I have been an in-person personal trainer since 2017 (just shy of nearly a decade- Can you guess what show that's a quote from?? 😏)
In these past years I've seen multiple hundreds of human bodies and beyond that I've seen multiple THOUSANDS of the same exercises performed over and over.
I've seen people...
- Half rep
- Bounce
- Use momentum
- Chat
- And even take a phone call
While exercising.
Sometimes people do what it takes to get results from an exercise.
Sometimes they're just burning calories.
And other times they might be performing an exercise in a way that actually decreases their fitness level.
Let's look at a few examples...
Cheating: If you're going to get anything out of an exercise you need to stress the movement or the muscles.
Half reps, bouncing, and momentum all take that away.
Imagine someone...
- Squatting and only going down 2 inches
- Benching and bouncing the bar off their chest
- Curling dumbbells and swinging them because they're to heavy and the person needs momentum
In all of these scenarios people are "cheating" and not stressing the movement or muscles properly.
They might still get some gains!
But at the cost of better gains, safety, and their dignity.
There's a very good ab exercise- The Reverse Crunch- That should be quite challenging.
A lot of my clients do this exercise for the first time and look at me like, "That was too easy."
I go, "Try not to use the momentum from your legs."
Then, after they try again, they realize they were cheating. (Here is an example of what I mean.)
Note: This happens with a lot of exercises.
Lack of Intensity: When we're trying to get bigger, faster, stronger- We won't see results if we ask nicely. We have to force our body to change.
These are "adaptations" our body needs to spend time and resources on making- That's not gonna happen just cause we want it to.
If you...
- Can speak during an exercise
- Do not get uglier during an exercise (due to effort)
- Don't feel slightly winded after an exercise
You did not have enough intensity to make a change. (Unless you're a beginner ~6 months or less of experience)
Form + Technique: Both how you position your body and how move during the exercise will also determine what you get out of the exercise.
Aside from cheating, which we covered above, poor form and technique can mean you are...
- Using the wrong muscles
- Not going through proper range of motion
- Stressing joints instead of muscles
This is also what largely determines how you feel after workouts.
Stiff and achy VS good but sore.
I recently had a client who couldn't squat without excruciating hip pain- Like could not sit down without extreme care.
This was not an "injury".
Despite that- doctors recommended hip replacement and she was coming to me as kind of a last resort before surgery.
All we had to do was clean up her form and technique with squats and some other exercises.
By the end of our first session she could body weight squat without pain (for the first time in over a year) and now she can lift weights, run, jump, swim, etc.
Hashtag Form + Technique Is Important
