Good Form Vs Bad Form

Every exercise, or movement pattern, should be learned as a skill first before being used as a tool to make changes on your body. 

The correct technique used to complete an exercise is often referred to as “Exercise Form“. 

Although form corrections are a lifelong pursuit, you should pay particular attention to the form of each exercise in your first few weeks of training. 

The benefit we get from strength training will come from placing sufficient stress on the target muscle. 

We do this by lifting weight in a specific exercise or movement. 

Each movement is selected as it places a particular emphasis on stressing that target muscle. 

“Good Form” is when you are using that exercise correctly to stress the target muscle in a safe manner.

When you use the “Bad form” you will be placing a lot more stress on ligaments, tendons and connective tissues. Over time this can result in injury.

Not only will poor form result in an increased risk of injury, but it will also be far less effective at stimulating the muscle and hinder your overall progress. 

The closer you get to failure. The more difficult an exercise becomes. This is typically when good form breaks down and a person will resort to using the bad form in order to complete a set. 

Remember though, an exercise is only beneficial for as long as it places most of the stress on the target muscle.

Continuing a set with poor form for the sake of lifting more reps or weight is counterproductive and dangerous. 

For this reason, you will often hear a trainer tell their clients

“Never sacrifice the form of an exercise to lift more weight”. 

Or as I beat into my clients… 

“When the forms stop, so do you”.