The Importance of Proper Form While Exercising

Over the last couple of years, Americans have begun to pay greater attention to their fitness and health. As the rate of obesity rises in the U.S., it is causing folks to reevaluate the way that they eat and the way that they take care of their bodies. One of the most highly efficient ways to burn, shed the pounds, and keep healthy is to build more lean muscle. You don’t need to be a bodybuilder to benefit from the advantages of correct weight lifting.

When you go to the gym, you are taking that extra step to help keep yourself fit and healthy. By working out with both weights and cardio machines, you can accelerate your way to proper fitness and meet your health goals. However, if you do not use the correct form while working out, you won’t receive the full benefit and you may become prone to injury or put your health in danger.

Muscles are exposed to relatively constant stress during both the lifting and the lowering phases of exercising. It is therefore important to avoid quick, explosive movements, which can interfere with correct form and may also cause injury. When using weights, slowly move the joint using the appropriate muscles involved through maximum range of motion, to derive optimum strength benefits. The muscles should do the work, not your joints. No matter what type of exercise you perform, always work both sides of the body equally.

It is a good rule of thumb to avoid machines that you do not know how to work. Before you try a weight machine out for yourself, you should discuss proper use with a trainer. When you use machines the wrong way, you put yourself at risk of serious injury, and you can also damage the machine itself. Additionally, you should not try any new exercises unless you are completely sure of how to perform them.

One of the best things to keep in mind is alignment. If you do not keep your head, neck, and back in alignment even while doing something simple, you can eventually cause muscle weakness and tears that can sideline you for weeks. For example, if you arch your back to support yourself while doing bicep curls or triceps dips, you are doing more damage than good. It puts unnatural force on your muscles, leading to micro-tears and other problems that can result in pain.

There are many people that believe when exercising, faster is better, or the more reps the better, or the more weight the better. These are common misconceptions. In fact, doing so can cause injury, especially if you are unaccustomed to regular exercise. It is more effective, for example, doing 5 bicep curls very slowly with the appropriate amount of weight and with proper form, than it is doing 10 bicep curls quickly with an excessive amount of weight and with poor form.

Therefore, it is incredibly important that one always maintains correct posture when exercising. Not only will you avoid injury, but you will also achieve more desirable results.