Johnny O’Connor puts the great gym myth to the sword

This week, Johnny banishes the great fairytale that exists amongst some gym-goers who reckon they can lift over and beyond their capabilities and why you shouldn't follow their lead.

Ever find yourself wondering why the numbers don’t add up when it comes to weightlifting in the gym?

The reason why things get out of control is because you hear some muppet say: “Yeah man,  I’m squatting 180kgs for ten reps every evening” and you want to aspire to that as fast as possible.

Suspicion

Some guys can do crazy weights on lifts. Although you look at them and you have a bit of suspicion that it’s too good to be true. And guess what? You’re more than likely right.

Your pal may not be willing to lie to you but, as you quiz him further, you will soon realise that he may not have been squating savage weights at all.  Ask him did he have full depth or parell.  If not, he’s full of it and it’s simply not a squat.

This query can relate to any exercise. If the techinque and range of movements is not spot on then how can you take any gains as progress? They don’t hold a true value.

But what happens if you begin to lose the run of yourself in the gym early doors and become a student in the school of thought that our aforementioned friend attends?

Technique

Well, the first thing that starts to become neglected is our technique. We let our ego take over and have a tendency to want to use as much weight on our exercise as we can while we are still learning or trying to improve form.

Putting too much weight on the bar will compromise technique and will prove to be injurious – not forgetting the real chance of causing embarrassment of the highest order in front of regular and regulated gym-goers.

Whether you’re picking up a weight for the first time or you have been lifting for many years, you need to be constantly be aware of your form. Technique is far more important then the amount of weight you lift.. The great thing is, once your form becomes very good, your chances of progressing faster and lifting  more weight  becomes greater. No experienced lifter is going to question you if you take a bit of weight off the bar to work on technique.

Exercise selection is of key importance also. If you can’t do something with good form then you just  don’t do it. I mean, should you really be joining your buddies on the bench if you can’t do 12 body weight push ups?  Go figure.

You need to regress to a starting point that suits you. Once you have mastered that level you progress to the next level. A good example for building up to dumbell bench press – which many of us aspire to – would be:

1) Push ups
2) Elavated push ups
3) Trx push ups
4) Chain push ups

Gains

Remember, progression is key. Whatever the exercise, you need to be at the correct level to keep on making your gains.

There are many different ways to build up to a desired lift. You need to know your starting point, master it and move on. If you’re eager to work your way up quickly you’ll be asking yourself: “Why am I doing body squats and reverse lunges when I could be doing German volume training that promises to add 100lb to your 1 rep max in 3 months?”

Beginners shouldn’t expect these types of results. No matter how good a program it is and, unless you start at your proper level, you will end up complaining of soreness, possible injury and end up with zero results.

The main thing to do when you walk into the gym is leave your ego at the door. The common reason why people perform exercises with incorrect technique is because they lift weights that are too heavy while trying to impress their friends.

You can fool yourself all you like but the experienced lifters can spot a spoofer a mile away. Jumping in at the deep end straight away won’t make you look strong, will put you at serious risk of injury and will sacrifice muscle gains.

The choice is yours. Just don’t expect me not to say “I told you so.”