Properly done, weight-lifting is safe, but the use of correct exercise technique is the exception in nearly all gyms. Gyms are usually terrible places for learning correct exercise technique. Few trainees practice correct technique because hardly anyone knows what it is, and this includes most gym instructors, and personal trainers. Exercise technique isn’t secondary to program design, and training intensity. Technique comes first!
Exercise technique isn’t simple. It requires detailed instruction, and serious study, if you’re to master it. Make correct exercise technique your number one training motto. Make no compromises, ever.
All strength-training exercises aren’t included here, for three reasons:
| 1. | The most effective exercises are limited in number. |
| 2. | Many of the excluded exercises are inferior to the selected ones. |
| 3. | Effective strength training for typical trainees is built around short routines. |
Some exercises don’t produce acute injury but an accumulation of damage that, over time, causes chronic injury. Just because an exercise doesn’t hurt you today, next week, or next month, doesn’t mean that it won’t hurt you later.
When I was a beginner I had little or no time for anyone who talked or wrote about the possible dangers of training. Being a teenager I could, at first, get away with foolish training methods without much immediate discomfort. Therefore I continued with harmful practices that included squatting with my heels raised on a board and the barbell too high on my shoulders, hack machine squatting, Smith machine squatting, bench pressing with a wide grip and to my upper chest, round-back deadlifting, explosive lifting, and specific cheating movements. A few years later I was plagued with serious injuries, especially to my knees and back. Countless trainees have experienced similar problems.
I sustained most of my training injuries because I used incorrect exercise technique. And the remaining injuries were caused because I didn’t apply what’s taught in Part I of this book.
All these injuries would have been avoided had I applied everything that this book teaches.
The ESSENTIAL factor of individuality
Even if exercise technique is correct, rep speed is controlled, and the handling of weights is faultless while setting up equipment, an exercise can still cause problems if, for a given individual, training is excessive in terms of frequency or volume, or if the adding of weight to the bar is rushed.
For instance, perhaps you’re not a beginner, and you’re squatting and deadlifting two times per week, your exercise technique is correct, rep speed is controlled, and your training volume is low, yet your lower back and knees still don’t feel right. But when you were a beginner, there was no problem with this training frequency. Now, because of the increased training load, the situation has changed. A change to deadlifting and squatting just once a week each, on the same day, will give more recovery time, and your knees and lower back may start to feel fine again. You may still be able to train your lower back two times a week, but make it the back extension at the second session. And you may still be able to train your thighs two times a week, but make it the leg press at the second session, for example.
With exercise technique, what’s “safe” can be an individual matter. Age, body structure and proportions, and any past injuries, among other factors, may turn what’s generally a safe exercise into a potentially harmful one.
Study this book to learn about correct exercise technique, and then apply it consistently. If, however, despite using correct technique, along with a controlled rep speed, gradual increases in progressive resistance, abbreviated training routines, and adequate recovery time between workouts, you still experience joint or soft tissue irritation from a given exercise, substitute it with a comparable exercise.
Apply the first imperative of exercise: “Do no harm.”
With a barbell and dumbbell set you can do the same exercises anywhere in the world. Free-weights are almost universal in gyms, but good machinery isn’t. The technique instruction for exercises that use free-weights is the same for all brands of that gear, but not so for machinery where, for example, the instructions for one brand’s squat machine are different from another’s. As a result of these factors, and others, free-weights are given priority in this book.
If, however, you have access to the generally good machinery—for example, Body Masters, Cybex, Hammer Strength, MedX, and Nautilus—you could substitute it for the comparable free-weights exercises; but tread carefully because even some of the generally good machines can cause irritations and injuries for some trainees even when those machines are used correctly. And most machines can’t accommodate all body sizes. Of course, exercises that use free-weights can also cause problems, especially if they aren’t performed correctly.
A machine exercise may cause irritation, but the comparable free-weights exercise may not, and vice versa, depending on the individual and the exercise concerned.
Features of good machinery include smoothness of motion, ease of entry and exit, and the ability to accommodate a variety of body types (through adjustment of seats, back pads, and movement arms).
Although high-tech machinery can be useful, it’s not essential. Free-weights alone, properly used, have proven to be tremendously effective.
Various manufacturers produce variations on the same basic machine designs. One manufacturer’s pullover machine, for example, may produce an effective upper-body exercise, whereas another version may be a source of joint irritation.
Whenever you use a machine, follow the manufacturer’s guidelines—which are often fixed to the machines themselves. The correct set-up position is essential. For instance, on a shoulder machine, you may need to line up your shoulder joints with the pivot points.
Fine-tune your set-up until you find what feels most comfortable. You may need several workouts. A set-up that initially felt awkward may, after some adjustment, feel fine. Never push hard on a machine until after you’ve found a set-up that’s proven safe for several workouts, without producing any negative reaction.
Personal coaching
Don’t assume that anyone who claims to be a qualified personal trainer knows what he’s doing. Strings of letters that indicate certifications of various organizations, or degrees obtained, don’t necessarily signify competence as a coach. Be on your guard.
To determine whether someone can help you to improve your technique, watch the trainer at work. Although the following checklist isn’t entirely to do with exercise technique, the non-technique components reflect on overall ability as a trainer.
| 1. | Is the technique taught like that described in this book? |
| 2. | Does the trainer remind his charge of key technique points before an exercise, and in the course of it? |
| 3. | Has the trainer modified his client’s exercise selection and technique according to any physical limitations the trainee may have? |
| 4. | Does the trainer keep accurate records of weight and reps for every work set? |
| 5. | Does the trainer consult his client’s training log before each set, to ensure that the correct weight is loaded? |
| 6. | Is the trainer attentive, supportive, and respectful? |
| 7. | Does the trainer keep his charge’s mind focused on the work at hand? |
If the trainer doesn’t score well on all these points, look elsewhere. If the trainer scores well on these points but the deadlift, squat, and other major movements weren’t done in the workout you inspected, ask the trainer to demonstrate how he teaches those movements. Compare his instruction with what’s described in this book. If the differences are more than minor, look elsewhere.
Joining a local powerlifting club, or attending occasionally, may help. A savvy coach from the club should be able to provide technique tips.
Once you know about correct exercise technique, teach an observer what to look for to provide feedback to help you improve your technique. Alternatively, use a video camera and record your technique, for analysis later. A video camera can be an outstanding tool to help you to improve your exercise technique.
Units of measurement
Imperial and metric units are used interchangeably in this book. An inch is about two and a half centimeters, four inches is about ten centimeters, and a foot is about 30 centimeters. A pound is about 0.45 kilogram, and about 2.2 pounds comprise one kilogram.
Technical accuracy
Throughout this book, strict anatomical definitions of arm, forearm, thigh, and leg are used. This means avoiding ambiguous terms such as lower leg, upper leg, lower arm, or upper arm, and not using arm and leg to encompass undetermined portions of the upper and lower extremities respectively. The leg is the portion between the foot and the knee, the thigh is the portion between the knee and the hip, the forearm is the portion between the hand and the elbow, and the arm is the portion between the elbow and the shoulder.
The word flex is used in this book only as the opposite of extend. Flex is commonly used to mean make tense but without flexion.
A common general rule while exercising is to inhale during the pause between reps, or during the negative phase of the movement, and exhale during the positive phase. For exercises where there may be a pause between reps, inhalation and exhalation may occur during the pause, with the final inhalation taken immediately prior to the start of the next rep. It’s this guideline that’s usually referred to in the technique instruction in this book, but it’s not the only way to breathe while strength training.
Here’s an alternative guideline: While never holding your breath, focus on the given exercise and muscles being trained, not your breathing. As long as you’re not holding your breath, you’ll automatically breathe sufficiently. To prevent breath holding, don’t close your mouth.
When reps are performed very slowly—slower than about four seconds for each positive or negative phase—it’s necessary to breathe continuously throughout each rep, perhaps with more than one inhalation-exhalation cycle during each phase of a rep.
Dumbbell training
Some trainees prefer dumbbells to barbells in upper-body exercises because the dumbbells allow more flexibility with wrist positioning, and thus permit more comfortable training.
The need for detailed descriptions
Books on strength training and bodybuilding usually provide skimpy descriptions of exercise technique. But exercise technique isn’t a simple matter. The exercises need to be described in detail.
Note on photographs
Photographs alone can’t show all the details of exercise technique. Please study all of the written instructions.
The photographs are for illustration purposes only. In some cases, the models didn’t wear shirts so that the involved musculature or back positioning could be seen clearly. And spotters and safety set-up considerations aren’t illustrated other than in a few specific photographs. When YOU train, wear a shirt, and fully attend to all safety considerations, as described in the text.