I love learning about health and fitness and over the past six or seven years have braodened my knowledge of the topic considerably. I teach group fitness and feel confident guiding others, but it’s an ongoing constant improvement process. I still don’t consider myself an expert, but back when I first started the blog I was even farther from it. I was just a fitness enthusiast who was sharing the workouts she did for fun. I made no claims to be an authority and it’s a good thing because looking back on my old posts … girrrrrrl no.
Every one in a while an old workout post will surface and while most of them are fine, there are a few pictures that make me totally cringe. I thought it’d be fun (and useful) today to call myself out a little. Fitness Trainer Nicole is going to correct the improper form of Fitness Enthusiast Nicole.
5 Common Exercise Mistakes (That I’ve Made)
1. Low Back Arch in Plank
from 8-Minute Abs 2.0
I did a whole post on common planking form mistakes, and I definitely used to be guilty of letting my low back arch down towards the ground. And I have to make an embarrassing confession about it:
I used to do it in pictures on the blog because I thought it made my butt look good.
GAHHHNOOOOOFJDKSLFKEJLKEG OEDJFSKLD:S I’m the worst. Well, I was the worst when I was 23 years old.
There’s a natural curvature to the low spine and planking isn’t about eliminating that; it’s about tightening through the core to prevent it from being over-exaggerated. 
Not as bootylicious, but definitely harder on the abs and easier on the low back!
2. Knee ahead of Toes
When you’re in a squat or lunge position with the heel on the floor, your knee shouldn’t jut out farther than the toes. You want the support of the ankle joint underneath it so that the knee isn’t in a strained position. There are exceptions to this rule, but in general think knees behind the big toe.
I’ve definitely seen worse than in the above picture, but this would be safer for the knee:
Notice the weight is in my front heel and the knee is stacked over the ankle.
3. Kettlebell Swings Higher Than The Chest
I know in CrossFit they swing overhead and if you have a CF coach instructing you how to do that then great, but with traditional kettlebell swings, you only bring the bell to chest height. I don’t do CrossFit so I stick with the standard and when I use kettlebells in group classes tell students to do the same. If the kettlebell is easily coming up to head height like it is in the above picture, you’re probably using a weight that’s too light for you!
My kettlebell is in storage for the summer so here’s the correct form from a previous blog post:
The top of the swing is chest height.
4. Craning Neck during Push Ups
Your neck is part of your spine. When in push up position, we typically know to hold our core in a neutral position (as if we were planking) but don’t always apply that logic to our necks. You should be looking at the floor a few inches in front of your hands; not at the ceiling.
The problem with this, in addition to it being uncomfortable for your neck, is that it sets off a chain of misalignment through the rest of the body. Notice in the above picture how craning my neck is causing my back to then arch. Besides the fact that I’m cracking up (Joe walked in on me taking self-timer push up pictures haha), here’s a much better push up:
Notice how shifting my gaze downward a few inches helps me keep the core engaged, removing that sag from the low back. I’m also not rolling forward through my feet.
Fellow instructors/trainers–what are some of the common form errors you see with clients? Everyone–what are the form corrections you’ve made for yourself?
P.S. I genuinely appreciate when people call out form errors in the comments of my posts so please never be afraid to correct me! It’s helpful for me and everyone reading the blog. Seeing myself in pictures throughout the years has helped me improve immensely and constructive criticism isn’t “trolling.” 🙂
Hey there! I'm Nicole, a group fitness instructor, healthy lifestyle blogger (you probably figured that one out by now) and Certified Personal Trainer living in Boston, MA.
This is great. I see a lot of bad form at the gym and it always makes me cringe. It’s easy to have bad form when there’s no mirror or no one is around to correct you.
One thing I always see people doing wrong, and have so far been unsuccessful in correcting my husband on, is kettlebell swings. I see soooo many people squatting the kettlebell and then raising it up with their arms. But the KB swing is not a squat, it’s a strange hip thrust hingeing motion in which the knees stay flexible but do not really bend a lot.
I’d love to see more of the at-home workout folks share more tips for proper form on really specific movements like KB swings.
I was going to say the same thing! At the gym it seems like the only people using the correct hip hinge KB swing form are working with trainers. I learned by watching a lot of youtube videos and reading online tutorials, but I can see how it could be hard to find the right information. I’ve seen fitness bloggers and instagram fitness ambassadors using incorrect form for KB swings so it would be great to incorporate this knowledge into your workouts that include swings.
Form is so important when it comes to preventing injuries.
These are excellent tips! I’m always concerned about my posture and form when working out. I’m going to try to remember the tip about kettle bells and not raise it above my chest next time!
Love this. I’m trying to keep my form on point and really making a conscious effort to get it right. Just looking at your photos I identified 2 areas where I’m not to standard
This is great. I was at a fitness conference this past weekend and we did a workout using this app from on of their sponsors called Sworkit. A bunch of the moves in the app had the wrong form and I was super concerned about anyone who is a beginner or who doesn’t know much about form who is doing these workouts at home!
In my classes when it’s push-up time I always take a deep breath, hold it and hope for the best. I understand it’s challenging move for a lot of women but I cannot for the life of me find the right language to make a whole class of people compliant. I feel like about 50% of my clients think they can do push-ups and they actually cannot. Low back sag, reaching their neck out instead of bending at the elbows, being on all fours rather than a kneeling plank, unable to tuck in elbows to make it a tricep push-up.
It’s always a disaster. I’d love to know how you all talk a class through it!
This was really helpful! Thanks girl!
Loved this post! I am guilty too! Also, your booty looks great still 😉 hehe
Chloe
A Latte Lipstick
Love this post! I cringed every time I see knees going over ankles. After multiple knee injuries I just want to run over and say ‘SAVE YOUR KNEES!’ 🙂 Totally am not holding my neck right during push-ups so I’ll be correcting that form ASAP!
This post is super helpful! I would love to see future posts with other common form mistakes.
so important! Correct form leads to fewer injuries and better workouts!http://www.thewanderingbrunette.com/
I always see a lot of clients make mistakes when doing deadlifts and renegade row! There is a lot of room for error so it is important that I know how to do them properly to show them how to do them properly. Great post and I love that top and leggings. Fabulous!
I used to swing the kettle bell too high. I didn’t know any better. I think I finally watched a video for a kettle bell workout and was like, O.O #oops!
Form is so important. Great post.
Such a fun and unique post! I would love to see a day in the life post also.
The dreaded plank! It’s my favorite and least favorite all rolled into one. This was such a helpful post!
Thanks for the post, I’m just looking for some tips about planking so I found this useful 🙂
Thank you for this post, it’s been so helpful for me particularly on the form for doing a plank. I see so many variations but the way you’ve shown is so much better for my lower back and at least now I’m only getting “the burn” in the correct places. 🙂
Form is so important when training, especially when weights are incorporated into the workout. The incorrect and correct pictures helps a lot!