GREAT FORM: BREAD & BUTTER

Form is the bread and butter of not getting injured. I recently recovered from a lower back injury - back spasms.  My training partner and I were working out three times a week after work. At work we had a new manufacturing process going 90 m.p.h., and I was tired by the time I got to the gym anyway. Big mistake. My form suffered.  I "good morninged" a weight doing a squat, rather than keeping a flat back and exploding upwards from the deep knee bend position.  I felt like a stone was embedded in my spine the next morning, and went to see my doctor.  I lost two weeks' time in the gym for bad form and had to do P.T.  Root cause: I was dog tired before I got to the gym; I did not focus on my form enough.  Now, I have modified my training schedule so that I train on light workdays or offdays, not the days it is balls to the wall.

Below are the things I keep in mind when doing each of these lifts. This is public domain stuff. You will, however, find people who endlessly debate this stuff. As usual, I am not a medical doctor.

Deadlifts

[Use wrestling shoes!]

1.       Shins off the bar approximately 6 inches

2.       Grab bar overhand with arms shoulderwidth apart, but slightly outside knees

3.       Take huge belly full of air

4.       Translate knees forward

5.       Drop hips

6.       Arch back with head in line with spinE and look forward, not down

7.       Brace abs out

8.       Lift bar to knees, then make a POWERFUL gluteal contraction

9.       Be a STRAIGHT LINE when fully upright.

10.   Reverse the movement to drop the bar and keep hamstrings tight

Training partner tips:

*Hit the lats when the lifter is in form to make sure the muscles are tight.

Squats

1.       Engage the bar

2.       Take three deep breaths

3.       Squeeze the hell outta the bar (white knuckle it)

4.       Drive elbows down (DON’T let them drift back)

5.       Push chest out

6.       Drive bar upwards

7.       Two steps back

8.       Reset air

9.       Elbows down

10.   Chest out

11.   Hips back

12.   Knees spread apart

13.   Feet in natural position (shoulder-width)

14.   Squat slowly and controlled until the thighs are parallel with the floor

15.   Drive upwards.

Training partner tips:

Hit the lats when the person has engaged the bar, they should be really tight.

Bench Press

1)      Come through with the head

2)      Plant feet

3)      Belly through, arching back

4)      Plant shoulders into bench

5)      Training partner should be able to run hand between the lower lumbar and the bench

6)      Quads contracted

7)      Gluts contracted

8)      Upper back tight

9)      Deep breath

10)   Spotter lifts off with over-under grip

11)   “Pull bar apart” with elbow correction and PULL bar down, DO NOT let gravity do the work

12)   Reverse elbow correction and drive up with whole body.

13)   Always reset air.