It's Not What You Lift, It's How You Lift It
The importance of form and the problem with ego lifting
When I first started getting into fitness, I made a massive mistake. I ego lifted.
It was June 2021, and I decided I wanted to try and start using the weights I’d gotten the year before after having followed PE With Joe religiously during the COVID lockdowns.
I decided, because I’d not done any formal exercise in over a year, that I was perfectly capable of lifting 10.5kg on each arm for exercises like bicep curls, lat raises, shoulder presses…
Yes, I could lift the weights. Not well. I was in physical pain with atrocious form and told myself “No pain no gain”.
I continued this for about 3 days, until the third day at which point I dislocated my knee playing football in the evening, after having done a gruelling workout in the morning and another game of football at lunch.
Ouch.
So, I hope this makes a case against the phenomenon that is ego lifting.
That is, lifting more than you can handle, either in an attempt to impress yourself or (most likely) impress others.
I think it’s something that’s very difficult to get your head around. I’ve struggled with it recently - I’ve been wanting to make progress with my incline bench press, but week after week I’m not getting stronger. I pushed myself every week to hike up another 5kg, but failed before I could reach my target reps.
This was really disheartening, and so I tried something different. I reduced the weight, and really focused on doing the exercise properly. Taking it slow, breathing correctly, making sure my arms are aligned, etc etc.
And I was able to increase the weight by 10kg the week after.
So, allow me to explain why you should lift lighter, better
Lift Light Well
This isn’t going to be a lesson on tempo or load, but on form. I’ll save them for the future! Instead, I’ll be discussing why form is the superior form of progressive overload.
So generally, there are three ways we can progress in the gym: number of reps, weight, and form. Most people, myself included, progress in weight, because it’s nice to see the numbers go up.
But, especially if you’re newer to weightlifting, it’s much more important to focus on proper form.
This is because of a great bit of neuropsychology called an engram - specifically a motor engram. This is essentially the brain’s way of shortening the amount of instructions it has to give by grouping certain actions.
When you think about gripping a bar, you don’t think about extending your arm, individually flexing each finger, etc etc, do you? You just think “grip the bar” and so you do.
This is the basis of motor engrams. The problem arises if you have programmed this action in the wrong way, for example, not activating the glutes when you squat. If you now think “squat”, your brain’s signal is to squat with improper form, hence meaning your glutes are not sufficiently activated, increasing injury risk and decreasing muscle growth in your glutes.
This is why you should take some time to focus on improving form first before you rush into the heavy weights, because if your engram for bench press is wrong and you bench a heavy weight, chances are you might drop it and crush yourself. Not fun.
I know how tempting it is to lift the really big objects, but resist that urge for the sake of not breaking your body. (Unless you’re a powerlifter training for strength, in which case you should still use proper form but you can go much faster in tempo, lower in rep range and lift much heavier - this post is tailored for those wanting muscle growth)
To improve your form, the best thing really is to get a personal trainer who can tell you what to do and how to do it. However, that can be intimidating for many beginners, both in price and in person, so I’d actually recommend you don’t start with a PT. Watch some videos on YouTube of people doing the exercises properly and record yourself doing them. Then, watch it back later and compare it against the YouTube videos to iron out any mistakes. I’d recommend channels Jeremy Ethier and Jeff Nippard as a starting point.
You should also focus on improving mind-muscle connection, and understanding what muscles are activated during what exercise. This is crucial for good form, full muscular contraction, and activation of desired muscles. If you don’t think about this, you won’t engage the muscles you want to grow and so others take over, and hence you don’t see the growth you want. For example, the bench press. If you do it incorrectly, you might move the weight from your chest to your shoulders, activating them more than your chest, hence your chest does not grow as much (which is the point of the bench press). This is why mind-muscle connection and anatomical understanding is critical for reaching your goals.
So, lift lighter so you can lift well, so that when you can lift the really big weights, you don’t break yourself.
Conclusion
This is a relatively short one today: simple concept, hard to execute.
To really make sure you’re doing it right, slow the movement down a bit and really focus on the muscles that are working and how you’re working them.
However, you don’t be overly strict with your form after getting it right. Doing that will reduce the load you’ll be able to lift, so loosen up a little to find a good middle ground between form and weight. This will take some experimentation and will differ based on your level of strength.
Don’t listen to your friends if they tell you to lift heavier if you feel it would compromise your form. I know it makes you sound “weak” or something, but tell that to them when they injure themselves lifting some ungodly amount of weight with incorrect form.
On the topic of doing things more natural, I’ll be discussing the Chinese philosophy of Taoism, all about flow and nature.
Quick update: I’ll be publishing all my Philosophy emails on a Monday at 7pm from now on rather than Sunday, so you’ll get that one Monday evening.
Have a Merry Christmas for tomorrow.
- Tom
Sources:
https://youtu.be/5h_Ig6hLBIc
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engram_(neuropsychology)
DISCLAIMER
The content provided in these posts are designed to be educational and informative. I am not a medical doctor, psychologist, therapist, nutritionist, or registered dietitian. The contents of these emails should not be seen as medical, psychological, dietary, nutritional, or healthcare advice of any kind. Always consult a qualified health professional on any matters regarding your health.