If you're going to exercise, DO IT RIGHT

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Endless crunches for rock-hard abs. Inner and outer thigh lifts for slimmer legs.

Local experts say specific goals like those may not give the intended results -- and, even more important, could result in neglect of those muscles that prevent injury and are critical for overall muscle balance.

Here's a look at some common exercise mistakes.

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Common mistake: Endless sets of crunches in hopes of achieving a flat stomach.

How to fix it: Burn fat surrounding the abs through cardio and working large muscle groups.

Elizabeth Nuttall, certified personal trainer and group fitness instructor at Gold's Gym in Bountiful: "Many people expect or try to achieve a rock-hard set of abs by doing endless crunches, when in actuality the fat lays over the muscle, and to get solid abs, one must decrease body fat.

"They would be better off working the larger muscle groups that burn more fat (legs, chest and back) and doing cardio to burn fat as well."

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Common mistake: Crunches that work only the rectus abdominis (center "six pack" of the stomach), neglecting the other three muscle groups of the abdomen.

How to fix it: Perform exercises that engage all of the abdominal muscles.

Aubree Heslop, personal trainer and human performance specialist at Lady Fitness in West Haven: "The transversus abdominus, or deepest ab muscle, is the major muscle of the core and is often neglected. To engage this muscle, you need to first practice finding it. To do this, pull in your belly button to your back (envision putting on a tight pair of jeans). It isn't a suck-in motion, but an actual pull-in contraction of your abs. You should be engaging this muscle every time you are doing any type of lifting.

"To work the transversus abdominus, lie on the floor with your knees bent, hands behind your head to support your neck (do not pull, just there to support). Your chin should be pointed to the ceiling (if you can put an orange under your chin, then you're doing it properly). As you lift your upper body up in an abdominal crunch, breathe all your air out in one big breath and pull in your abs. Hold for two seconds; lower while breathing in and repeat. (This may be done on a stability ball for more intensity.) Complete 15-30 reps or more depending on your fitness level."

Nuttall: "It is important to remember to work out in all planes of motion. We should be twisting and turning in addition to lifting and lowering when working the abs and other core muscles."

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Common mistake: Overworking one muscle group and neglecting others.

How to fix it: Work all of the muscle groups.

Diseree Faull, certified personal trainer and group fitness instructor at Gold's Gym in Ogden: "People are often overworking one muscle group. A good example would be the bench press. Men try to get to a certain weight such as 300 pounds and neglect the surrounding muscles that support the body as it presses or they focus on the chest but neglect the back and the shoulders, which are supportive muscles. This increases the risk of injury."

Sharon Puffer, group fitness instructor and owner of Lady Fitness in North Ogden, West Haven and Layton: "I think the most neglected muscle is the lower back. Muscle balance is critical and this is a horribly neglected muscle. The lower back opposes the abdominal muscles. Everyone wants to work their abs to get that toned, defined look, but they forget that the lower back is just as important for balance and strength. So many people have back problems, and this could be a result of working the abs too much and the lower back not enough, causing muscle imbalance."

Heslop: "I see many people do tons and tons of ab-strengthening exercises and forget the antagonist muscle, the lower back. To strengthen the lower back do 'superman lifts' by lying on your stomach with your arms out in front of you. Then use your back muscles to lift your arms and torso off the floor as high as you can. Hold for two seconds and lower to starting position. This exercise may be done on a stability ball for more range of motion. Complete 15-20 reps."

Puffer explains that an alternate version of the "superman" can be done by lying on your stomach, lifting the right arm and left leg, holding it for 3 seconds and then switching to the left arm and right leg.

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Common mistake: Inner and outer thigh lifts to slim the legs.

How to fix it: Slim the legs by reducing body fat through cardio, proper nutrition and focusing on large muscle groups.

Nuttall: "Women tend to try to spot-reduce areas like inner thighs, when in reality they are building those adductor muscles up, often making them larger. They would be much better off reducing the fat that lays over the muscle through working the larger muscles (legs, chest, back) and doing cardio in addition to watching their nutrition to change their body composition.

"A trainer can do an assessment to determine if the inner thighs and outer thighs are at a muscle imbalance and then recommend which muscles need to be stretched and strengthened."

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Common mistake: Performing the same routine over and over.

How to fix it: Change a workout routine every two months.

Faull: "Our bodies are very efficient and adapt quickly to exercise. Making sure to adjust one's exercise routine is important because the body will adapt to exercises if done repetitively, and they will no longer offer the same value. This is why people 'plateau' and no longer see weight loss or muscle gains. Offer the body a variety of exercises to avoid this and try to start a new routine every two to four months."

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Common mistake: Exercise exclusively on machines or stable surfaces, neglecting core strength.

How to fix it: Use free weights while standing on an unstable surface to engage core muscles of the abs and back that support the spine and keep the body balanced and stable.

Nuttall: "There are many good exercises for the core, and by doing stability training while working other muscles the core muscles can be recruited and worked at the same time. For example, doing a shoulder press seated on a bench or at a machine versus doing it while sitting on a stability ball, standing on one leg or standing on an unstable surface such as a bosu ball or half-foam roll.

"The latter forces the body to use core muscles to stabilize, which strengthens the core and increases the amount of calories burned. Our bodies work as functional units, so I always recommend free weights versus machines that isolate just one muscle."

TRY THESE

Elizabeth Nuttall, certified personal trainer at Gold's Gym in Bountiful, recommends the following exercises that focus both on often-neglected muscles and core strength:

Ball bridge: The ball bridge is done by lying on a stability ball, face-up with the ball between the shoulder blades and hands on hips. Feet are flat on the floor with toes straight ahead. Abs are drawn in and glutes held tight. Pelvis is lifted and knees are bent at 90 degrees. Glutes are then slowly lowered toward the floor and lifted back up.

Turning squats: The squats are done with a medicine ball held straight out from the shoulders with both hands. A regular squat is done, coming up to a toe raise at the end. Staying on the toes, rotate the ball to one side, then the other, keeping the abs drawn in and a good alignment in the feet.

Stability ball cobra: The stability ball cobra is done lying on a stability ball face-down with the ball under the abs. Feet are pointed to the floor with legs straight. Arms are at sides and shoulder blades pinched together and pulled downward. Chest is then lifted off the ball while neck stays in proper alignment with the spine. As the chest lifts, the thumbs turn outward to open up the chest. Chest is then lowered back down to the ball.

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