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Oh no, not more bad news. You guys are going to hate all of this reality therapy. I guess if you get sick of me ... I'll keep on writing anyway.

I had a horrific experience the other day. It was awful. Like a bad movie playing over and over. For the first time in years, I went to a regular gym and worked out.

I realized one thing. In spite of all the articles and books people like Mark Verstegen and I have written, based on what I saw, very few people have read them, or if they did, they are clearly ignoring us.

I spent an hour exercising, and the painful truth is that in the one hour I was in the gym, I did not see too many people exercising correctly. I felt like I was in the gym in 1980. Exercise after exercise done with no attention to detail or technique.

There's even a bigger problem. Gym-goers have fallen in love with all the wrong exercises. Lets start with one basic concept:

If you work a desk job, the three worst exercises you can do are bench presses, curls, and stationary cycling.

I know what you're thinking. "But that's my whole workout."

Sadly, a lot of people go the gym, do a few sets of bench, a few curls, and hop on the bike. What's wrong with this?

The truth is that working all day in a seated position results in short hip flexors, short pecs, and short biceps. This is due to the posture adopted while seated. This is also why Americans suffer from so much neck and back pain.

Just look at what comprises seated posture in front of a computer. The hips are flexed, the arms are bent, and the shoulders are forward. If you are going to the gym, your objective should be to reverse the effects of hours of seated posture not magnify it. Instead we go to the gym and magnify the problem. Bench presses further shorten pecs, curls reinforce the flexed arm position, and 30 minutes on the bike further shortens the hip flexors.

What we really need to do are exercises that strengthen the muscles that keep our shoulders back, not the ones that pull them forward. We need more rowing-type exercises to strengthen the muscles that pull the shoulder blades back, not more pressing to pull them forward. Secondarily we need to stretch the hip flexors. Third we need to make sure that all arm work is done through the full range of motion to not reinforce adaptive shortening. The forward head and rounded shoulders that come with aging are not an accident. They are the result of the way we live and work.

One of the goals of any exercise program should be to reverse the effects of aging.

The fact is that most people are not going to stop bench pressing, curling, or riding a stationary bike. With this in mind, think rows and scapula-control exercises. Make sure you do one rowing set for every set of bench press, close-grip bench press, or incline press you do. Get off the bike and start walking instead, or when you finish your ride, spend time stretching out your hip flexors.

The real key is understanding that the muscles you can't see in the mirror (the ones in the back) are the ones responsible for making sure that you don't end up looking like grandma or grandpa.  Michael Boyle's web site is at www.michaelboyle.biz