The Value of Worthless Exercises

**Keith Wassung** · 07-25-2005, 01:38 PM

The Value of Worthless Exercises

By Keith Wassung

My winter years in high school largely consisted of doing chores around the farm at 5am in thirty degree below temperatures and wrestling. Our high school had a great wrestling tradition. I was always paired up with Butch, who was one weight class lighter than I. Butch did not know the meaning of the word quit. Actually there were a lot of words that Butch did not know the meaning of. I have always suspected that he was too dumb to know that he was tired. During the previous football season we were on a road game and during warm-ups, Butch told the coach that he had forgotten his mouthpiece. One of the trainers had a mouthpiece in the training bag and she went and found a microwave to heat the water in order to form the mouthpiece. They brought the cup of hot water and the mouthpiece out to Butch only to discover that he did have a mouthpiece after all. The coach asked him where he had found his mouthpiece and Butch replied that he had found an old discarded one at the edge of the field and had popped it into his mouth.

Our practices were about two and half hours long and they always ended the same way. During the last fifteen minutes of practice, our coaches would divide us up into two teams and we would have some sort of competition. Usually, it consisted of relay race involving crabwalks, wheelbarrows or two-man carries. If the basketball court was empty, we would occasionally play a fast game of basketball, which always seemed to degenerate into dodge ball.

Did the coaches have us engage in these competitions in order to perfect our wrestling skill-not really. Did it improve our balance or conditioning?- Nope. Then why did we do it? Because it was fun. We looked forward to it, we had fun and it allowed us to end a hard practice on an up-beat note.

Often times certain exercises are deemed "worthless" by other people. These would include, but are not limited to the tricep kickback, concentration curls and the classic worthless exercise, the cable crossover. First of all, can any exercise really be considered worthless? It might be dangerous, especially when performed incorrectly, and it may have a very low productivity factor, but it can hardly be considered worthless. The same people who claim these are worthless exercises will then advise you not to do them, because they will cut into you recuperation. Wait a minute, if the exercise is worthless, then how can it affect your recuperation? Now allow me to make a very important point. There are literally millions of people who perform these "worthless" exercises exclusively. You see them in the gyms and health clubs day in and day out pumping away on the easiest movements they can find. Those people are fooling themselves and they are not the type of people reading this article. I believe that lifting is all about getting bigger and stronger and this only occurs when you work the basic compound movements in a progressive manner. I believe you could probably pick two or three basic exercises and if that was all you ever did, you would be one strong and well built individual. But I also realize that doing those movements over and over would eventually get a little boring, so it's important to do some additional stuff now and then, even if it does not add a lot to your main objectives. One of the first articles that I ever wrote for this site was about shoulder development. My program consisted largely of overhead presses, but I also mentioned that at the end of the workout, I did a couple of sets of lateral raises. I received countless numbers of e-mails from guys who could not believe that I would do lateral raises. I even came across a discussion forum where people were debating the reason why I did lateral raises. Some proposed the theory that it helped build the medial deltoid, which aided my overhead presses, others claimed it was for the rotator cuff and most simply said that I was crazy for doing it. They were all wrong, I do them because I like doing them and for no other reason and I could care less what other people think.

One of the essential keys to longevity in lifting is to have a certain amount of fun in your training. When you get to the point where you dread going to the gym or see it as simply something that you have to do, but really don't want to do, then it is only a matter of time until you will quit altogether. When I was in high school and inn the military, I knew a lot of guys who began a lifting program with great enthusiasm. The bought all of the books, went to the seminars, trained hard and made noteworthy gains. Twenty years later, I do not know a single one of those guys who still lifts. They can claim they don't have time, but they have time to golf, fish, and watch sports. My entire weekly training takes less time that a weekly episode of Monday Night Football. People quit lifting for the most part, because they stopped having fun with their training.

Do what you have to do in order to have fun in your training, even if it means doing some of those worthless exercises.

To Better Health and Happiness

Keith Wassung

**BobThePotato** · 07-25-2005, 10:17 PM

Awsome post as usual keith.

Pj-Macx · 07-25-2005, 11:15 PM

Great Post.. Keith..

Massman · 07-25-2005, 11:36 PM

Very well put. I know that I change my routine or "switch thing up" for that very reason. Its fun to see the strength cross over from one to the next. I recently worked in rope pulldowns again for the first time in a month and I was suprised as hell to how much strength I'd gained in an exercise I had not done in so long.

**ravadongon** · 07-26-2005, 03:33 PM

Nice post. I can never get board of the compound exercises tho... The isolations, tho, I do tend to get board of pretty quickly so I'm always changing them...

**Sky9** · 08-07-2005, 10:50 PM

This was a good read, thanks for the post.

aqua-beowulf · 08-08-2005, 12:07 AM

:nosthumbs Terrific post Keith! Glad to see another familiar face from BB.com

Apootheosis · 08-08-2005, 02:40 PM

the only worth is fun and negligible gain?

what a downer ending

Lift · 03-16-2006, 12:08 PM

bump great read

**powerman2000** · 03-16-2006, 12:36 PM

I hadn't seen this article until just now and all I can say is that was an awesome read!!!

Thanks Keith.

DarkFalcon · 03-17-2006, 08:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by powerman2000

I hadn't seen this article until just now and all I can say is that was an awesome read!!!

Thanks Keith.

Me too, I have too agree, variety is the spice of workouts!

Switching even the a few small things every once and awhile can be enough to re-energize you.

07-25-2005, 01:38 PM	#1
Keith Wassung Gold Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 84 Recipes: 0 Rep Power: 6	The Value of Worthless Exercises The Value of Worthless Exercises By Keith Wassung My winter years in high school largely consisted of doing chores around the farm at 5am in thirty degree below temperatures and wrestling. Our high school had a great wrestling tradition. I was always paired up with Butch, who was one weight class lighter than I. Butch did not know the meaning of the word quit. Actually there were a lot of words that Butch did not know the meaning of. I have always suspected that he was too dumb to know that he was tired. During the previous football season we were on a road game and during warm-ups, Butch told the coach that he had forgotten his mouthpiece. One of the trainers had a mouthpiece in the training bag and she went and found a microwave to heat the water in order to form the mouthpiece. They brought the cup of hot water and the mouthpiece out to Butch only to discover that he did have a mouthpiece after all. The coach asked him where he had found his mouthpiece and Butch replied that he had found an old discarded one at the edge of the field and had popped it into his mouth. Our practices were about two and half hours long and they always ended the same way. During the last fifteen minutes of practice, our coaches would divide us up into two teams and we would have some sort of competition. Usually, it consisted of relay race involving crabwalks, wheelbarrows or two-man carries. If the basketball court was empty, we would occasionally play a fast game of basketball, which always seemed to degenerate into dodge ball. Did the coaches have us engage in these competitions in order to perfect our wrestling skill-not really. Did it improve our balance or conditioning?- Nope. Then why did we do it? Because it was fun. We looked forward to it, we had fun and it allowed us to end a hard practice on an up-beat note. Often times certain exercises are deemed "worthless" by other people. These would include, but are not limited to the tricep kickback, concentration curls and the classic worthless exercise, the cable crossover. First of all, can any exercise really be considered worthless? It might be dangerous, especially when performed incorrectly, and it may have a very low productivity factor, but it can hardly be considered worthless. The same people who claim these are worthless exercises will then advise you not to do them, because they will cut into you recuperation. Wait a minute, if the exercise is worthless, then how can it affect your recuperation? Now allow me to make a very important point. There are literally millions of people who perform these "worthless" exercises exclusively. You see them in the gyms and health clubs day in and day out pumping away on the easiest movements they can find. Those people are fooling themselves and they are not the type of people reading this article. I believe that lifting is all about getting bigger and stronger and this only occurs when you work the basic compound movements in a progressive manner. I believe you could probably pick two or three basic exercises and if that was all you ever did, you would be one strong and well built individual. But I also realize that doing those movements over and over would eventually get a little boring, so it's important to do some additional stuff now and then, even if it does not add a lot to your main objectives. One of the first articles that I ever wrote for this site was about shoulder development. My program consisted largely of overhead presses, but I also mentioned that at the end of the workout, I did a couple of sets of lateral raises. I received countless numbers of e-mails from guys who could not believe that I would do lateral raises. I even came across a discussion forum where people were debating the reason why I did lateral raises. Some proposed the theory that it helped build the medial deltoid, which aided my overhead presses, others claimed it was for the rotator cuff and most simply said that I was crazy for doing it. They were all wrong, I do them because I like doing them and for no other reason and I could care less what other people think. One of the essential keys to longevity in lifting is to have a certain amount of fun in your training. When you get to the point where you dread going to the gym or see it as simply something that you have to do, but really don't want to do, then it is only a matter of time until you will quit altogether. When I was in high school and inn the military, I knew a lot of guys who began a lifting program with great enthusiasm. The bought all of the books, went to the seminars, trained hard and made noteworthy gains. Twenty years later, I do not know a single one of those guys who still lifts. They can claim they don't have time, but they have time to golf, fish, and watch sports. My entire weekly training takes less time that a weekly episode of Monday Night Football. People quit lifting for the most part, because they stopped having fun with their training. Do what you have to do in order to have fun in your training, even if it means doing some of those worthless exercises. To Better Health and Happiness Keith Wassung

07-25-2005, 10:17 PM	#2
BobThePotato Nublarsaurusrex Join Date: May 2005 Location: Calgary//Alberta Posts: 513 Recipes: 0 Rep Power: 21	Awsome post as usual keith. __________________ "Geadelt ist wer Schmerzen kennt vom Feuer das in Lust verbrennt."

07-25-2005, 11:15 PM	#3
Pj-Macx Pro Stature Join Date: May 2005 Location: 632 HP SS Posts: 3,337 Recipes: 0 Rep Power: 68	Great Post.. Keith.. __________________ Co-Owner @ BodyBuildingXtreme 2002 Navy Blue Metallic Camaro SS "The Blue Ghost" # 10354 -=LME LSX 454ci built for N20=-

07-25-2005, 11:36 PM	#4
Massman Aviationfit Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Strong Island Posts: 250 Recipes: 0 Rep Power: 6	Very well put. I know that I change my routine or "switch thing up" for that very reason. Its fun to see the strength cross over from one to the next. I recently worked in rope pulldowns again for the first time in a month and I was suprised as hell to how much strength I'd gained in an exercise I had not done in so long. __________________ Shut up and Lift.

07-26-2005, 03:33 PM	#5
ravadongon Audere est Facere Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Perth, Australia Posts: 372 Recipes: 0 Rep Power: 7	Nice post. I can never get board of the compound exercises tho... The isolations, tho, I do tend to get board of pretty quickly so I'm always changing them... __________________ My Weight Training Log - http://ironmass.com/forums/showthread.php?p=112673 For Full Journal visit - http://forum.athletes.com/showthread.php?t=2466 or http://charliefrancis.com/community/...ad.php?t=11822.

08-07-2005, 10:50 PM	#6
Sky9 IronMass Sponsor Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Philly Posts: 134 Recipes: 0 Rep Power: 5	This was a good read, thanks for the post. __________________ www.islandsupplements.com HST and DHEA/ATD http://anabolicminds.com/forum/show...1545#post381545 Review / Compare: X-Lean, Amp, and Venom http://www.ironmass.com/forums/showt...7709#post77709 HST and Superdrol with Pics http://anabolicminds.com/forum/showthread.php?t=31794 Max-OT and 1AD/4AD http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showt...766#post5814766 Max-OT and Viraloid http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showt...000#post6085000

08-08-2005, 12:07 AM	#7
aqua-beowulf Amateur Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Owensboro, KY Posts: 57 Recipes: 0 Rep Power: 4	:nosthumbs Terrific post Keith! Glad to see another familiar face from BB.com

08-08-2005, 02:40 PM	#8
Apootheosis Pro Stature Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 625 Recipes: 0 Rep Power: 10	the only worth is fun and negligible gain? what a downer ending

03-16-2006, 12:08 PM	#9
Lift I Love IronMass.Com Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 825 Recipes: 0 Rep Power: 12	bump great read __________________ MrLiftALot@hotmail.com "King Kong Ain't Got Sh*t On Me..."

03-16-2006, 12:36 PM	#10
powerman2000 The Old Moderator Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Colorado Posts: 4,226 Recipes: 0 Rep Power: 203	I hadn't seen this article until just now and all I can say is that was an awesome read!!! Thanks Keith. __________________ Don't forget to periodize Best BP 507 lbs competitive Best Squat 705 lbs competitive Best DL 650 lbs competitive Guns don't kill people, men who come home early do. My workout log http://www.ironmass.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6247

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