Good form in weight
lifting is important. For one thing, it
helps prevent injury, which is always a good thing. I am not big into pain. A lot of good form comes down to alignment,
making sure that the body bears the load in a way that makes sense for the
bones and joints and muscles. Trainers,
workout buddies, and mirrors can all help us see whether we are aligned and
help us adjust our own perception of what aligned is (It can be surprisingly far from what we think
it is!).
Another part of good form
has to do with range of motion. When we
don’t use our full range of motion, we begin an unfortunate cycle in which that
range gets smaller and smaller. The
world is a big place and we can use it all!
Also, the work at the beginning and end of our range of motion provides
extra challenge. This is why we so often
cheat out of it: too much work!!! We need to shift our perspective and see that
that extra work is where the extra superpowers come from.
Sometimes we discover
that we can’t have good form and use the same weights. We may have used cheats to curl those bigger
dumbbells, so good form might mean dropping to a smaller set. Our egos may hurt for a bit, but our muscles
will improve in a better way.
We can do this.
