Isometric exercises, like planks or lunge holds, require holding a position for an extended period. In these positions, your muscles are firing, but you’re also working on the alignment of the joint and working the tendon to hold that position, says Wulke. Ho adds that while ligaments and joints cannot technically be trained directly like tendons, you can support their health by strengthening the surrounding muscles and encouraging proper movement patterns.

Wulke often programs training days with a mix of goals for her athletes: “high” days for muscle and strength development and “low” days focusing on alignment, isometric holds, and mobility. But most people don’t have enough time to dedicate separate days for joint-specific work. Instead, try integrating these movements into your existing strength training sessions. Consider adding a few sets of isometric holds during your warm-up or as a finisher.

(Is cracking your joints bad for you?)

During your workouts, focus on the eccentric phase of your movements. Slow down and maintain control throughout the exercise to help you ensure proper form. You can also use higher reps and lower weight to reduce the risk of overstressing connective tissues.

Last, Hinson recommends incorporating low-impact exercises such as walking, cycling, Pilates, water aquatics, and yoga. “Taking care of and improving the structures that make the joints stronger and more flexible—it really will pay huge dividends in keeping [people] out of my office and away from injury,” he says.

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Avoid doing these gym exercises now!

In the clip shared on The Ranveer Show Podcast Instagram page, with the caption, “Dr Venkatesh on Which Exercises you should Avoid in Gym?”, Ranveer asks Dr Movva which exercises he would recommend gymgoers to avoid as an orthopaedic doctor. He suggested three exercises which are quite popular among gymgoers aiming to get fit, lose weight or stay healthy. According to him, one should not do overhead exercises, deadlifts, and crunches.

Dr Movva stated in the clip, “Overhead, heavy [exercise]. I mean, you can go stretch, but no military press, number one. Number two crunches; avoid them. Number three, deadlifts. (sic)” To this, Ranveer replied, “So, I’d replace the military press because it’s for the anterior delts with just front raises.” As an alternative, Dr Movva suggested people to ‘bend down’ during such exercises. “You can go bend down, raise it [weights], rather than overhead (sic),” he said.

While Ranveer, a fitness enthusiast himself, said that he would replace crunches with planks, Dr Movva suggested ‘planks and bridges’.

Lastly, for why one should avoid deadlifts, an exercise you must have seen many celebrities doing at the gym and fitness influencers pushing their followers to include in their routine, the orthopaedic doctor said, “I see more injuries than benefits with the deadlifts. If you are really well-trained and have a good muscle balance, do it. But if you are trying to get better, that’s one thing you may want to avoid. Because the risk of injury is very high. There are so many other exercises that you can compensate without doing these things.”

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.

(Also Read | Avoid doing these gym exercises now! Orthopaedic doctor reveals exercises that do more harm; the answers may shock you)

Back and bicep workouts to try

In the video, Meredith suggested exercises like the Smith machine or barbell mid-grip rows, outer curl into Zottman curl, cable rear delt fly, straight arm pulldowns, reverse seated rows, cable hammer curls, and cable lat pulldowns. She also demonstrated how to do each exercise in the clip and showcased modifications she added to make the routine effective.

The fitness influencer also had an inspiring message for those trying to lose weight or tone their muscles. She said, “Nobody saw my potential the way that I did…” Check out the exercises.

According to Meredith’s video, each exercise targets different areas in your back and biceps. Talking about the Smith machine or barbell mid-grip rows, she said that the exercise targets your ‘middle back for a balanced development’. For the Zottman curl, she modified the exercise by adding an outer curl, which helped her target the long head of her biceps and forearms.

While the cable rear delt fly exercise (a personal favourite of the fitness coach) targets the real delts, upper back muscles, traps and rhomboid, the straight arm pulldown helps work out the rhomboid and ‘big muscles’ on the back, thus helping create the V shape.

As per Meredith, the reverse seated rows also target the rhomboid along with the traps, biceps, rear delts, and the ‘main muscle in our backs that helps us in doing pulling movements’. Lastly, the cable hammer curls work the entire upper arms ‘focusing on the front of the arms and the outside of the forearm’, while the cable lat pulldowns target ‘lats, rhomboid, traps, and biceps’.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.