The study of correct exercise technique is one thing, and vital. But being able to practice it is another matter. Proper use of a camcorder will help you to develop correct exercise technique. If you train alone at home with no one to check your technique, the camcorder can be an even greater blessing than it is for those who train among others.
Over a single year, most trainees will spend far more on unessential training-related items than the cost of a no-frills camcorder. Not only that, but most of those expenses will yield no positive return. A camcorder, used well, will teach you much about how to improve your exercise technique.
Consider a camcorder an investment for your training longevity and success. Invest in a camcorder before you spend on items that are, at best, of only marginal value.
While most people have the option to train in front of a mirror, this offers only a limited view for observing and monitoring exercise technique. While this is good enough for keeping a check on some small exercises, assuming you know what is and isn’t correct technique, it’s inadequate for most exercises, for reasons that include the following:
| 1. | You can’t carefully observe your technique while training hard. |
| 2. | Some exercises—for instance, the bench press—can’t be reflected in a mirror for easy viewing. |
| 3. | Some exercises need to be seen from the side view—squat and deadlift, for example. While appropriate use of more than one mirror can let you see yourself from the side without having to turn your head, that’s still not as useful as video recordings from the side. |
| 4. | A video recording is something you can keep and view repeatedly, if necessary, and use to compare with earlier or later recordings in order to monitor your technique thoroughly. |
The first few times you view video recordings of your exercise technique may be eye openers. The lifting technique you think you use may not be what you actually use.
Using a camcorder
For video recordings of your training to have the potential to teach you much, you first need to know what constitutes the details of correct technique, and the errors to look out for. With that knowledge acquired from studying this book, record yourself from the side view of each exercise you do.
Have someone operate the camcorder while you exercise. Alternatively, mount the camcorder on a tripod and, for each exercise, set it at the appropriate height and position to record the full range of motion of the exercise.
In a commercial, college or other public gym, time the recording when the place is quiet; and preferably have someone operate the camcorder for you to avoid use of a tripod and having to set things up yourself. In a home gym there should be fewer logistical obstacles.
Study the recordings and set about correcting technique errors. Major errors may necessitate that you drop your poundages in the exercises concerned to little more than the bare bar. Learn the proper lifting technique, and then record and analyze your revised technique to check that you really are delivering what you think you’re delivering. Then, if all’s well, gradually build the weights back over a couple of months, or longer, with regular video taping to ensure that the new technique is maintained.
If the errors are small, you may need to reduce your poundages by only a little, and gradually build back the weights while maintaining correct technique.
When learning technique in major exercises, record yourself every workout for a few weeks. Then you can check that you’re being consistent with the correct technique. Once the new grooves are embedded, you may only need to record yourself every few weeks.
When focusing on a specific detail of an exercise, it’s critical that the camcorder is positioned at the right height. For example, if you’re aiming to determine whether you’re reaching or breaking parallel in the squat, you must have the camcorder positioned at about your knee height. If you have the camcorder at your standing eye level, you’ll not get a true picture of the precise position of your thighs at the bottom of the descent.
To illustrate this, and while viewing from the side position, observe someone squatting while you’re standing. Then get down on your knees and observe the same squatter from the low position. You’ll probably see a noticeable difference between the two perceived depths. At powerlifting meets, squatting depth is observed from the low position, not while the judge is standing.
If you’re trying to determine at what depth your lower back starts to round in the squat (but while using just the bare bar)—to discover the depth you should never get even close to with a heavy weight over your shoulders—you must have the camcorder set up at the height at about where the back rounding occurs.
If you squat in front of a mirror, what you may think is squatting to parallel may, in fact, be a couple of inches below parallel when seen from the side. Depth misjudgment in the squat may be responsible for your lower back rounding.
While plenty can go wrong in the small exercises, the bigger ones are more complicated. They give greater scope for errors, and much can be learned about the impact of adjustments in technique.
Using an unloaded bar, make small adjustments in your technique, one at a time, and tape yourself from a side view. Provide a commentary so that when you view the film you know what each adjustment is as it’s made on the recording. Then you can accurately analyze your technique and the impact of changes. Don’t try to rely on memory alone for what adjustment was being made at a given moment in the recording.
Make a recording of the evolution of your technique in the major exercises. This will provide you with a permanent reminder of what you used to do, the changes you made, and the correct technique you’re now capable of using. Periodic viewing of the tape will keep you on course for maintaining correct technique.
An example of what to do
Here’s an example of how you could go about composing a recording of the evolution of your squatting technique. Do this sort of study for all your major exercises.
First, you need a thorough academic grasp of squatting technique from studying this book. Then, without making any adjustments to your squatting technique, record just three reps done in your old style using your usual 12-rep poundage. Have the recording done from the side view. When you examine the recording you may notice:
| 1. | The bar is placed too high on your shoulders. |
| 2. | You bend at your hips before you bend at your knees. |
| 3. | You go so low that your lower back rounds. |
| 4. | Your knees come inward during the ascent. (It may be difficult to detect this from the side view.) |
| 5. | You tend to topple forward a little on the ascents. |
If you’ve been squatting in a style anything like this, you’re unlikely to have been enjoying the exercise, or aching in the right areas of your body after a workout. And if you’ve been getting injured, you know at least some of the reasons why.
Make technique changes, and provide commentary of what you’re doing as you go along. Finding the best squatting technique for you needs experimentation and practice. Because you’ll be illustrating technique errors as well as improvements, be sure that you use only a bare bar, so that you don’t hurt yourself.
Start by lowering the bar on your upper back so that it’s positioned on the pad of muscle just above your shoulder blades. Your aim is to hold the bar as low as you can without losing stability during the course of a set. Record a few reps using the new bar position. You may need to widen your grip on the bar to accommodate the lowering of the bar. It may feel awkward to begin with, but you’ll soon get used to it.
Now record the impact of stance variations, while keeping other variables constant. Do some reps with your heels hip-width apart and feet parallel to each other. Then do some with the same heel spacing but toes flared. Try a flare on each foot of about 25 degrees, and then about 45 degrees. Then try other heel spacings (wider and narrower) and different degrees of toe flare.
Notice how some set-ups cause you to lean forward more than others, and that some make deep squatting harder than others. Settle on the heel placement and toe flare that feel the most comfortable, stable and powerful.
Record a few squats with the weight felt primarily through your toes. Then do a few with the weight felt almost totally through your heels. And then do a few with the weight felt evenly over the balls and heels.
When viewing the recording, notice the difference to your body alignment (during and between reps) that the different stress distribution over your feet makes. While it may appear to be only a slight difference, slight changes can make a great impact on how an exercise impacts on your body. Add up a few “slight differences” and you’ll produce a huge variation that can make the difference between destructive technique, and effective technique.
While keeping all other technique considerations constant, compare the relative speed of your hips and shoulders during the first few inches of the ascent. Record some reps with your hips moving quicker than your shoulders. Then record some with your hips and shoulders rising at the same speed. And then record some with your shoulders rising faster than your hips. Notice the differences in the stress on your lower back, and the path of the bar during the ascent.
If you have the bar too high on your shoulders, and if you start the descent by sticking out your butt, you’re going to exaggerate the harm from having your hips rising faster than your shoulders when coming out of the bottom position. Demonstrate and record this. But remember to use only a bare bar (or perhaps just a broomstick) when illustrating very bad technique.
Now put a few errors together—for example, bar too high, stress felt through your toes, and feet parallel to each other. Record the impact made on your squatting technique. Remember to provide commentary of what you’re doing, for easy reference and explanation when you play the recording.
Record yourself squatting, with correct technique, to different depths. (Remember to have the camcorder operating from the same height as that of your lower back when you’re at the bottom of a squat.) Squat in a power rack where you can set the pins at different heights, to determine depth of descent. Be sure you have some identification for each depth. Number or letter each pin hole so that you have reference points. Note in your commentary that you are, for example, “Squatting to pins set in holes number 29.”
Squat to a series of different depths, and examine the impact of the depth changes on your lower back. Determine the depth at which your back just starts to round. Then the pin setting a few inches above that point will become your maximum safe squatting depth.
Now to finish the squat “evolution” video tape: After having studied what has already been recorded, and having acted accordingly to try to perfect your technique, load a barbell with half your usual 12-rep squatting poundage. Do a few perfect reps to the right depth for you. Compare your new technique to the old style recorded prior to all your adjustments. If need be, fine-tune with a little wider foot spacing and a bit more toe flare, for example, to discover even better positioning for you.
There are many components of correct squatting technique. Consider them all when working to discover your optimum technique.
When making an “evolution” recording for other exercises, keep in mind that the biggest exercises are the most complex, have the greatest possibilities for errors, and the largest potential for improvements in technique.
Take video analysis seriously and you’ll learn a great deal.
Please note that some of the aforementioned are incorrect aspects of technique, for illustrative purposes only. Study the section of this book that covers the squat, for the details of correct technique.