It's not uncommon to see exercises being misused in most gyms. In fact, at one point or another I have been guilty of using poor exercise selection, less than stellar form, and generally bad judgment when it comes to risk/reward of an exercise. Fortunately, I have learned (a little) through trial, error, and research, without seriously injuring myself in the process.
When deciding on an exercise, the first things you should think about are: "Will this help me reach my goals?" and "Is there a safer alternative?"
I'm not going to lecture anyone on safety. There are few exercises and even fewer things in life that won't put you at risk of some kind of injury. However, risk/reward should always be a consideration when planning your workouts.
Let me provide some common examples of poor exercise application:
Olympic-style lifts (Clean and jerk, snatch, hang clean, etc.)
The good: Olympic-style lifts allow you to develop an incredible amount of power do to their explosive nature. This is why you will see track and field athletes, mixed martial artists, and American football players preforming this style of lifting.
The bad: These lifts are very technical and potentially dangerous. Olympic weight lifters spend years learning form, developing flexibility, and train in gyms properly equipped (bumper plates, platforms, etc.) for this style of lifting, and yet still run a high risk of injury.
The ugly: There is a school of thought by some (cough Crossfit), that has clients preforming these lifts for high repetitions or while fatigued. This is dangerous and stupid. It is dangerous because when fatigued it is very difficult to perform these lifts with proper form. It's stupid because the whole idea of these lifts is to maximize power and while the conditioning effect is great, there are plenty of equally effective alternatives.
If you are going to preform Olympic lifts, spend a little time with a coach and please don't do sets of 15.
The alternative: If you're trying to develop power, try generally increasing your strength, throwing a medicine ball as hard as you can, and performing basic plyometrics (technique is important here too and there is a risk of injury, but at least you won't break your spine). If you're trying to increase conditioning better options would include: Sprinting, calisthenics circuits, low impact plyometrics like box jumps for reps, and any number of other exercises that fatigues you quickly without having you perform a technically difficult exercise.
A notable exception: I believe the dumbbell or kettlebell alternatives to these lifts to be much safer, as the overall load is lessened and it is much easier to maintain good form and balance.
Bench Press
The good: It is a common exercise for building upper-body pushing strength and power.
The bad: There are equally or more effecting exercises for developing pushing muscles in the upper body many of which carry less of risk of injury.
The ugly: I see a lot of lifters excessively arching their backs and taking very wide grips putting their low back and shoulders in danger of injury. Of lesser concern than bad form (it should go without saying to learn proper form and have a spotter), is just the priority in which many lifters place on the bench press. If you're a power lifter or going to the NFL combine, then you should be preforming the bench press regularly, if not, then it's just another exercise that can be shuffled in and out of your workouts.
The alternative: Bench pressing with dumbbells, dips (with or without weight), and pushup variations (with or without weight).
Deadlifts
The good: One of the best exercises to efficiently develop full body strength and size.
The bad: One of the most efficient ways to injure your lower back. I have thrown out my back on more than one occasion doing deadlifts and not even with that much weight. Form is absolutely critical for this lift.
The ugly: Individually weak muscle groups can contribute to bad form as weight is increased. Often times, weak glutes, a weak core, a weak upper back, and/or a weak grip can make maintaining proper form difficult. Additionally, a mixed grip can contribute to a torn bicep at heavier loads.
The alternative: I'm not going to tell you not to do deadlifts; rather you should work at achieving a basic level of strength before putting much weigh on the bar. Push-ups, chin-ups, body weight squats, planks, hyperextensions, and glute bridges should all be achievable for reps before moving on to heavy deadlifts. Practice form and video tape yourself or have an experienced lifter watch you to make corrections to your form. If you decide not to preform conventional deadlifts (I've taken this route after my last incredibly painful back injury doing deadlifts), there are plenty of alternatives: One legged deadlifts, dumbbell or kettlebell swings, hyperextensions with weight, glute-ham raises, glute bridges, and cable pull-throughs are decent suggestions.
Barbell Squats
The good: Like the deadlift, a great lift for building full-body strength and size.
The bad: Also like the deadlift, form is critical and injuries to the back and knees are very possible.
The ugly: Balance, flexibility, and weak muscle groups can contribute to problems here. One of the more common problems I see is people using too much weight but not even getting there thighs down to parallel which puts your knees in a compromised position.
The alternative: Like the deadlift (see a pattern here?) build full-body strength before loading a bar on your back. Additional exercises to help before you squat are split squats, lunges, side squats, and goblet squats these will help increase leg strength, balance, and flexibility. Good alternatives barbell squatting are: (exercises mentioned above for the deadlift) leg presses, step ups, pushing a car or a sled, wall sits,hip-belt squats, pistol squats, and sprinting up a hill.
Ridiculous Swiss and Bosu ball balancing exercises
The good: Okay I don't want to be too hard on the Swiss ball and Bosu ball they have plenty of good uses including some kinds of balancing exercises. Balance is important and these exercises can help develop stabilizer muscles and proprioception.
The bad: Mostly just doing too much of this stuff. After a while standing with one leg on a Bosu ball just makes you better at standing with one leg on a Bosu ball.
The ugly: At their worst and most ridiculous I've seen people trying to squat a loaded barbell while balancing on a Swiss ball. I really don't need to say what makes this a bad idea do I?
The alternative: Doing balancing exercises on a Swiss or Bosu ball are okay as part of a warm up, cool down, or as part of rehabbing an injury. As for other balancing exercises, I recommend lifting on one leg on a flat surface, hopping with one leg, walking on a balance beam, or using an uneven load.
Single joint isolation exercises:
The good: Single joint exercises are useful for activating and developing lagging muscles.
The bad: It's not that isolation or single joint exercises are bad, it is just that very often they are misused. Generally, for the majority of trainees, isolation exercises shouldn't make up the bulk of the workout but used to target a specific muscle group.
The ugly: Some trainees have a tendency to load up these exercises which causes breakdown of form and often the use of momentum to throw the weights up rather than use the targeted muscle. Additionally, using too heavy a weight on say a dumbbell curl or a leg extension, exposes the elbow and knee joints respectively to a great deal of shearing force.
The alternative: Slowing down the tempo, lightening the weights, and increasing reps makes sense. Isolation exercise are designed to stimulate a specific muscle. Always try to feel the targeted muscles working. Save the heavy weight for the larger full body movements.
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