80% of our new clientele at PPS are:

Newbie to novice lifters
Work at a desk all day

This means they are exposed to a higher risk of injury when lifting.
Most desk workers present themselves with common postural issues such as:

Stiff lower-back & sleepy glutes
Rock hard quads & tight hip-flexors
Rounded shoulders and a cranky neck

So it makes sense to address these issues from day 1 in the Gym, helping to ensure we get off to the best start possible in our lifting career (or it could make for a short one).

However there are at 3 really common movements a lot of newbies perform in the gym (mainly because they are simply & straight forward), that only work to make the above issues even worse. Increasing their chances of getting injured even further.

These are the:

Back Extension
Leg Extension
Shrug

Let’s touch on why you don’t need to perform these movements and what we recommend doing instead:

Back-Extensions:

The ‘Back-Extension’ is designed to strengthen the lower-back.

As we touched on earlier, you probably already have a pretty stuff back from spending 8-10 hours slouched in a chair all day. What we should be doing, is looking to wake up and strengthen our glutes, so they can take some of the load off our lower-back.

The solution?

Movements such as the Barbell Hip-Thrust. This movement teaches ‘hip extension’ and targets the booty (both for functional and visual purposes).

Barbell Hip Thrust off a Bench Target Muscle: Glutes Preparation Sit on floor with long side of bench behind back. Roll barbell back and center over hips. Position upper back on corner of bench. Place feet on floor approximately shoulder width with knees bent. Grasp bar to each side.

Leg-Extensions:

Tight hip-flexors & quads are the most common complaints from desk-workers & novice lifters in the Gym.

When we sit, our thighs are in a flexed position - this shortens the muscle and in turn can lead to a host of other issues such as ‘anterior pelvic tilt’.

Isolating our quads on the Leg Extension (which is a seated movement) should be a big no-no for now.
This may look cool and seem pretty easy to do but only exasperates the ongoing problem.

Try performing lunges instead. The ‘front-foot elevated’ lunge is a great movement - you are still working your quad muscles, but also training single stability/balance & getting a nasty stretch through your hip-flexors.

Everyone HATES lunges, but they are a must in any training program.

Front Foot Elevated Lunge (FFE Lunge) Foot elevated on a Bumper Plate or Box. Keep the back leg extended as far as your flexibility will allow during both descent and ascent. ... Maintain a heel up position in the rear leg. ... Keep the torso and the core upright. ...