The 6 Most Dangerous Workout Moves

By Corrie Pikul 

1. The Jump Where You Land Like a Girl

The move: Box jumps (hopping up and down with both feet on platforms of various heights)

The risk: These trendy CrossFit moves (now coming to a gym near you) can be a great way to build power, says Vonda Wright, MD, a Pittsburgh-based orthopedic surgeon who specializes in injury prevention and mobility. However, they're notorious for causing injuries to the knee or Achilles tendon. Landing properly requires excellent form, and that can be tough to maintain when you're doing several in a row, says Wright. Most men land with their butt sticking out and their knees facing forward and deeply bent, which absorbs impact. But, Wright says, women tend to land with their legs straighter and their knees closer together, which can be hard on the joints (it could even cause a ruptured ACL).

The fix: Wright says to start with standing broad jumps until you perfect your form and are able to land without wobbling. Increase the height very gradually, and consider stepping down to the ground instead of jumping.

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2. The Hand Position You Learned to Do Wrong in Grade School

The move: Bench presses

The risk: These strengthen the shoulders, arms and chest, but Wright says she often sees people positioning their hands too far apart on the bar. The reason, she says, is that many of us started doing push-ups in PE class (usually for the President's Physical Fitness Challenge) with an exaggerated wide grip, and we've continued to use this position when doing upper-body work. This choice puts more emphasis on the chest and shoulders, and while it may be fine for a couple of push-ups, Wright says that wide-grip bench presses put stress on the soft tissue of the front shoulder and can cause a tear in your rotator cuff.

The fix: When doing bench presses, Wright says, your hands should be directly over your shoulders. Tell your workout partner (you always have a spotter for these, right?) to keep an eye on your arms: Elbows should be pulled down to your ribcage and not sticking out like chicken wings.

3. The Dance Move That Can Get a Little Too Dramatic

The move: Drop to one knee (a sudden fall from standing to kneeling, popular in contemporary dance fitness classes)

The risk: The cartilage around the knee is extremely pressure-sensitive, explains Wright. "If a 130-pound person comes down like dead weight directly on the knee, the pressure can permanently damage the kneecap."

The fix: Professional dancers know how to fall in a controlled way so that their knees don't even touch the ground. "If the right knee is coming down, most of the weight should be on your left quad and hamstring," says Simone De La Rue, a professional-dancer-turned-fitness-expert and creator of Body By Simone. "Use your core to keep your balance." If you don't have the core and quad strength to prevent your knee from slamming down, De La Rue says to only bend into a high lunge instead of a squat. "Create the drama by throwing your arms and head down."

4. The Ab Exercise That Can Be a Real Pain

The move: Bending sideways with dumbbells

The risk: Wright often sees people head straight for the 10- or 15-pound weights when doing this move for the first time. Unless your obliques are already strong, she says, you're likely to compensate by hyperextending your back (and the lower back tends to be one of the most injury-prone parts of the body).

The fix: Wright has patients put their hands on their hips and tells them to tense up like they're about to get a punch in the gut. Now that you can feel the muscles you're trying to work, lean to one side without leaning forward or backward. "Focus on isolating and working these muscles with just your body weight for resistance," she says. There are also plenty of other ways to work your obliques without weights.

5. The Common Exercise That Defeats Even Military Troops

The move: Power cleans (bodybuilder barbell lifts)

The risk: These are pretty standard in boot-camp classes, but they're very technical and require the precision (if not the strength) of an Olympic weight lifter. The military recently noted a surprising number of injuries from power cleans in CrossFit, Gym Jones Insanity and P90X sessions, resulting in lost duty time, medical treatment and rehab.

The fix: Try power cleans only under the supervision of a professional trainer or coach, who can scrutinize your form and help you select the appropriate weight. Instead, you can work your legs and hips with basic squats while holding a barbell across your shoulders, says Shirley Archer, a certified fitness expert and the author of Weight Training for Dummies. To work the upper body, she says that a stationary overhead press, in which you lift the bar from the shoulders to the ceiling, is safer than lifting it from the floor to the chest and then to the ceiling. (But that move also has risks--see below.)

6. The Lift That Throws People Off

The move: Overhead lifts

The risk: Anytime you lift a heavy weight over your head, you risk hurting your back, saysStephania Bell, a physical therapist and ESPN sports injury analyst. A common mistake is changing posture and arching the back to gain momentum. "If you're swaying back and forth, the weight is too heavy," Bell says.

The fix: Tighten your abs to control your posture, says Bell, and engage your leg muscles as well as your arms and core. Keep in mind that most injuries happen when the body is tired. That's why you might want to think twice before doing weight moves in an indoor cycling class, where balance and form are key. "Even lifting light weights while riding can put your lower back at risk," says Josh Taylor, an international master Spinning instructor. He suggests pushing yourself to the max during your cardio routine and saving the weights until you get off the bike. 

Body scanners risk right to privacy, says UK watchdog

The UK's equality watchdog has written to the home secretary expressing concerns about plans to use body scanners at airports.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said the devices risked breaching an individual's right to privacy under the Human Rights Act.

They are being introduced in response to the alleged attempt to blow up an American plane on 25 December.

Ministers have said protecting people's life and liberty is paramount.

The prime minister has pledged to introduce full body scanners at British airports, and they are due to be in operation at Heathrow Airport by the end of this month.

They produce "naked" images of passengers, and civil rights groups warn they could generate illegal images of children and images of celebrities that could be leaked online.

In response to such fears, the Department of Transport said it was developing a staff code of practice for airport body scanners.

In addition to body scanners, the government is also considering "additional targeted passenger profiling".

'Proportionate measures'

In its letter, the EHRC calls on Home Secretary Alan Johnson to set out in detail the justification for bringing in body scanners, and clarify what safeguards will be put in place.

The watchdog has said the proposals are likely to have a negative impact on privacy, especially in relation to certain groups such as disabled people, the elderly, children and the transgendered community.

It also wants to see the evidence for the profiling of air passengers.

John Wadham, group director legal at the EHRC, said the commission accepted the government had a responsibility to protect air travellers.

"The right to life is the ultimate human right and we support the government reviewing security in the light of recent alleged terrorist activity," he said.

"However, the government needs to ensure that measures to protect this right also take into account the need to be proportionate in its counter-terrorism proposals and ensure that they are justified by evidence and effectiveness."

Privacy campaigners welcomed the EHRC's move.

Dylan Sharpe, campaign director of Big Brother Watch, said the government had not considered privacy in its "desperation to be seen to be doing something".

"They are another intrusion into our privacy in the name of protection, yet we know that they are not fail-safe and could see airport authorities becoming reliant on a deeply flawed method of detection," he added.

The introduction of body scanners has sparked a wide debate, and even the home secretary has admitted it will not be a "magic bullet".

Earlier this month, he said: "It is clear that no one measure will be enough to defeat inventive and determined terrorists and there is no single technology which we can guarantee will be 100% effective against such attacks."

Mr Johnson also told the Commons there was only a 50 to 60% chance that a body scanner would have detected bomb materials allegedly carried by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

He said the government would be "mindful of civil liberties concerns but conscious of our overriding obligations to protect people's life and liberty".

Mr Abdulmutallab is accused of trying to detonate a bomb on a flight from Amsterdam as it was about to land in Detroit.

Late-night teens 'face greater depression risk'

Going to bed earlier protects teenagers against depression and suicidal thoughts, New York research suggests.

Of 15,500 12 to 18-year-olds studied, those who went to bed after midnight were 24% more likely to have depression than those who went before 2200.

And those who slept fewer than five hours a night had a 71% higher risk of depression than those who slept eight hours, the journal Sleep reports.

It is estimated 80,000 UK children and young people have depression.

The researchers from Columbia University Medical Center in New York looked at data from 15,500 teenagers collected in the 1990s.

One in 15 of those studied were found to have depression.

As well as the higher risk of depression, those who were set a bedtime by their parents of after midnight were 20% more likely to think about suicide than those whose bedtime was 2200 or earlier.

Those who had less than five hours sleep a night were thought to have a 48% higher risk of suicidal thoughts compared with those who had eight hours of sleep.

Teenagers who reported they "usually get enough sleep" were 65% less likely to be depressed.

Depression and suicidal thoughts were also more likely in girls, older teenagers and in those who had a lower self-perception of how much parents care about them.

Most of the parents of the adolescents in the study set a bedtime of 2200 or earlier.

A quarter set a bedtime of 2400 or later.

On average the teenagers were having seven hours and 53 minutes sleep a night - less than the nine hours recommended at that age.

Study leader Dr James Gangwisch said although it it was possible that youngsters with depression struggle to sleep, the fact that parental set bedtimes were linked with depression suggests that a lack of sleep is somehow underpinning the development of the condition.

He said a lack of sleep could affect emotional brain responses and lead to moodiness that hindered the ability to cope with daily stresses.

This moodiness could affect judgment, concentration and impulse control.

Regular exercise

"Adequate quality sleep could therefore be a preventative measure against depression and a treatment for depression," he added.

Sarah Brennan, chief executive at the mental health charity YoungMinds, said: "Enough sleep, good food and regular exercise are all essential to stay emotionally healthy.

"Nearly 80,000 children and young people suffer with depression, yet we are still failing to provide our young people with the help and support to cope with it and prevent it.

"Providing parents with information about how to look after your body, for example by getting enough sleep, and how to get help if they are worried about their teenager, will ensure problems are tackled early and prevent serious mental health conditions such as depression."