Your form sucks!

P.S., Your Form Sucks

by Marc McDougal

When discussing the proper form of an exercise amongst educated weight trainers, one should expect the profound emergence of arguments, discrepancies, name calling, as well as headlocks; possibly even full on jersey over the head hockey fights. Reason being, most times, a single "correct" form does not exist for any given exercise. Form can and should change for the following reasons:

Body Type
Goal (Bodybuilding vs. Powerlifting)
Correction of imbalances
Phasic variation
Control drills/heightened neuromuscular hegemony

However, with that in mind, certain practices and form executions can be detrimental
and should be avoided regardless of your weight training intentions. There are certain exercises I see performed horribly wrong time and time again; below are the most common. Heed my advice or prepare to develop chronic injuries and/or be made fun of by the Rugged staff.

The Exercises

1. Preacher Curl/Scott Curl

This exercise receives the award for the #1 offense by the average weight trainer. What you are doing wrong:

Placing the Elbows Low on the Pad. This causes the joint capsule of the shoulder to be forced into a vulnerable position and is a fantastic way to develop a chronic shoulder injury. This also tends to cause a significant degree of internal rotation of the humerus, which lengthens the rotator cuff muscles. When the muscles of the RC are lengthened and forced to stay lengthened, this inhibits their ability to optimally contract and protect the shoulder joint. You are also teaching your nervous system to learn bicep force production from a position of shoulder protraction, which is not what you want. Keep your elbows HIGH on the pad, just below the peak.
Protracting the Shoulders. Some people have learned to keep their elbows high on the pad (thanks Ken Kinakin) but still forget to keep their shoulders neutral. See above reasons, and focus on keeping your shoulders at a midpoint of protraction/retraction throughout the entire rep (this becomes difficult for most trainees at the end of the eccentric phase).
Using a Backwards ROM. Lower the bar/dumbbell ALL the way until your elbow reaches full extension. Raise the weight until the forearm is vertical...NO FARTHER. Most people do the exact opposite, they lower the weight to an elbow angle where they still feel strong (3/4 of the way down), then curl up beyond vertical until they damn near hit their nose. Performing the curl in this manner robs you of ј of the movement at each end, resulting in each rep equating to half of a quality rep.

Low Elbow Protracted

Good Alignment Preacher

Poor Concentric ROM

Proper Concentric ROM

Proper Eccentric ROM

2. Shrugs

Neanderthal Posture. Many trainees feel the need to push their head forward into severe cervical extension to "get their head out of the way" and increase the range of motion of the trapezius muscles. Don't do this, please. It's just wrong for so many reasons. It teaches a poor neural pattern, doesn't give you any increased trap development, and makes you look like an ass. That is all.
Rolling the Shoulders. Some of you are saying "do people still do this"? well, yes, unfortunately they do. I'm trying really hard to think of something dumber to do in a weight room than this, but I just can't. If you do this, you might as well get a tank-top that says "I'm a dense newbie, please throw 5lb plates at my head". It takes about a 3rd grade level of biomechanics to realize that there is absolutely NO tension on the scapulae retractors or depressors when holding a weight parallel to these muscles. All you are doing is placing undue stress on all of the soft tissue surrounding your shoulder joint as well as the people around you.

Poor Shrug

Proper Shrug

3. Lateral Raises

Speaking of looking like an ass, is there really many better ways than to perform "cheat" DB side raises? Here's how this exercise works: You walk up to the dumbbell rack, and grab a set that's about 15lbs heavier than what you should be using, proceed to perform ѕ of a decent looking lateral raise, then to get that last part at the top of the range, you drop into a quarter squat like you are about to take a shit in the woods on a cold night, and allow gravity/momentum to displace the dumbbells to what would be the top of the rep. Repeat. Make sure to take casual glances in the mirror to cover your periphery and ensure that every one around you is astounded at how much weight you are using. On the way home from the gym, don?t forget to take money from a crippled woman to ensure the continual stroking of your fragile ego. Please, for f*&%s sake, stand up straight, and make your medial deltoids do some work; after all, this is an isolation exercise for those poor pieces of meat. Save the jumping around for the Push Presses, which coincidentally would probably be a better use of your time anyway.

4. Lunges

Improper Knee Alignment: Throughout the entire movement, your knee should be pointing the exact same direction as the tip of your foot. Unfortunately, most people pay no attention to this, and there knees are all over the damn place. This is a highly detrimental practice that can cause chronic degeneration and muscular imbalances to the knee. Back down on the weight, slow down the tempo, and LINE IT UP!
Shortened Range of Motion: Lunges performed to the point of 90-degree knee flexion should be performed on a limited basis. Most of your lunges should be performed to full knee flexion, where the hamstring completely covers the calf at the bottom position and the knee extends beyond the line of the toe. This is better for thigh development as well as keeping your muscles at a proper resting length and avoiding chronic tissue shortening. Just make sure you follow 4a.
Walking Lunges: Stop it. I mean it. This is equivalent to leaving your cell phone on in a movie theater. It's just plain irritating to everyone around you, whether you are in a studio or a huge gym, it's a pain in the ass to us all. I don't want to have to plan ahead to avoid a collision with a slow moving bus, keep your lunges to yourself. Yeah, yeah, I know; it's "sport specific" and it works the stabilizers more...blah blah, the only thing its sport specific to is the Olympic event scheduled to debut in 2096 called "Weighted Lunging". Just perform dynamic lunges, where you take a step and then step back where you started. If your goal is hypertrophy or you have any sort of muscular imbalance you are better off performing the entire set with one leg before switching to the other.

Poor Lunge

Proper Lunge

5. Weighted Swiss Ball Sit-Ups

Yes, we all know that Swiss Balls (aka Fitballs, Blueballs, Exerballs, Lameballs), are for dorks and that tough guys don't use them, etc. Well, those of you who follow my writing know that I do believe in the judicious use of them, and they can be beneficial when used properly and intermittently. The weighted sit up is one exercise that I do happen to like, and here is how it's done wrong: People tend to drop down only to horizontal (the midpoint of abdominal flexion) followed by a full flexion beyond the point where target fiber tension is lost. Whether this is because it makes the movement easier, or that people have an irrational fear of lumbar hyperextension is beyond me, but either way, don't make these mistakes! Drop down as low as you can with your chin pressed against the bar of the DB and your feet anchored. Sit up in a downward arc until the dumbbell hits the vertical plane and NO FARTHER.

Ball Crunch Poor Concentric ROM

Ball Crunch Proper Concentric ROM

Ball Crunch Poor Eccentric ROM

Ball Crunch Proper Eccentric ROM

6. Hanging Leg Raises

This exercise can be performed in a variety of ways, but the main form discrepancy I have applies to all variations. The goal of this exercise is to contract the abdominals, with a preferential emphasis on the lower musculature of the rectus abdominus (yes, yes, the whole abdominal wall is contracting, I know; please refer to the word emphasis). In order to achieve maximal contraction one must use an exaggerated posterior pelvic rotation. This means that at the end of the concentric phase, you will be in full lumbar flexion, and you will be mimicking something similar to the fetal position from the arms down. Simply brining your knees up to mid-chest level with a neutral pelvis allows for far too great of a hip-flexor contribution, so unless you are trying to train the hip flexors, rotate that pelvis!

Poor Hanging Leg Raise

Proper Hanging Leg Raise

7. Russian Twist

Simply stated, if you don't want to grind your spine into a fine powder (mmmm, smells like teeth), keep a neutral curvature in your lumbar vertebrae when performing this exercise.

Poor Russian Twist

Proper Russian Twist

8. Dips

Decide first of all whether you are performing dips for your chest or your triceps, as both movements have their own distinct form. Chest dips involve leaning the bodyweight forward (the thumb and forefinger absorb most of the load) with the elbows flared outward. Tricep dips involve an upright torso with the weight distributed back to the pinky side of the hand, as well as elbows tucked into the sides. Most people perform a hybrid of the two movements, don't be lame, please, choose one. And unless you have a pre-existing condition which prevents you from doing so (or you want one), perform a full range of motion so that your bicep touches your forearm at the bottom of the movement. 90-degree dips are a copout and should only be used for specialization or if you are a male who happens to sit down to pee.

9. Chest Flyes

Why is it that most people turn flyes into neutral grip presses? The nature of a fly dictates that you maintain the same elbow angle throughout the movement in order to emphasize the chest and eliminate tricep involvement. Start the set by creating a slight bend at the elbow, and KEEP IT THERE! If you have to bend your arm at the bottom of the movement, you are using too much weight, and you are an ASS!

Poor Chest Flye

Proper Chest Flye

10. Calf Raises

Look back at your training log for the last 6 months. If you are like most people, all of your gastrocnemius work involves straight leg calf raises. Unfortunately the gastrocnemius crosses both the ankle and the knee joint, so by only flexing and extending the ankle joint you are robbing yourself significantly. Most of your gastroc work should be devoted to biarticular movements (i.e. two joints) to accelerate growth and functional strength. This involves a slight (20 degree) knee bend at the end of the eccentric phase of a calf raise followed by an explosive jumping movement for the concentric phase. You don't have to leave the ground, just perform the movement as if you were going to. Devote about 70% of your yearly calf training to biarticular movements and you will reap improved growth, strength, and power.

Biarticular Calf Raise Mid-Point

Biarticular Calf Raise Finish

11. Seated Row

Lumbar Flexion: Why, oh why, do you feel the need to train all of the fibers of your Latissimus Dorsi in a single exercise? The seated row is a great exercise for the scapulae retractors and the middle fibers of the lats, so use it accordingly. Leaning forward and rounding the spine at the end of the movement only serves to train the spinal erectors and fibers of the lower lats, which need to be targeted with their own exercises and loads. Consider seated rows with lumbar flexion as a variation, and this form can be used intermittently, but certainly not every time you perform a row.
Lack of Scapulae Retraction: This is a great exercise for the rhomboids and mid-traps as well as the lats, so don't forget to retract your scapulae during the concentric phase. Start with your shoulders in a neutral position, and continue their retraction throughout the movement. Envision trying to pinch a pencil between your shoulder blades at the finish.

Poor Seated Row

Proper Seated Row

Adducted Shoulders Seated Row

12. Upright Row/Hang Pull

Whether you perform the strict version or the Olympic counterpart of this exercise, the typical flaw is usually the same. At the top of the movement, make sure that you do not execute any external rotation of the humerus. This usually happens as a result of the bar traveling too far away from the body, or trying to pull the bar beyond your individually derived range of motion. Most people have the flexibility to pull the bar to about the bottom of the pec, but try to pull it to the clavicle. Decrease your range of motion, and increase your flexibility, but don't externally rotate.

Poor Upright Row

Proper Upright Row

13. Lat Pulldown

Here's the question: If you were to flip your lat pulldown counterclockwise, would it look like a seated row? Well then, guess what, your body still thinks it's a seated row. Five or so years ago, exercise physiologists decided that a pulldown behind the head was dangerous and ineffective. Then they decided that the more you arch your back, the more lat activation is achieved. Unfortunately, folks have taken this to an extreme, and end up hopping on the lat pulldown and leaning back SO far that they take the intended musculature out of the movement and end up doing a seated row. You are trying to train your lats and scapulae depressors, so optimal form involves a slight arch in the lumbar vertebrae, chest high, and a pull that terminates at the clavicle. Occasional behind the head pulldowns in my opinion are acceptable, as long as they are used for specialization and not habitual usage. So save the seated row for, well, the seated row.

Poor Lat Pulldown

Proper Lat Pulldown

All Encompassing Pointers

Aside from specific exercises gone horribly wrong, many bad techniques transcend to a multitude of movements. I will briefly cover them as you sit on the edge of your seat in anxious anticipation like a priest waiting for Boy Scout camp to let adjourn.

Helicopter Dumbbells- This involves spinning dumbbells throughout various exercises (usually pressing movements) with no rhyme, reason, or conviction. Included are "Arnold Presses", dumbbell bench press with an external rotation at the end, dumbbell curls with various twists, turns, and seizures, etc... Arnold presses are an "ok" movement, but I just wish they would go away. Most people don't even understand why they are doing them; they just know that Arnold has connotated his name to the movement which equates to a "good 'nuff for me" attitude. Dumbbell presses with a spin at the end that leaves the palms facing each other completely negates the biomechanical purpose of the movement which is internal rotation combined with adduction of the humerus. Spinning your palms together like an ass only serves to EXTERNALY rotate the humerus which is not a function of the pecs...and therefore DOES NOT BELONG in a chest exercise.
Chronic Use of Specialization Form- My favorite example of this would be the retracted scapulae deadlift. This is a great exercise as a control drill or a specialization move, but it is not the way to perform deadlifts year round. Unfortunately some people feel that a deadlift is wrongly performed if the shoulders are allowed to travel through their natural range of motion. This is the birth of pattern overload syndrome and faulty neural recruitment patterns.
Partial Range of Motion- Due largely to the assclowns at NASM and 24 Hour Fatness, many weight trainers have been convinced to stop their pressing movements (especially the bench press and military press) at 90 degrees of elbow flexion (i.e. upper arm parallel to the floor) in order to avoid shoulder injury and keep the target musculature "activated". This is so ridiculous it makes me want to puke in my lap and then lick it up like a cat. All this is doing is providing a stimulus for chronic shortening of the implicated musculature while endowing the user's ego to inflate from the increased poundages. What happens here is the presumed avoidance of acute injury replaced directly with severe chronic injury. I could discuss the biomechanics of this at length, but this is neither the time nor the place, and I have done so in previous writings so much so that it has become tiresome. So use full range of motion, unless you are specifically doing so otherwise for short term specialization.
Extended Wrist Pressing- This is the common practice of allowing the wrist to go into a significant degree of extension during most pressing movements. Chronically, this causes overstretching of the forearm flexors and can lead to muscular imbalances and wrist pain or injury. Lighten the weight and learn to press with your wrists straight.

Extended Wrist Pressing

Proper Pressing

Take heed to the form tips, and until next month, stay strong, stay healthy.

Special Thanks to Kenny (above) and the boys at Definitions Gym in Fort Collins for letting me disturb the peace and shoot my photos.

And extra special thanks to Jenna for modeling; and for responding so well to my incessant yelling of "WORK IT!" and "MAKE LOVE TO THE CAMERA!", and "LIKE YOU MEAN IT!".

Articles categories

Steroids profiles

Your form sucks!