Your Form Is Too Strict

Now before you jump on your high horse and get your knickers in a knot going on about how form is important and that you need to ‘feel’ the muscle when you train, just take a minute, breathe and then read on.

• Is form important? Yes
• Should form be the cornerstone of your training education? Yes
• Is poor form injury promoting? Yes

You see I’m not talking about slinging weights around, using mindless momentum and ego lifting things your training age can’t handle, I’m talking about using biomechanically positive leverage to ensure you get the best bang for your buck out of an exercise.

I’d also like to take this moment before we delve into some examples of where strict form is limiting your gains and say that this article is NOT directed at beginners or even intermediate lifters but instead for the advanced lifter.

Without having an appropriate training background, with an understanding of lifting fundamentals and a physique that can handle the pressure of intense training, you should not be using techniques like this to maximise the load you can lift.

I’m sure you’ve heard it before - first you must walk before you can run.

And training is no different.

• Learn how to lift well first
• Learn about how muscles act on each joint
• Learn what it feels like to be rigid in your form
• Understand movement patterns and biomechanics
• Build the necessary accessory muscle strength to ensure joint integrity

Then come back and read this article, as I am about to go into the 3 exercises I consistently see being done too rigidly almost on a daily basis in a commercial gym.

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I’d also like to take this time to link you to another article of mine as it forms the premise of my recommendations in this article, whereby we are focusing on maximising the Fundamentals of Training Heirarchy through training. In doing so, the goal of the prime movements discussed in this article is to maximise intensity and volume progression as well as ensuring you achieve maximum muscle activation.

The Pull Down

A lat pull down should be used to maximise the activation of the latissimus dorsi as well as all prime back movers, including the erectors and the scapular retractors.

The two primary movements the lats are responsible for are:

1. Shoulder extension - Pulling the elbow from in front of the body to behind the body
2. Shoulder adduction - Bringing the elbow from beside the body towards the ribs like a bird flapping its wings

So in essence, if you want to contract the lats, the two primary movements you need to be doing is a simultaneous action of shoulder adduction with shoulder extension.

However, that is not all you need to consider when looking to maximise activation, as you also need to understand any antagonistic issues as well (working against the target muscle), of which the lats have a few.

• Too much thoracic flexion will decrease lat activation
  • Hunching your spine
• Shoulder extension moving beyond the ribs will decrease lat activation
  • Taking your elbow past your ribs and allowing your shoulder to roll forwards
• Conversely, arching the thoracic spine will enhance lat activation
  • Thoracic extension

Taking that all into consideration, the optimal way to perform a lat pull down is to arch through your thoracic spine, initiate shoulder extension/adduction with scapula retraction (depressing or pulling the scaps down and in towards your spine) and then pull your elbows down towards your waist while simultaneously pulling your elbows slightly back towards your hips but not past your ribs.

If you over exaggerate the shoulder extension portion of the pull down and take your elbows past the ribcage, just as the peak contraction occurs (when the elbows reach the ribs) the lats will reduce activation as the scap retractors take over during full shoulder extension.

Try it now… perform a seated row motion, squeezing your lats and then pull your elbow as far back as you can past your waist and you will notice you cant squeeze your lats at the furthest range of motion.

Secondly, it is important to recognise that the muscle being stretched the most is the muscle being activate the most, so the eccentric phase of the lat pull down (letting your arms straighten) should end with your scapula being completely protracted (stretched out) and your torso up straight.

Upon initiating the concentric phase mentioned above, a small amount of back extension should be used for mechanical advantage to maximise pulling power and engaging more total back recruitment. This will also allow for a more frequent progression of intensity or volume as the slight momentum it creates allows you to engage more total back activation.

Tricep Extension

Despite this, it is extremely common for a tricep extension to be taught in the most rigid manor of all exercises, whereby a client is told to keep their elbows at a fixed point next to their ribs, to have NO shoulder movement and to only focus on isolating the extension portion of the triceps.

Knowing this, if the primary concern for muscle hypertrophy is to maximise muscle activation (which it should be), contrary to popular belief, it is actually advantageous to produce simultaneous elbow flexion alongside shoulder extension. Furthermore, by maintain elbow external rotation (keeping your forearm pointing away from the body), you will activate more muscle fibres in the tricep as well.

In doing so, by using the mechanical advantage of shoulder extension with simultaneous elbow extension in an externally rotated position, you will give yourself the best opportunity to progress in both strength (intensity) and volume.  

Bicep Curl

Knowing this, if you are intending on maximising biceps brachii activation through a full range of motion to ensure full motor unit recruitment, biomechanically, the most optimal way to activate the biceps is to initiate the movement of elbow flexion and then complete the movement with shoulder flexion.

As with tricep extensions, traditionally it is taught that a bicep curl should only be performed with strict rigid form, involving no shoulder movement and pure elbow flexion isolation. While this may isolate the biceps through a small portion of its complete range of motion, it does not allow for efficient biomechanical activation and therefore your ability to progress in either volume or intensity is reduced.

Instead of being ‘strict’ with your shoulder position, try finish your bicep curl with about 20-30 degrees of shoulder flexion (lift your elbows to the ceiling) and I guarantee you that you will notice a much higher peak contraction of the biceps at its insertion point in the shoulder region.

Final Notes

While muscle hypertrophy is primarily controlled by the key fundamentals of adherence, volume, intensity, frequency and progression, it is important to recognise that despite this, it does not give us the free will of throwing weights around aimlessly just to gain a weight or volume progression. By understanding the biomechanics of a lift however, you can use mechanical advantage in a controlled manor to maximise activation and improve your progression at a fast rate.

Isolating muscle groups through varying ranges of motion also has its advantages but in my opinion, rigid isolation exercises should never be your primary choices in a weights program. Use this type of lifting for volume progressions and frequency increments as the intensity for isolation movements are usually less than a compound.

Instead, focus on using mechanical advantageous lifting for your initial primary movements in a training session and focus on isolating segments of a movement at the back end of your session.

Want to know more about muscle insertion, origins and actions? Check out this great resource: http://www.exrx.net/Exercise.html

Finally, the movement speeds and range of motion of an exercise will not be identical for everyone, however the principles are essentially the same for all.

By understanding the biomechanics of each muscle group, as well as where they originate and insert on a joint, you will be able to maximise their activation potential.

Training should never be rigid for the advanced lifter and instead should be focused on maximising performance to maximise athletic ability.

In turn, this kind of training will result in more efficient muscle growth.