Is Your Form Slowing Your Progress?

When it comes to training let’s get one thing straight: quality is more important than quantity. Whether you are aiming to lose weight, get strong, or just improve your health; how you lift, how you run, and how you jump can be the difference between making consistent progress or getting yourself injured.

Be Patient and Take Your Time.

If you’re new to lifting weights, you should expect to put a fair amount of effort and time in to learning proper weightlifting technique and mechanics before increasing and adding load further. To learn about correct form and to work on your technique, you can check out a whole range of videos on YouTube, check articles out with a quick Google search, or even grab a member of staff on the gym floor for some support and advice. Even the more experienced lifters can benefit from occasional form feedback - this keeps them in-check and able to consistently improve further, albeit at a much slower and more intricate pace than a beginner weightlifter. Aiming to continually improve and perfect your form will almost certainly boost your workouts, sports performance, conserve more energy and reduce your injury risk.

Improve Your Form to Decrease Injury Risk.

It goes without saying that form can be a massive factor when it comes to injuries. Poor form during weight training places undue emphasis on muscles, tendons and ligaments which leads to strains, sprains and other soft tissue injuries. Good weightlifting mechanics reduces overcompensation and allows you to move in the most optimal manner for that specific exercise, and therefore train more efficiently. Improper form may also mean you are targeting unintended muscles or muscle groups. The better your form, the better your results. Expect to be able to run faster, lift more, and jump higher when you do it right.

Maximise Your Results. 

When using correct form consistently, you will be giving yourself the best possible opportunity to maximise the benefits of your overall training and this can be compounded over time for dramatic, injury free results. Sounds good, right? Staying consistent and being patient will help you to further master your form and increase your ability to maximise each lift. It is also a great way to determine the overall productivity of your sessions. Being able to critically analyse and question whether or not you have achieved good form and got the most out of each exercise in each session is a great way of keeping you focused during your sessions. Not only in the gym, but correct form will positively affect your everyday life and well-being.

Work On Your Mobility To Perfect Your Form.

 So we know that having good form means faster progress and less injury risk, but is there anything other than knowledge that can prevent you from achieving good form? Well, having good form is determined primarily by your mobility. Often poor mobility is the key cause of poor form. The benefits of mobility training are endless. It will help prevent injuries from occurring, relives tension associated with a sedentary lifestyle or over-exercising, improves all-round functional fitness performance, increases range of motion, reduces joint deterioration and helps build stronger more adaptive muscles and joints. These are just some of the benefits, and definitely not all of them! Needless to say, if you are looking to nail your exercises with perfect form, your mobility should be something you continually work on and should not be overlooked.

 Get In Touch For Support.

So, dialling in your form on each exercise will lead to better results, less risk of injury, improved knowledge and focus in your training sessions, and even improved mobility. It would seem silly to not want to improve in this area?

Remember, you can search Google, YouTube or any social media platforms these days for advice and videos on technique - and we encourage you to do so! However, if you want to learn new movements or just want a technique session with a more hands on approach, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us - the U7 coaching team! Even having only a couple of personal training sessions creates the perfect environment to work on improving your movement mechanics and mobility, focus on technique that is specific to you, and work on specific areas that will help you reach your goals faster in an individualised one-to-one coaching environment.