Is There Any Exercise That's Actually 'Bad' for You? The Surprising Answer

Allow me to change your perspective on phrases you’ve heard before:

“Squats are bad for your knees”

“You’ll throw your back out doing deadlifts”

“I used to bench press, but now my shoulder can’t take it”

We’re placing blame to the wrong party here. If I eat an banana, it’s good for me. It has a lot of vitamins and minerals, natural sugar and provides energy.

If I eat 50 bananas, I’m going to be borderline diabetic or worse soon. If my conclusion from that is bananas are bad for me, I’ve lost my mind.

The difference between medicine and poison is the dose. The substance itself is secondary, and that’s the case with exercise.

If I’ve never gone for a run before and a sign up for a marathon with zero training, I’m most likely going to get hurt. You can’t blame the entire modality of running for your poor choice.

The same goes for any exercise or movement. Injury and pain only happen when we do something above our capacity.

So squats then are only bad for your knees if you choose a load, or range of motion, or volume that’s above your capacity.

Deadlifts are only bad for your back if you do too much too soon.

Bench pressing or any pressing movement is only bad for your shoulders if they lack the capacity to handle it.

It’s not the movement’s fault, it’s yours.

Making objective judgement on your ability to handle something is a skill that takes practice to develop but it’s key to preventing injury.

A little strategic overreach is fine as long as you account for the extra recovery time. We have to take accountability for how we choose to move.

“But Stephen, what if no matter what I modify (load, ROM, or volume) an exercise or movement is still causing pain?”

Then it may just be that the movement isn’t right for you, right now. It doesn’t mean the exercise is bad overall.

You may need to build tolerance first before you progress to a certain kind of movement. Context and timing are key.

Think about this the next time you think or hear that an exercise is “bad for you”.

To your good health,

Coach Stephen

P.S.

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