Today I spent nearly five hours recording brand new instructional exercise video’s for our members section. Boy, was it exhausting! I lost count of how many exercises we ended up recording…but it was a lot!
One thing that I have learnt as I have trained over the years is that your exercise technique constantly needs to be assessed and fixed up. It’s very easy to start with text-book form and then each workout, become sloppier and sloppier until you are swinging the weights around like a madman!
I have found that with my training, back exercises are the movements that most often require re-assessing. Take the lat pulldown for example. A little back movement is okay (it’s natural), but you don’t want to swing your back too much, otherwise you will take the load off the back muscles. So, in week 1, I would naturally begin with great technique with minimal back movement. Week 2 may be similar to week 1. By then in week 3, as the competitive instinct gets a hold of me, I just want to get that additional rep, or move a little more weight than what I am capable of doing with “great” exercise technique. So, a little more back-swing may enter the repertoire. Week 4, I go for a little more on top of that again.
Now, whilst the change in technique from week-to-week may only be subtle, there may be a slightly noticeable change from week 1 to 4. Over a period of months, the change may be quite dramatic. So it is important to continually assess your technique and ensure that you are performing the exercise in the most effective manner. Also, by keeping your technique constant, you are able to compare your strength results more reliably from week to week.
Regularly assessing your exercise technique is vital for maximum effectiveness and safety when training. It can be discouraging lowering the weight to improve your form, but if you’re after results, then it’s a necessity!
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