Another look at exercise form

“Mary” is about to start her first set of one arm rows. I see her fooling around getting her body set up on a half tire in the middle of the floor. She has a look of irritation on her brow and looks over at me with the distinct “get over her” frown.

What’s wrong?
Um, I don’t know where I am supposed to put my other hand.

It’s ok, just put your hand there (on the tire) and get going.
Ok, but where do I put my leg?

Anywhere you want, as long as you are comfortably supported for the movement.
Well if I put my leg here I tend to use my knee a little bit.

Yeah, that’s cool Mary, I use my leg when I row too.
Isn’t that cheating? When I was going to Lifetime my trainer told me that is cheating, and if I do stuff like that nothing will happen.

Oh that sounds very serious Mary, tell me why did you stop training there again?
“because it didn’t work“

Oh my, well how about we try this new way?
OK.

ISN’T THAT CHEATING?
Indeed, is it not cheating? How crazy is it that someone would ever naturally use their whole body to move? These brilliant trainers are really slick to make people feel bad for doing what is intuitive to the lay person.

Everyone knows if you don’t use approved form you are cheating.

Everyone knows that cheating reps don’t build muscle, increase strength, or help the body lose fat.

Is everyone right?

Why is it you rarely correct my form?
This question comes up often with new clients as I work with them. Specifically directed at my total lack of interest in spending precious time on the so called fine points of exercise form and positioning.

If a client has never worked with a trainer, my style makes a lot of sense to them.
Oh, that feels very natural.

If a client has paid a trainer in the past, I imagine it seems that I don’t care, don’t know, or I am lazy.
Well Mike at Anytime told me that is bad form…he used to pick on everything I did!

Mmmhhmmm, and yet here you are in this gym. Why are you not training there anymore?
Because I didn’t like it.
Just checking.

A few other points which have raised my interest in writing on this topic again. I will bullet them to keep it simple.

- I have had several people tell me I am in great jeopardy squatting because my knees move over my toes (it’s called dorsiflexion) and I look down (“you’re gonna hurt your neck!”) this week. I appreciate the comments too,  people just trying to help me out.

- An individual showed off a Youtube video of a guy doing some beastly kipping pull ups and declared, “see how he uses his legs, that doesn’t do anything!”

- A client refused to work in an asymmetrical stance for the first 4 days we trained, because she feared she would become imbalanced. Even though the position was pain free for her, and the “correct” stance was extremely uncomfortable with her prior hip injury. In the past she was promised by a trainer she would have a serious injury if she ever lifted anything without being in a “balanced & even stance.”

- Another client who has been unable to lift anything over head without pain for years has now logged 4 straight days of overhead work due to one minor positional change. Despite the fact that she can now safely and painlessly lift over head she expressed concerned she is “cheating” her body and it will be fruitless.

- A friend of mine contacted me and said he did not like the deadlift variations I suggested because he could not “feel them working his muscles.”

Before I get rolling, I would like to acknowledge:
I very much like it when my clients question me on any idea related to their training.

It demonstrates they are willing to seek better answers than the ones already provided. In this spirit I write this article not to provide answers or deter questions -
I write this to inspire better questions.

A simplistic view of the general tissue system….
Concerning human movement: You have bones in your body, they are held together by ligaments. Attached to these bones are muscle groups, held in place by tendons and globally connected by a fibrous tissue called fascia. This system of tissues is powered by your brain and nerves. To be very simple we can compare it to an electrical system powering a vast network of levers.

Motion occurs through two primary mechanisms, I am going to talk about just one now. A signal to contract activates a given group of muscles, which pull in a certain direction. This moves the bones.

It doesn’t matter if you perceive the signal, or perceive the contraction, and to some degree if you even perceive the motion,
it is happening.

In all movements there is some degree of muscular activity. If you would like a more detailed look of how the nervous system functions pick up a book on human physiology…or just go to Wiki. Remember that as I get going.

Bodybuilding 101
Lift a weight in a particular motion in a routine pattern, and over time the muscles involved in the movement will change. It may get bigger, it may get firmer. We know we can change some of the end results by manuplating the weights used, the number of times we do the movement, and the frequency we do the movement. This is the back bone of resistance training. Any disagreements?

I will add a minor degree of specificity- all of the tissue involved will change, not just muscle.

Back to exercise form. Some questions. If you do a a given exercise, and your hand or foot is not exactly where your certified NASM or ACE expert personal trainer told you to have it, will your musculature still “get worked” or is the whole thing a wash?

Is there an agreed upon covenant between the body and exercise, in which the body has only agreed to change if the exercise is done in a very specific way?

If you do not feel sensation during a movement, is it still going to change your body?

If you do feel sensation in your body, does this ensure the training will produce the desired outcome?

Do you believe you can perceive every muscle in your body moving, each time they move?

In the same vein as the above question, do you believe right now you are perceiving all of the movements happening in your body at this exact moment?

Is pain an adequate reason for you to stop performing a movement?

Would the sensation of pain indicate to you the current movement you are performing may in fact not be good for you at the moment you are experiencing pain?

Do people get hurt in the gym with “perfect form” and even while under the attention of a professional trainer or coach?

Do you ever perform movements in your life under load where your body is not perfectly symmetrical and balanced?

See the world with my eyes.
First, I would like you to read the series of articles I did on exercise form earlier this year. Part one is right HERE. Part Two is HERE. Part three is found HERE. I got some folks panties in a bunch with my selected videos for part one, so if they are not working I am sorry in advance. I used other peoples’ youtube videos and it is their choice to pull them if they think they need to.

Ok did you read them? Of course you didn’t! I guess I will just have to repeat a few things.

I am not a lazy trainer, I do care about your safety and results, and I probably know a thing or two about the sweet science of strength training.

I also make some assumptions, and of course with an assumption comes the risk of making an ass of one’s self…you’ve heard that one, right?

So you and I meet.
Hi, I’m Adam I will be training you today. What do you want to change with your body?

Oh you want a better looking ass? Ok. Today we will begin with some kettlebell deadlifts.

Ok, please stand over this bell. Now pick it up for me.

Did that hurt?

No? Ok cool.

Do me one favor. please stick your butt back just a little bit more on this next one, tell me if that feels better.

It did? Cool. Now pick it up and set it down. I want you to perform the reps as fast as you can safely control the weight. Please stop as soon as it feels hard, or if you feel any pain, discomfort, or sensations which alarm you.

If you are one of my clients, you have heard me say this verbatim to you.

I have taught hundreds of people at this point over the last 3 years to deadlift, exactly like that.

Not one single injury.

I do not:
-tell you what you are supposed to feel.
-tell you how to breath.
-tell you what muscles to use.

I don’t do these things because I train adults. Smart ones too. I have no doubt a 35 year old senior office manager can handle figuring out how to inhale and exhale when she moves. I really can’t predict how anything will feel for you, considering it’s your body.

In my opinion telling you what you will feel is dysfunctional as fuck.
Read that line over and over until you nod your head.

No one is qualified or even equipped to tell you what you will feel.

Some people will pick up that kettlebell and say “wow I really feel that in my butt” others comment “that makes my legs tired” a few told me “man my abs are working!” or even “my hands are tired”

I never really know, neither does anyone else. So I really dislike the idea of telling people what they will feel in their exercise form. How do you feel when you say something and find out you’re wrong? I usually feel dumb instantly, regardless of if I “should” feel dumb or not.

So I learned real quick it’s a fast path for me to feel dumb to say things like “you really felt that (insert place)”.

I used to do that. Over the last few years I have learned better. Now I ask, rather than tell.

Body position in exercise.
I wrote a three page article on that, read it.

Is it cheating?
If you have been told it’s cheating to use your legs to row, or use your legs to kip, or to use momentum to move a tool…no wait I know you have been told that.

Ok- cheating means a violation of rules. What are the rules? What is the game? Who is enforcing these rules? What happens if you disobey them? What reward is there for following them?

I have these questions for the trainers I talk who bring up that word, and all they do is stare at me dumbstruck. Everyone refuses to tell me! It’s like I’m the guy on the outside of the inside joke.

I have confidence someone will one day bring me out of the dark ignorance of cheating exercise form…sadly it has not happened and I have already met people who declared themselves to me as “some of the best trainers in the world.” Too bad for me even the top guys can’t tell me who the ref is!

It won’t do nothing
For those who are not tracking what that means, it is a reference to the popular quote among both trainers and gym rats. “He is doing that, and because he is doing (whatever it is they disapprove of) it won’t do nothing for him”

Look back to the overview of the general tissue system, then go to wiki and read all about it. If a bone moves, tissue moves. If the tissue is moved, it will change.

There are more exercises in the world than anyone can name or count, when you understand that by moving one joint you move all the tissue in the body. To this end we have countless exercise variations.

The whole reason to use variations is they “hit the muscle from different angles” as is written in countless body building and strength training texts.

So now you know this, my question for you- does kipping make a pull up “worthless” or make a “cheat curl” a pointless endeavor?

For whatever reason, some trainers currently measure their worth in the number of cues they can give someone. They think the ability to “correct” 15 things is a mark of their competence. I personally measure my skill by how well I get the client their goal. Just a difference of opinion I suppose…

Wow, as I scan back over this I see I gave you all of the bread crumbs you need. I guess that means my work is done for the evening!

I want to leave you with a thought.

My challenge to you- question the people who declare these things to you. If someone is trying to get you to do something with your body or not do something with your body, they better have a good reason to do so. In my opinion, it needs to be better than what they read one time, or because someone else told them so at their two day weekend certification.

ATG