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The importance of proper form and technique in exercise
Posted by: Jon
How important is it to do an exercise correctly? Well, that depends. How much to you want to get out of your training? Are you more concerned with exercising your ego or your muscles? In my opinion there is nothing more important than using as close to perfect technique whenever possible. Now, it's true, I've seen pro bodybuilders doing exercises in some pretty bad ways. However, when you have the genetics to be a pro bodybuilder you can do almost anything and still grow. That doesn't work for me. That doesn't work for the 95% of us who do not have the genetic potential to be a pro bodybuilder. Arthur Jones once said that if you want to know how to train, walk into a gym and find the biggest, strongest guy there and watch what he does. Then do just the opposite!!! His point being that the big strong guy probably had the potential to get that way no matter what he did.
Let's get specific. We'll start with chest exercises. Most of the time I see people doing these completely wrong. Often times the only thing being worked are front delts and triceps. For chest movements it's extremely important that you get into the correct position before you start doing anything. Let's take a bench press (which I never recommend doing, more on that another day). First thing you want to do is push your chest high in the air, do this by rotating the shoulder girdle down into the bench while lifting the sternum high. The back will arch when you do this, which is correct. Now from this position the pecs are in the correct position to do the majority of the work. This holds true for inclines, declines, dumbbells, barbells, flys and crossovers.
Ok so now we're lying there in the correct position, what else is important? Speed of movement! In most cases you want to do the eccentric part (or the negative) slowly. Like maybe a three second down, pause and then a 2 second push. True there are times explosive movements have their value, but for right now we're talking about building muscle, pure and simple. Remember when I asked if you wanted to exercise your ego or your muscles? Doing them like this will deflate your ego pretty quickly. If you are used to doing benches fast and not using a pause, you'll be in for a surprise. Let me state that I believe in real heavy training. However it must be done in the correct form.
Once you have gotten into the correct position and start your movements slow and controlled, simply by doing 8-12 reps the muscle will be under tension long enough to stimulate growth providing set is done with enough intensity.
I'm not going to go into details on every body part, however it is of vital importance that you put yourself in the proper position to make that body part do the work. If you are in the habit of training fast and sloppy and you don't believe what I say, try this. Take a weight that you can curl 10 reps to failure. Now lean slightly forward, lock your elbows against your side so you upper arms will not move forward while doing the exercise. Now start to curl, using 2 second up and 3 second down, going to full extension. Your 10 reps will become 5-6 real fast. Drop the weight and get 10 correct reps and your biceps will thank you (after they stop killing you).
So, yes, proper form is important. Give it a try for 6 weeks and watch your body change. Good luck and train hard.
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