Technique is Crucial in Weight Lifting

It's that time again. Training Thursdays is where I give you tips and advice on how to train correctly. This week I want to talk about form. A lot of people go to the gym and have never really been trained by a professional on how to properly weight lift, and it shows. I will cover some of my pet peeves in the gym and tell you why it's so important to keep form in mind.

LAT PULL DOWN

The first is the lat pull down machine. This is a great exercise to do to build up your back and shoulder muscles. This is also the machine that makes me mad at people the most. I see more people using bad form at this machine than any other one. Here are some pics I found on Google that show bad form.

This form is bad because arching your back like this will not get the full benefit of the workout. This is what people usually do when the weight is too heavy and they can't execute it properly. This also leaves your back in a vulnerable position to cause injury. Do not do that.

 

This is the worst one. I see guys do this ALL the time. I don't know why exactly but people think this will work out your back better than doing it correctly. Whatever lies you were told before, forget about them. This is a big no no and you are seriously setting yourself up for neck injuries.

This is the correct form to use. Upper body straight and bring the bar to your chest. There's no other way around it and no room for compromise.


SQUATS

Another exercise that many people don't execute properly is the squat. I will admit I am new to doing squats in my workout. When I first started I was doing it wrong, but I could feel I was doing it wrong so I stopped and asked my brother (ex-professional athlete) and he showed me the correct way. Now I do it with no problems and feel great about it. Here are some no no's for squatting.

This diagram shows you the wrong way to do a squat. Notice how the guy's knees overlap his feet. You never want this to happen. If you are doing this then you are not squatting correctly and probably have too much weight. You also notice that he is putting some pressure on his toes. Never do this. All your weight should be coming off your heels.

This picture shows a woman doing squats incorrectly 3 different ways, and 1 correct way. Notice how in the wrong ones, she is arching her back, lowering her head, and using her toes to pick up. These are all bad things to practice when doing squats. The top left picture is the correct form you should use. The reason it is so important to do squats correctly is because you can mess up your knees and hamstrings real bad if you practice bad form. These are injuries that can be long lasting.

So there are the 2 most frequent exercises that give me high blood pressure when I see people performing them at the gym. Do your homework and make sure that you use good form when you do any exercise. It will not only save you from injury, but will make your workout more efficient and work your muscles better.