Lifting Form – A Key to Muscle Development

Mindset

Lifting form is one of the most important elements of working out. Every time I go to the gym I always spot a couple of people lifting more than they can using bad form. The worst part is that those are the same people who end up getting an injury. The most important thing to do before you enter a gym is leaving your ego at the door. Going to the gym is not a powerlifting competition. Focus on your personal goals and forget about the rest of the people who are working out beside you. Who cares if the guy/girl next to you looks twice as small as you and is lifting twice as much.

How To Do It

It is all about positioning your body correctly and using the muscles you are working out to lift the weight. It is also important to squeeze the weight at the end of each repetition. If you don’t feel the burn on the muscle you are working out you are doing something wrong. You need to understand and research the exercise before you perform it. A good lifting form and squeezing will break down the muscle fibers better promoting more growth. Lifting form is something that you build over time and it will become second nature to you when you’re working out. Here are some examples of good lifting form for some main exercises.

Getting Started

If you notice that you are not using proper form start lowering the weight until you feel comfortable doing it with proper form. The benefits will be much greater lifting lower weight with good form than more weight with bad form. Another point to make is to slow down your reps, working out is not NASCAR.  Nobody is timing your laps. Make sure to lift the weights slow, trust me you will feel it the next day. Watch yourself as you are doing the exercises and make sure it looks right. If something looks wrong stop and correct yourself. Lifting with bad form will only lead you to injury and fooling yourself into thinking you are lifting more. Never forget to ask yourself one question, Do you even lift?