In this episode, Farnham’s leading over-50’s physiotherapist, Will Harlow, reveals 5 of the worst exercises for people over 50 that have the potential to cause pain and injury!
To get a copy of Will’s new book, Thriving Beyond Fifty, you can find it on Amazon below:
UK link: https://amzn.to/3mAISFv
US link: https://amzn.to/3J1ACGi
(Amazon Affiliate links)
To subscribe to 3-Tip Friday, Will’s free weekly email where he shares health tips, new videos and fascinating research, go here: https://ht-physio.co.uk/3-tip-friday/
Follow us on Instagram for more content: https://www.instagram.com/htphysioofficial/
If you’re suffering from nagging knee pain that hurts in the morning and stops you from walking as far as you’d like, you can take our free knee pain guide – which will give you 5 expert tips to put a stop to knee pain at home – by visiting here: https://ht-physio.co.uk/knee-pain-guide-download/
To get in touch about sponsorships or promos, send a message to: hello@ht-physio.co.uk
If you’re over-50 with a painful problem in the Farnham, Surrey area, you can learn more about how Will Harlow and HT Physio can help you overcome a painful problem here: https://ht-physio.co.uk/
**Any information in this video should not be used as a substitute for individual medical advice. Please seek advice from your local healthcare professional before taking action on the information in this video.**
If you’re age 50 plus and you love to exercise there are five exercises that you need to be very very careful of in this video I’m going to show you what they are and why you should probably avoid them if you don’t know who I am my
Name is will harow I’m the over 50s specialist physio here at HT physio INF farum and today I’m going to be revealing five of the worst exercises for people over 50 now before I go any further there’s no exercise really that’s a bad exercise usually it’s people’s technique that causes them to
Be injured but that being said there are five exercises that I’ve pinpointed that are really not that good usually for people over 50 they have a high risk of injury a low payoff and to be honest I think they should just be canned for anyone over the age of 50 so I’m going
To explain to you what they are we’re going to talk about why we should avoid them so the first exercise that I see people do over 50 that I think should be avoided is the upright row now I’m going to use a walking stick to demonstrate so
I haven’t got a barbell here but we see people do this in the gym and basically you stand holding a bar like this with both um uh Knuckles facing forward and you row up like this and this is an exercise which is good for strengthening your shoulders it does also give you
Some bicep strength as well but the problem with this exercise is this position here okay so if you think about what’s happening with my shoulder right now I’m flexed and I’m internally rotated now this position here is the exact position we use in the clinic to try and provoke a rotator cuff problem
To check if that is a problem someone has we call this the Hawkins and Kennedy’s position okay this is a a test we use to see if someone’s got impingement of the rotator cuff so every time you’re coming up like this what you’re doing is you’re stressing the
Rotator cuff and it’s especially the case if you’ve got weight on either side of the bar and and it’s too much weight you’re holding it in a very very vulnerable position and probably aggravating the rotator cuff so if you’re over 50 obviously the rotator cuffs usually not in as good a POS a
Situation as someone who’s in their 20s for example so I just wouldn’t run the risk of stressing it too much there are far better shoulder exercises you can do if you want stronger shoulders to avoid the upright row cuz it will save your shoulders the next exercise that people
Over 50 should almost certainly avoid is back extensions now a back extension looks something like this you lie on your front you have your hands out the way and you come up like this with or without your legs some people do it just like this and some people use their legs
As well now I hate this exercise for most people over 50 the reason I don’t like it is because it involves extension of the lumber spine which for people in the 50 plus category can aggravate back problems the other reason I don’t like like it is because people go crazy with
It and they do loads of repetitions and each time they’re doing it they’re probably not using the muscles they wanted to use they’re using their paraspinal muscles which can get tight quite easily this can be a cause of uh issues that uh cause spasm of the lower
Back that happens quite a lot if you have any arthritis in your lower back being in this kind of extended position really not a good idea so this exercise is not too bad for people who are under the age of 50 g but for people in their 50s 607s I
Almost always avoid it so avoid back extensions note that this is different to the Cobra which I don’t mind for many people over 50 and the reason I don’t mind this is because it’s not using the back muscles it’s using your arm muscles and it’s a Mobility exercise rather than
A strengthening exercise which people can do too much of too quickly and cause a back problem now the next exercise that I don’t really like for people over the age of 50 is the Crunch and the crunch is an ABS exercise it works the abdominals at the front of the of the
Tummy and the crunch looks something like this so you sit or you lie on your back and then you’re trying to do like the first part of a situp basically and again same reason I don’t particularly like this exercise for people over 50 is
People tend to go crazy at it so they do quick movements like this and every time you’re doing that it’s involving rapid flexion of the Lumar spine and the thoracic spine as well and why is that a problem well it’s a problem because that kind of forward flexed movement a it can
Cause stress on the discs if people do it too quickly B it can trigger a muscle spasm there and see the rectus abdominis the sixpack muscle if you like is actually not that important for lower back health so if people think they’re doing this to build a stronger core fair
Enough but it’s actually not that good of a core exercise it will get your six-pack muscles a bit stronger but not the ones that protect the spine so it has not much value and preventing back pain and might actually cause it so avoid the crunch if you’re over 50
Because there’s much better exercises you can do the next exercise to avoid if you’re over 50 is the behind the neck press and this is a shoulder exercise that I see people do quite often in the gym and basically it looks like this so we’re going to pretend this is a barbell
It starts behind the head like this or behind the neck and then you press it up overhead and then you bring it back down like this again I do not like this exercise for over 50s for several reasons the first reason I don’t like this exercise is because to do this
Exercise correctly you have to have lots and lots of lateral rotation so the arm has to rotate quite far back so if you have any arthritis whatsoever you probably are going to lose lose some lateral rotation so if you can’t rotate back as far your arms are here and look
What that does to my posture and my neck I can’t get it back to the right position because it’s pushing me forward so if you lose lateral rotation then you try and press that is a horrible position to be in especially if you’ve got weight over your head you’re going
To stress your neck you’re going to stress your thoracic spine your midback and you’re certainly going to stress your shoulders so that’s one reason why I don’t like it the second reason I don’t like is cuz if your technique’s not perfect if you come down too quickly
Bang you’re going to hit yourself on the back of the neck or on the tops of the shoulders and I’ve seen people do this trust me it’s not pretty so do not do this exercise to show you from the side you probably do it standing but I’m
Going to show you it sitting it’s like this overhead and if you get it wrong you’re going to cause impact right there now a better alternative is to do a in front of the neck press or a military press which again is not suitable for everyone but it’s better than the behind
The neck press for most people so we have the bar in front there’s not as much lateral rotation needed we’re going to go up overhead and then back down making sure that we stay clear of our nose at the front like that so that is a much better alternative avoid the behind
The neck press if you want something a little bit more creative for your shoulders there’s lots of better Alternatives that is definitely one to avoid and then the fifth and final exercise that I’m going to give you is one to do of the neck but before I show
You which exercise to avoid 88% of people who watch these videos have not yet subscribed to the channel if that’s you just scroll down hit subscribe it’s totally free and then you’ll be the first to hear about our videos when they come out and it really does help the
Channel so thank you if you do that so the fifth and final exercise is called neck rolls and this exercise is one that people do in a warm-up generally for an exercise class or similar and it looks like this so roll their neck NE round like this and then they roll back so
It’s not a strengthening exercise it’s a range of motion exercise sometimes people do this so they’re rolling underneath and it seems to be common place in warm-ups and cool Downs After classes now I do not like this exercise especially for over 50s for a number of reasons the first reason is obvious if
You were to do this movement just have a feel and have a listen to what you can hear so when I do this I can hear clicking cracking crunching in my neck it’s not because I’ve got an unhealthy neck it’s just because I’m trying to combine three or four different
Movements all at once and that’s putting the facet joints in my neck into funny positions now I don’t know about you but I know that necks are very intricate and I don’t particularly want my neck in funny positions for too long because it makes it quite sore and stiff so when
You’re combining all of these movements together you’re almost grinding the facet joints uh and that is not going to be good especially for people with neck pain and I’ve had people come into the clinic who caused problems in their neck because they were doing this exercise CU
They thought it was going to be a good thing so try and avoid it there are much better things you can do the neck has six pure movements you’ve got flexion extension you’ve got side flexion to the left and the right and then you’ve got rotation to the left and the right
You’re much better just doing those pure movements rather than trying to combine them together and doing neck rolls and possibly injuring your neck anyway that’s all I’ve got for you today I hope that’s been useful those are five exercises that most over 50s should avoid if you’ve enjoyed this video do
Leave me a comment below subscribe to the channel and feel free to pick up a copy of my book it’s called thriving Beyond 50 and you can find it on Amazon using the link below it’s got loads of better exercises for you to do inside anyway thanks for watching I appreciate
Your time and I’ll speak to you on the next video
50 Comments
Hello everyone! I just produced a follow-up video to this one detailing 5 alternatives to the exercises I recommended to avoid. You can find it here: https://youtu.be/o-EVXBGjav0 Enjoy!
I mean no disrespect but your hands being so close together for the upright row exercise would even cause some a lot of people under 50 problems🤔
if you're using your arms to do the cobra, you're doing it wrong. cobra works the lower back muscles, not the arms.
Absolute NONSENSE! Where do these fitness CLOWNS come from? They are practically EPIDEMIC on social media and virtually EVERY ONE of them spout NONSENSE.
Just subscribed. Thank you for these.
Informative video thank you for sharing 😊
Thank you!!
😮You didn't show which are the best one's to use. Is it a secret?
No pressing or pulling behind the neck. Ever. Destroys your shoulders.
NO overhead presses!!
The sound with neck rolls is probably synovial fluid moving about the joints. Sure, don't go to end range, but please don't constrain people to moving in the cardinal planes.
Hi. You speak, speak, speak so much.
So boring at last.
There is no question as one ages training considerations come into play. However, I'm under the impression this advice is rather generic, not taking into account those 50+ year olds, with serious and knowledgeable training histories who are relatively injury free. With the exception of behind the neck pulldowns and presses which can be a bit risky. I'll agree on that one.
Thanks a lot. This is exactly what I needed now.
You didn't offer an alternative to crunches?
subscribed.
Great videos
the six separate movements of the neck cause me also hearing clicking and cracking. (all my life) Should I do these movements-exercise? Because I do them each time (almost weekly) when I have a sore neck. (stress)
Hi Will most of these exercises I don't teach at any age otherwise by the time the person is 50 they are more likely to have a back, shoulder, or neck issue or injury , crunches especially a big no no compressing and juicing the disk in the spine can never be a good idea regardless of age.
Nothing new here for me @51 but your advice is 100%. A great example of good advice on youtube well done..
Wish I had seen this earlier. I am 74 and race kayaks. I added some strength exercises recently, as well as built a new veggie/fruit tree garden and fence. Drove star pickets with a 9 pound sledge hammer one-handed (right hand), and dug holes through jungle of roots with a crow bar (right hand as top driver). The combination with Upright Rows lifted too high did my right shoulder in. Ultra sound and physio showed Impingement. Now I need physio exercises instead of training. So many YouTube videos on treatment, but who to believe??
Good call on upright rows. Horrible exercise
As a Personal Trainer and Gym Instructor, I always advise against behind the neck presses for ANY age group. It's an unnatural movement which takes the shoulders completely out of alignment. My other pet hate is behind the neck lat pulldowns; it has the same issue and is completely unnecessary.
Hey don't scare the 50 plus from going to Gym. I have two fatal car accidents and survived but i am going to gym 5 days of week and do weight exercise for last 30 plus years. This May i will be entering 70th year of my healthy life and this is God blessings merely. When i am in gym i do weight exercise which youngsters half of my age don't do. I do leg press with weight 180 lbs. What is secret ? I can't not reveal here . any how If any one start going to gym during early thirties body and mussels develops which is prerequisite of healthy life and this is out come of medial research reports. .
Thank you for your advice. I used to do the neck roll quite often, and my neck used to feel stiff sometimes.
I rarely use bar bell these days more dumbbell lower weights slower more control – stopped most bar neck roll so great shout
Good info. I'm just turning 74 and have been using a rowing machine most of my life along with a cross trainer which I broke and I'm a cyclist along with light weights. So far no health issues.
Thanks Will that's a really helpful video 👍
Behind the neck presses being bad is the biggest myth ever. Been doing them my whole life and when I stopped because the experts said it was bad I started having neck and shoulder blade pain. Started doing them again and my pain is nearly all gone. I also do neck rolls. It’s taught in martial arts. Never had a problem. If you are having pain it’s most likely you have some muscle imbalance and need to add other exercises that work the antagonist muscles equally.
I’m 55. You’re using an old persons walking stick to illustrate the exercises, how to alienate a whole swathe of people from your channel. Maybe you thinks all over 50’s use one.
Shoulder and Neckproblems come from sleep positions, not from exercises.
Sleeping on the chest, the head turned around up to 90° put a lot of strain on the neck muscles, they tighten up during sleep instead of relaxing…the longer these positions last.
Sleeping sideways on a shoulder same story, muscle tensions around the shoulder blades.
These sleeping positions may last for one to several hours, these are bad exercices for the body, when it is supposed to relax.
I cannot sleep on my back, my head up, so I am damned…
Thanks for this one. I'm 53 and I'm gonna follow you. I've Subscribed and also got the Bell icon, if that helps.
However, I'd request you to kindly help me with a 6 day regimen of exercises with weights for different body parts to be done at the Gym. The Internet is full of several such videos but you inspire confidence and you sound authentic. I'd rather learn from you than from anyone else. Can you kindly help please?
I agree with the close handed gripped upright row. What about a wider than shoulder grip? Thank you!!
Thanks for these safe tips
God bless you
It's always driven me crazy that PT specialists try to get me to do back extensions when I have two bulging/herniated disc and one ruptured in my lower lumbar region.
FFound this so helpful. I have now stopped doing these exercises and put in some of the exercises you have shown and am starting to feel the difference. I constantly had spasms in my lower back and went to see a physio and got an exercise for it. I use a walking stick and all the exercises and how to measure for a stick totally opened my eyes as I was totally using it wrong, wrong height looking at the floor, which is a hard habit to break as I took a bad fall breaking my elbow and other injuries and that's when I started looking at the floor. So thank you and I wwill be coming back to check to make sure I am doing the exercises properly.
Y
You have to give us alternative exercises
Stupidest video and title ever… how about exercises you shouldn’t do if you can’t do it properly. Really I have seen people quite young doing exercises wrong and they are still doing damage to themselves. Avoidance is not a strategy for health.
Hi Will. What is a good Substitute for Crunches? (For General Maintenance Strength). I do them to work the opposite side of body to Push-Ups. Im 56, and do 30reps of Crunches (1set), while my feet are about 15inches from my bum, wuth knees bent, i raise the feet off the ground at same time. I do this 3x a week. Then do 20reps of just legs, from same bent position, i lift feet off the matt, and extend them out straight (horizontaly), and return to bent knee, repeat. I do these to counter balance 30 Push-ups, then 20 push-ups. Any good substitute? Im not interested in bulking up muscles, just general health abd maintenance for my body, amongst my short yoga workout.
those exercises are probably bad for everyone
very useful, thanks so much! especially the explanations
Does it really make sense to define people age 50+??? Conditions of people are very different. U may have 70 yrs old for whom all of this is not any problem due to their body condition and u also might have people age 30 having immense issue doing one of the displays exercises!
Thank you! The recommendation about the neck rolls is most helpful. Well intentioned trainers have them in their neck stretch videos. I will not do that anymore. Snap, Crackle, Pop begone!
Enjoyed your video. I'm 68 and I've been doing a 40 minute routine every morning for decades. Of your 5, I started off with neck rolls which produce a rice crispies snap crackle and pop. I'll delete that one. I've modified it some,but my routine is based off an old Denise Austin complete workout I had on a VHS video cassette. Told ya I was 68!
Yeah I'm 53 all you gotta do is stretches, all good
Brilliant. I remember we had to avoid some of these the old school exercises in the body building days. Well explained
Years ago, a Neurosurgeon told me not to do neck rolls.
Hi Will, no 2 persons hv the same flexibility & injuries. I'm above 50 and I do all those exercises in yoga. There is a proper way for doing all those but you clearly did not address the proper ways.
This guy thinks 50 year Olds are nearing 70+.
I destroyed my rotator cuffs as a younger man doing upright rows, no one should ever do these regardless of age