Ranking Exercises by How Useful — or Dangerous — They Are

Over the past 20 years, almost one million Americans were treated in emergency rooms for injuries related to weight training. I was asked by my friends at MEL Magazine "which exercises will get me ripped, and which will literally rip my body apart?" Nowadays just about anybody can toss on a microphone and lead a group fitness class. And Instagram is crawling with “trainers” telling folks what they should be doing in the gym. It can be hard to tell what’s based on facts and science and what’s bunk. So here's a ranking and explanation of an assortment of exercises by how beneficial they are — from muscle-building to (literally) back-breaking.