Exercises to Avoid: These 5 Exercises Can Make You Look Fat

This article talks about 5 exercises to avoid. Exercises that can actually make you look fat.

You work hard at the gym—right?

So don’t you want to make sure you’re not wasting your time?

I mean, don’t you want to make sure you’re getting the best bang for your buck?

Today you’re going to learn about 5 common exercises to avoid that can make you look fat.

Some of these are going to surprise you.

Exercises to Avoid #1: Deadlifts

Exercises to Avoid - Deadlifts — Sure, he’s a monster…but he doesn’t have that lean V-shaped physique (more of a blocky one).

I know, I know.

Deadlift is a great exercise.

It’s a great mass-builder that hits your entire posterior chain.

Only problem is, most of the mass you’ll pack on by doing deadlifts…

Is going to be in your hips and butt.

Don’t get me wrong: you should still deadlift.

Just don’t go crazy on this exercise if your goal is to get an attractive V-shaped physique.

Exercises to Avoid #2: Back Squats

Exercises to Avoid - Back Squats — Square are a great exercise for all-around strength, just be warned: it WILL pack on mass around your butt & hip area.

The blasphemy continues!

Just about everything I said about deadlift applies to back squats, too.

It’s a great exercise, and it’s well worth doing.

It’ll help you build up overall muscle mass…

But it’s also going to pack a lot of weight onto your thighs & butt.

I recommend squatting regularly until you reach a decent level of strength (say, 1.5x your bodyweight).

Then, back off this exercise and focus on the lifts that are going to give you that insanely hot V-shaped physique.

Tip: try substituting front squats every other workout to focus more on your quads and less on your butt.

Exercises to Avoid #3: Hyperextensions

Exercises to Avoid - Hyperextensions — Taking care of your lower back is important…just don’t overdo it with exercises like hyperextensions.

This is a popular exercise for some reason…

I suspect it’s because guys are too scared to deadlift.

If you’re doing exercises 1 and 2 on this list at all, then hyperextensions are worse than useless—they could be setting you up for injury.

You have to be careful with your lower back.

On one hand, you want to take care of it and keep it strong…

On the other hand, you don’t want to overdo it and hurt yourself.

And on the other other hand (I guess we’re back to the first hand), you don’t want to build up your lower back muscles to be so huge that you look FAT.

With that in mind, I recommend skipping the hyperextensions. Leave them for the women and children.

Exercises to Avoid #4: Good Mornings/Stiff-Legged Deadlift

Exercises to Avoid - Good Mornings — Just like hyperextension, you want to be careful with good mornings and stiff-legged deadlift. Don’t overdo it or you could develop a big, bulky midsection!

Are you starting to sense a theme here?

Starting to get the picture?

YES, you do want to have a strong, resilient core.

BUT, you don’t want a bulky one.

Do a few high-weight, low-rep deadlifts and squats to build up that strength…

And avoid high-rep good mornings and stiff-leg deadlifts.

Exercises to Avoid #5: All Ab Exercises

Exercises to Avoid - Ab Exercises — Is this guy carving up his abs…or just adding girth to his midsection?

Threw you for a loop here, didn’t I?

This is one of the most ironic twists in all of exercise:

Most people will do sit-ups and crunches till the cows come home because they want to look thinner…

Without realizing that too much ab work can actually make your belly look bigger!

This really shouldn’t be surprising.

If you do a lot of bench press, your chest gets BIGGER.

If you do a lot of pull-ups, your back gets BIGGER.

So if you do a lot of crunches, shouldn’t your abs get…you know…bigger?

Newsflash, guys: you don’t want BIG abs. You want strong, well-defined abs without a layer of fat over them.

BONUS! Exercises to Avoid #6: Oblique Side Bends

Exercises to Avoid - Oblique Side Bends — What is that, 15 lbs? This exercise isn’t even worth the effort. Stop wasting your time, identical gym twins!

I know I said there would be 5 exercises, but I decided to give you a bonus.

Standing oblique side-bends are just stupid.

First of all, there are much better ways to work your obliques.

(Try hanging leg raises to the sides. And if those are too easy, hold a dumbbell between your feet.)

But the point remains the same:

Work your side abs too much, and your gut will look wider.

This will absolutely destroy that sleek, sexy V-shaped physique.

The moral is clear: Just say “no” to side-bends.