I watched a video recently of a couple 70-something women lifting weights. This is certainly impressive, and I encourage it. What troubled me about the video was that the ladies were lifting some pretty decent weights for back-loaded split-squats, but they were only going down about a quarter of the way. I have seen worse, and I give them credit for the effort. I blame the trainer. The weight on the bar is only as impressive than the technique with which is executed.
The split-squat technique of the women in the video was very good compared to some exercisers I have seen. My favorites are the guys who load the leg press with every 45# plate in the gym and performs a set of unlocking and locking the knee. The latest I saw was downright hysterical until you consider the danger the guy was in. As Forrest Gump said, “Stupid is as stupid does.”
Sometimes we need to check the ego at the door. Lifting heavy weights are only beneficial if they are lifted properly.
I have had my own challenges with maintaining proper technique. I received a great lesson in high school training at Steel City Nautilus in Pittsburgh. The first machine in the circuit was the Nautilus Hip & Back—a great exercise for the gluteals. It is a challenging machine to maintain proper technique. Like nearly everyone, I kept adding weight until my techniques suffered. I was only impressing myself, of course. The owner, Biz Stark, knew how to motivate a teenage kid to check the ego. He told me that, if I wasn’t going to do it properly, he would refund my membership and send me on my way. (I got off easy. My friend, Danny, got marked with a Sharpie pen every time he performed a repetition incorrectly. He let that workout with quite a bit of black on his thigh!) To this day, I can be across the room, with my back to the machine, and know only from the sound that an exerciser is using the machine incorrectly. It was also a lesson about the importance of technique.
If you are going to invest the time in exercise, do it correctly! Some “gym bros” might be impressed, but those-who-know know better. In the long run, you will make better gains.
Don’t be afraid to lower the weight, master the technique, and focus on proper execution. Do this, and you will see great improvements (provided you maintain technique as you progress). Best of all, you will minimize the risk for injury.
Be your best today; be better tomorrow.
Carpe momento!
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