knowing and doing are two completely different things. I see it in myself, I tell my clients to “look up” all the time, while at the same time I’m looking down. It’s easy to know something but it’s hard to actually do it right without guidance or help.

3. Motivation

Getting motivated and sticking to it is harder and more important than anyone one off technique or new trend that you read about, that you may or may not be doing right.

There is only a “right“ and “wrong” way to do an exercise when you are working towards something. If you are not working towards something then you are truly just wasting your time, as you will most likely get nowhere and lose motivation because you are not seeing results.

No trendy exercise is going to suddenly give you results, it’s a combination of compound time and doing the right things.

Written by Coach Rebecca Loncaric,

Certified Personal Trainer