Working Out Form?

I actually couldn't find anything decent on this, (must be googling wrong) But HOW important is form when doing weight training?

As oppose to say actually lifiting a decent amount of weight to see results?



Basically i used to work out 3 or 4 years ago and i put on quite a lot of muscle, not boasting or anything, for an 18-19yr old i was pretty tanked actaully. ANYWAY, i used to do a 3 day triangle work out, which as you probably know, consists of first day (or day 1) Chest and Triceps, 2nd day Legs and Shoulders, and 3rd day Back and Biceps, and then a two day rest and repeat. That's what worked for me back then (21 now) And obviously there are various different cobinations you can do within this triangle 3 day workout routine for example, Back & tri's and chest & bi's instead.
So i i'm working and this guy basically tells me i'm doing it wrong and i should retract slower and not bring the weights down so fast, looking back now, my was pretty shit. I just couldn't believe i forgot everything! Iv'e forgotten most of the exercises resorting to checking fucking internet, and iv'e forgotten how to PROPPERLY work out and get the best out of each session. So my question is, how important is form? All of the sites i visit about working out it tells what exercises you can do and why you should do them but it doesn't actually tell you HOW to perform each exercise to it's maximum potential. Some sites do say what body positions you should have but doesn't go into enough detail to actually describe fully what to do.

and plus, i feel i'm too scrawny to actaully have AND retain good form. It's hard.

First of all you need to check your ego at the door. The gym is where egos go to die. Correct form insures proper muscle recruitment and prevents injuries. You get better and faster results with proper form. If you can't lift the weight and maintain form then you need to use a lighter load and not give a damn how light or how heavy it is. I also noticed how you said you forgot everything. That only happens if you never practiced proper form in the first place. If you were doing everything properly you never would forget how to perform a lift properly because the proper form for the lift would be ingrained in your mind.

Posted by AA


So i i'm working and this guy basically tells me i'm doing it wrong and i should retract slower and not bring the weights down so fast.

It depends on what you were doing. Some lifts require you to explode to finish the lift, ie powercleans, snatches. I'm assuming you're not performing any of those lifts so when you go fast you use momentum to "help" during the lift instead of going full ROM in a slow controlled manner targeting the muscle or muscles you intend to work on. You're basically just half assing it and cheating yourself. The likelihood of you injuring yourself increases drastically too.

I'd like for you go to into more detail in your routine that way I can see how we can correct it. There's tons of videos on Youtube that show you proper form. I'm here to offer any help I can give you.

first of all, thanks! To both of you, DK09 you obviously know what your talking about. And second of all, i don't think i was doing it wrong in the first place because like i said, i gained quite a lot of muscle and weight considering my body type and natural physique. That's why i was so shocked! Becuase i simply couldn remember, and naturally, as you probably know, after goimg gym before and being a certain size, and lifting a certain weight i wasn't ready to start fresh and start all over again.

I'll try and prevent usuing momentum, although it's hard.

Here's basically what my gym schedule and structure looks like atm, for gaining muscle. (Not too much but enought to see results AND ALSO HAVE FUN)

So I'll start on Monday for exmaple;

Monday - Chest and Triceps (4 sets. 10 reps or more/as many as i can) . Basic Chest Press (On Machine) Not quite ready for the bench yet (Just starting out) The machine is where you sit down arms paralell with your chest and push out? Seconf chest workout would then probably be pec fly machine then followed by pec fly on bench with dead weights (just realized i shouldn't do that because that's 2 pec fly workouts i think and 8 possible sets) and then followed by the chest press on bench with free weights, not sure of the propper name but unlike the flys instead i just push up. Now my chest is usually well and truly fucked. Now it's time for triceps, which consists of Tricep pulldowns, with good form as 10-15 reps low weight, 4 sets. Then followed by getting a dead weight bar and lifting it up palms facing downwards. 4 sets. Then oi grab a light 5-7k silver weight, putting it behind my head/neck, arm across belly for support and contracting arm to lift above head. Annoyingly i don't really feel much burn with this one despite how hard it is. The i do the tricep pull up on the bench, one knee on facing down, slightly heavy weight on this one maybe 15's and just pull up type thing. Then after that if i can i lift my body with my arms and triceps using the bench by spreading my legs out away from the beanchitself in a sitting position never actually touching the floor and simply go up and down as many times as i can until i burn out. I could do with a few more effective tricep workouts tbh.

Tuesday - Legs and Shoulders. Leg Press 64kg, 12-15 reps. and various other leg workout machines. Shoulders - I start by doing shoulder press on machine. Then Grabbing dumbells and i do standing flys. Usually light weight i j

Usually light weight i just simply lift the weights like i'm trying to fly, ABSOLUTE KILLER!
Then i do the opposite but do it forwards instead of outwards, usually i little bit easier. that's 3 exercises. I aim to do three of each body group if you havn't noticed. I need more shoulder workouts tbh, those ones are a bit shit.

Wednesday - Back and Bi's. I start with Back by doing Lateral Pull Downs, 4 sets 10 reps. Then Seated row. Then Rear Delt Fly. For Biceps i do Barbell Curls. Hammer Curls And then Dead Bar Curls. Usually all 4 sets, small weight 10-15 reps. Need more various Bicep workouts do ya think? I heard you Don't Need To Do Much for Biceps as long as form is good?

Then all this followed by 2 days or 1 day (depending how well i recover) rest period. and repeat. Protien drink after every workout altho expensive and don't have loads of money atm.

From what I gather from what you posted is you're doing a lot of isolation exercises. By all means they're great exercises but it's just that your goal is to get big right? What you want is the hypertrophy range meaning 10-12 reps with a moderate to heavy weight, just enough so you can maintain form and still perform the lift. Usually the 5-10 rep range is good enough for building muscle, anything higher than 15 reps with light weights turns into a muscle endurance exercise and if it's with light weights especially it negates any strength gains.

Try to incorporate more compound exercises (ie. squats, deadlifts, benchpress, pullups, dips etc.) into your workout so you can get maximal gains. The thing with compound exercises is you get to workout the little muscles that no one's heard of. It also shores up any muscle imbalances you may have. Whereas just straight up iso exercises don't work any of those smaller muscles and could lead to odd little injuries that creep up later on. I highly recommend squats on leg day. Basically just start off with the bar itself so you can perform the exercise with proper form and feel it out at the beginning. After that when you're confident enough add weight until you reach a workable amount for yourself. Don't forget to incorporate warmup sets. Don't be afraid to do any of these exercises no one is going to judge you. I saw this scrawny 16-17 yr old kid in the gym the other day doing squats and deads with 75lbs. on the bar with perfect form. Just keep in mind that we all started somewhere and right now you're building a base to work off of.

And one more thing, eat! EAT! EAT! EAT EAT! And tons of water too.