Get the app

Shadowing practice: The 8 Worst Exercises Ever (PLEASE STOP!)

Listen to the line, then say it out loud
Line 1

Full transcript

  1. This is the iron graveyard and this was Jesse.0:01
  2. I'm going to show you how Jesse got in this position.0:05
  3. It's actually from doing the exercises I'm going to talk about today that I really wish that you'd stop doing.0:07
  4. And I'm not going to pick on him without reason.0:12
  5. I'll tell you why I don't like the exercise and more importantly, what you can do instead.0:13
  6. So you don't wind up like Jesse.0:17
  7. I'm not dead yet.0:18
  8. I've been doing upright rows for years.0:21
  9. Never once had an issue.0:23
  10. In fact, it's a great builder for my shoulders and my traps.0:25
  11. And again, never had one single injury.0:28
  12. Ah, shit.0:31
Show all 159 lines Show fewer lines
  1. Now I'm not saying that your shoulder is about to detonate like a Claymore on call of duty on a single repetition, but the accumulation of those repetitions every time0:33
  2. you do your shoulders or every time you do that exercise leads to a compounding risk that just doesn't need to be there, especially because you have a better option.0:42
  3. And that's the case with all these exercises.0:50
  4. This is a different exercise altogether in terms of how it feels and what it does to your shoulder joints.0:52
  5. And this is a high pull.0:57
  6. And the main difference between the high pull and the upright row is the position of the elbow and the wrist in relation to each other.0:59
  7. During that upright rows, you can see here, Jesse's elbows are way higher than the wrist, which drives his shoulder into internal rotation, under load by the way, with that1:06
  8. weight in his hands at the top of the movement, when his arm is elevated above his shoulder, which can lead to increased risk of impingement and feelings of discomfort1:14
  9. if you have any impingement already.1:22
  10. However, on the high pull, you can see that the elbow is now down lower than the wrist, creating external shoulder rotation, not internal rotation, even though you can still1:24
  11. handle the same load, and you can still get that same impact and growth on the delts and on the traps.1:32
  12. Now, a lot of people tell you, you can do the upright row, stop listening to Jeff, because you can stop it at your chest, or you can let your1:39
  13. elbows kind of hang back a little bit, and don't go so high.1:45
  14. Right, so you're telling them to do the high pull.1:48
  15. The essence is, an upright row done, like a classic upright row, is not an exercise that you should do, and it's one that you can easily swap out for1:51
  16. just as good gains with something like this, the high pull.1:58
  17. The chest fly, come on.2:01
  18. If it's good enough for Arnold, it's good enough for me.2:03
  19. How else am I gonna build those big old bitties, just like my boy?2:06
  20. Arnold, oh God, get me to the medical chopper.2:09
  21. I guess you could say, hasta la vista to that shoulder, Jesse.2:13
  22. Look, all kidding aside, guys, as a physical therapist, my issue here with the unsupported dumbbell bench fly is that itself, is that it's unsupported.2:16
  23. Your shoulder is placed in a much more vulnerable position, particularly the anterior shoulder capsule, because of the unsupported nature of those dumbbells out in its most vulnerable, most stretched2:24
  24. position.2:34
  25. Again, you're doing the exercise likely to get a greater stretch on the pecs, but in that position, you are most vulnerable, especially if you start to use heavier and2:35
  26. heavier weights.2:43
  27. I know the recommendation is just go light, but what if I told you you could stand up, do a cable crossover, actually use much more weight, provide more overload2:44
  28. in that stressed position, but do it much more safely?2:53
  29. Well, that's exactly what the cable crossover does.2:55
  30. Depending upon where you position your body in relation to the machine, you can set a safer safety net so that that bottom range of motion, all you have to2:58
  31. do is slightly turn to one side or the other to place the weights back on the stack.3:06
  32. Again, without any vulnerability to the anterior shoulder capsule.3:09
  33. And again, we get a lot more opportunity to load the exercise more heavily, so you can combine that stretch tension with just the overall tension we get from using3:12
  34. heavier weights to give you a better stimulus for growth.3:20
  35. Not to mention, of course, we can get that adduction fully across our body that we're not getting on the fly because it pretty much stops at midline, making it3:23
  36. a much better alternative.3:30
  37. Again, it's safer than what we're showing here, so therefore why not do it, especially if the gains could be better?3:31
  38. As a world traveler, who might have turned down an exercise with a foreign flair, like the Bulgarian split squat or a Russian twist, but there's no better exercise for3:36
  39. my shoulders than a Cuban press, which I don't know what I like better, the Cuban press or Cuban cigars, which reminds me of a time when I was down3:43
  40. in Cuba with my buddy Carlos, and someone could go hibas underneath a palm tree.3:50
  41. Damn, Carlos, this is a good cigar.3:56
  42. Ah, ah, ah!4:00
  43. I don't know, it doesn't seem as smooth as that Cuban cigar there, Jesse, although it does light you up in very much the same way.4:03
  44. I don't know who thought it was a good idea to combine a basic compound lift like an overhead press with a corrective exercise because it's just not necessary.4:09
  45. As a matter of fact, you're better off doing just a regular shoulder press, and then of course something like this, which is just a basic external rotation with a4:17
  46. band.4:26
  47. We can isolate one function from the other, because when we're doing that Cuban press anyway, you're getting just a little bit of resistance or stimulation of the rotator cuff4:26
  48. into external rotation, just in the very, very beginning of the exercise.4:35
  49. Whereas if we do something like my favorite exercise, a face pull, you can see that we get resisted external rotation, not just in the beginning, but all the way4:39
  50. through the range of motion.4:47
  51. We can actually add an overhead press component, but not for the sake of trying to build bigger shoulders, because again, you can handle that with heavier weight on its4:48
  52. own.4:55
  53. This overhead portion of this actually stimulates the lower traps, which further contributes to stabilizing your shoulders and making it a more corrective or protective exercise long term.4:56
  54. But you certainly don't need the Cuban press, no matter how you feel when you smoke them, Jesse.5:05
  55. Nothing gets you to rock hard core, like you're in a properly performed military sit -up.5:10
  56. As a matter of fact, my dad, an old Navy drill instructor, taught me a good trick, keep your feet anchored underneath something, to help you get those thousand reps.5:15
  57. Really easy, 978, 978.5:23
  58. Ah, got my back.5:28
  59. Oh, what a fucking idiot.5:30
  60. And so with all due respect to Jesse's dad, thank you for your service, just not for the advice you gave Jesse, because anchoring your feet under something does two5:32
  61. things you don't want it to do in a sit -up.5:41
  62. Number one, it takes away a lot of the work from the abs, because you're getting a good isometric engagement of the hip flexor that your body can almost post5:43
  63. up against and then make it easier, like Jesse said, for a thousand reps.5:50
  64. The second thing it's doing is that when you do engage the hip flexors like this, they have a tendency to become overactive and start to pull on the lumbar5:54
  65. spine, yanking your back into positions that lead to low back pain.6:02
  66. So to get the exercise to do more work for your abs, number one, and save your low back in the process, you want to anchor your feet beyond something.6:06
  67. In other words, you want to be pulling against something in order to pull your body up.6:13
  68. This you'll start to feel in the hamstrings instead, and by engaging the hamstrings, you will simply start to take away some of the contribution or over -contribution of those6:17
  69. hip flexors, which is going to allow you to have that core do more of the work.6:26
  70. Yes, probably limiting the number of repetitions that you do, but in the end, making them a hell of a lot more effective.6:30
  71. You know, nothing builds my traps, my dead lifts, or my Instagram followers, like a nice heavy set of rack pulls.6:36
  72. You know how much weight you can load up on this freaking thing?6:46
  73. Oh, I can't feel my fingers.6:49
  74. How am I going to click like on my own Instagram reel?6:52
  75. Well, yeah, sure, the exercise allows for a lot more weight, however, at what risk, because there is something that you should be concerned about when you do a rack6:54
  76. pull specifically at a height above the knee, because what you're going to get is a lot of thoracic forward rounding.7:02
  77. What that means is the shoulder blades of yours are going to come up and around your body, and what that does is places some stress on a structure called7:08
  78. the thoracic outlet, which is a series of nerves and blood supply that runs underneath the clavicle here that can become compressed as that shoulder moves down and forward when7:15
  79. the weight is so excessive.7:25
  80. So what would you do instead?7:27
  81. Just simply either lower the weight by lowering the bar, actually preferably performing a regular deadlift from the floor, or if you're trying to use this as an accessory movement7:28
  82. to improve your lockout on the deadlift, then just make sure you're lowering it down a little bit more, like below the knee, because that's going to introduce a necessity7:37
  83. of a hinge at your pelvis.7:44
  84. And when you hinge all of a sudden, the mechanics up and down the spine will change, preventing all that excessive rounding and forward tilting of the shoulder blade, which7:46
  85. will protect that thoracic outlet, take away some of that risk, and therefore give you a good loading option to get a lot of those followers on Instagram without necessarily7:55
  86. the risk to your structures itself.8:02
  87. Nothing cranks my wanker like a nice heavy one on dumbbell row.8:04
  88. Nothing better for building the lats one side at a time.8:07
  89. Plus, I'm nice and stable on the bench like this, and no risk to my lower back.8:10
  90. Oh, oh, my balls, my balls.8:14
  91. The issue with this exercise is the setup.8:18
  92. It's the fact that you do have a lot of weight that you do the exercise with.8:21
  93. When you drop one leg back and have one on the bench and pull the weight from this off leg, right?8:25
  94. You're basically loading down into this area, putting pressure on an already weakened structure in the inguinal canal.8:31
  95. Where we have a hole in the tissues down there to allow other structures to pass through, that hole can easily widen and create an inguinal hernia when you're in8:37
  96. this asymmetric loading position from a one -arm row, especially again, as you increase that weight.8:46
  97. But the fix is simple.8:50
  98. All you have to do is just simply raise the bench up to this position here, and perform it with both feet on the floor in this tripod row position.8:52
  99. So I can still do one arm at a time.9:02
  100. I let it hang in front of me in a balanced position here, and I allow myself to pull up in the same exact way, driving up and getting a9:04
  101. good lat contraction one side at a time.9:12
  102. But I don't have to put that asymmetrical loading and stress onto that inguinal canal to decrease any risk there is from a hernia on the exercise, and instead get9:14
  103. all the benefits in a much more comfortable way.9:24
  104. Nothing gets me loose and goosey before a run, like a nice stretch.9:28
  105. And man, I'm really feeling in those hamstrings.9:31
  106. And don't worry, Jeff, I'm not getting hurt doing this one.9:34
  107. Ehh.9:37
  108. No, Jesse, you shouldn't get hurt doing that stretch, but at the same time, you probably shouldn't be doing it either, because doing a static stretch before you go out9:38
  109. for a run is not necessarily the best way to warm up for an activity.9:46
  110. You gotta do something more active.9:50
  111. And in that case, you would do something like a leg swing rather than a static hold.9:51
  112. And a leg swing gives you the opportunity to not just get your dynamic flexibility through your hamstring, but you could also rotate your toe in space from out to9:56
  113. in so that you're basically getting external and internal hip rotation at the same time, making it far more functional.10:05
  114. As far as that static stretch, whether you do it standing here like this or down the floor, you're probably doing it wrong anyway, because you're not stretching your hamstring10:11
  115. at all if you just allow yourself to slump.10:18
  116. This is just working on your low back and not really even engaging or preparing your hamstring at all.10:21
  117. If you really wanna do that, you have to get into your pelvic tilt where you shoot your pelvis back, get your leg up, and then get your chest straight10:26
  118. out, not down.10:34
  119. And just reaching out in this direction should light that hamstring up.10:35
  120. And maybe for the first time ever, help you actually feel the stretch.10:39
  121. Again, giving you an option, but not one to be doing before you go out for a run, save those static stretches for the right time, do the dynamic ones10:42
  122. like the leg swing when you actually wanna warm up.10:49
  123. I don't care what anyone says.10:51
  124. I love side bends.10:53
  125. And dare I say, they're almost fun.10:54
  126. And what better way to carve out that midsection, burn those love handles, and get five to six minutes of just feeling like a million bucks.10:57
  127. So if you're obsessed with the exercise and think it's fun, like Jesse, there's probably a reason for it, because you're basically riding the seesaw at the playground by yourself,11:05
  128. because you don't need to have a dumbbell on each side.11:13
  129. If you're gonna do this variation, at least drop one dumbbell and work on one side at a time.11:16
  130. So at least you're pulling back against the weight of that dumbbell and work in the opposite side.11:20
  131. But there's so many better things to do instead that don't aggravate your low back.11:26
  132. Remember, the low back should be a stable joint, not necessarily an overly mobile one.11:29
  133. So do something like this side plank or any variation of a side plank.11:34
  134. Or if you have to, you wanna work on more of the rotation capabilities of the obliques, because that's what they do better anyway, than do something like this Russian11:38
  135. row.11:46
  136. It's not just a Russian twist.11:47
  137. You're actually rowing your arm back behind your body, to ensure that you're rotating enough.11:48
  138. But simply doing this silly exercise is not the way to build up your obliques.11:52
  139. And there's no way to just spot reduce your love handles.11:56
  140. If you wanna see a way to do that the right way, make sure you check out this video over here.11:59
  141. If you're looking for how to do those Bulgarian split squats, you know, Jesse, the world traveler, you can find that video over here.12:03
  142. All right guys, you haven't done so, make sure you click subscribe and turn on notifications.12:09
  143. Jeff, Jeff, my body's hurting bad.12:12
  144. I need a recovery day.12:14
  145. Do you mind if I come into work tomorrow?12:15
  146. We all thank you, Jesse.12:16
  147. See ya.12:18

English listening practice: a fast, American fitness lecture at B2

This clip is a lecture, not a conversation. The coach behind Athlean-X talks straight to camera at 231 words per minute, one of the fastest paces in the catalogue, at CEFR B2. That speed is what makes it good english listening practice: real coaching speech does not slow down for you, and 159 lines give you plenty of runway to catch up once you start shadowing.

He opens by showing what happened to Jesse, a training partner whose shoulder gave out after years of a certain exercise, then sets up the fix he is about to demonstrate. Nothing here is scripted for learners. It is a fitness YouTuber explaining an injury at his normal pace and with his normal asides, which is exactly the material worth building your ear on if you want to speak english fluently outside a classroom, in a gym, a clinic, or a meeting where nobody waits for you.

The language in this clip: anatomy vocabulary and one unscripted reaction

Jeff talks in long clauses that stack one anatomical fact on another, then drops one short, blunt line when things go wrong. That contrast between the rehearsed explaining and the real reaction is worth noticing before you try to shadow english speaking practice from this recording.

  • "So you don't wind up like Jesse." Six plain words, said slightly slower than the lines around it. The stress falls only on "wind" and "Jesse", which is a useful pattern to copy before moving to the longer lines.
  • "the position of the elbow and the wrist in relation to each other" is one breath group describing two joints at once, with no pause inside it. Listen for how "elbow" and "wrist" carry the stress while the rest of the clause flattens out.
  • "the elbow is now down lower than the wrist, creating external shoulder rotation, not internal rotation" pushes "external" against "internal" with the pitch rising then falling, built so the second word lands as the opposite of the first.
  • "Ah, shit." Three words, quiet and unscripted, the one place in the clip where the pace actually breaks. It is worth hearing next to the anatomy lines just to notice how different a genuine reaction sounds from rehearsed explaining.

How to work through Jesse's story line by line

Work the clip in the order it is spoken, not at random. Treating it as one story rather than a list of loose phrases turns the section into structured english speaking practice you can repeat daily.

  • Start with line 1, "This is the iron graveyard and this was Jesse." Say it flat, the way a dramatic opener is meant to sound, before moving on.
  • Shadow line 6, "So you don't wind up like Jesse." on its own a few times until the two stresses land cleanly. It repeats the name from line 1, so you can compare how the same word sits in two different rhythms.
  • Take the elbow and wrist description together with its "external" versus "internal" contrast and read them as one long breath group rather than pausing partway, since that is how the coach actually says them.
  • Finish on "Ah, shit." to feel how a real reaction breaks the lecture's pace, then go back and shadow the full run from the opening line through the high pull explanation once each piece works on its own.
Download on the App Store