When is sacrificing form okay?

AlsDonkBoxSquat

I can't remember where I read it, it might have been NROL- the author talked about how form was overrated because different people just move differently because of how their bodies are, and it's better for them to move in a way that is natural to them.

I don't know If I agree, but the concept is interesting

yes, but that has more to do with the way the body is put together, not breaking from your natural form because you "have to get in those last 2" at any cost. In this situation I would either 1) work negatives with an assist up, 2) drop to the lower weight but instead of sticking to the set reps lift until maxed, or 3) buy 1 kg barbie weights with a strap that you can wear on the back of your hand so the drop isn't as significant. Granted, breaking from form has different impacts depending on what you're doing and can be more dangerous for some lifts than others.

diodelcibo

I only ever sacrifice on the last rep or if I'm just getting the weight up to do negatives.

Helloitsdan

I agree about form being overrated.

Yes, when you're sub-maximal by a long way, you should expect to hit perfect form, however as you get heavier, it's about being within a safe range, rather than being picture perfect. As long as you're not risking injury, and you're not making the exercise completely pointless - for example if you were just using momentum on a curl, I see no problem.

I agree and nice name Dan!
=D

714rah714

I'm more interested in working muscle groups, so perfection on any one exercise is not something I'm striving for.

dare2love81

Never. Proper form is crucial in keeping yourself from getting hurt. Do slip ups happen? Sure. But recognize it and next time don't push yourself that hard. I lift until failure on my third set. But my first and second set I select the proper weight so that I can get through it without sacrificing form.

ninerbuff

Here's my experience with form: if you're lifting for 10 reps, and the first 8 are really good and the last two a bit off........meh. There are lots of people in the gym who lift with perfect form and don't improve because they are more concerned with perfect form rather than progression to harder resistance.

The mirror can't tell if you're doing perfect form (when you aren't working out), but it will tell you if you're not progressing.


A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

MellyGibson

Wow, what a controversial subject that has done nothing to actually clear up the debate! I think the lesson is that many people do things differently and have different views, much like you and your significant other!

What makes ME feel best about my lifting:

I concentrate on form - which to me means that I'm engaging the specific set of muscles that are used for that movement. I have a desired number of reps that I want to hit - let's say 10. Once I can do 10 without sacrificing my "form", I move up in weights. This many mean that I can only get 6-7 of the heavier weight in before form goes out the window. That's fine. I keep that weight until I can successfully do 10 without sacrificing form.

kuntry_navy

nothing wrong with a little lean here or there, twisting is what always messed me up

jazzguy4him

As a lifter for many years am pretty stuck on the belief that good form is crucial.

However, I just read an article recently in Men's Health that form isn't as important as everyone once thought. Especially when considering all of the compound movements (ie: kettlebell workouts) that have become trendy. Something like hammer curls is meant to isolate the bicep, but I understand your reasoning for not wanting to go down in weight.

To each their own, good for you for kicking that *kitten*.

Capt_Apollo

it's different for everyone and for every lift.

i know with my squats, when i'm pushing close to my max, at one point i will kinda lean forward and jerk a little with my back. that is my indicator that i'm as close to failure as possible. that is my last rep because i don't want to mess up my back.

with overhead press, i can sometimes feel one side of the bar go up quicker then the other side. i always finish my last set, even if the last rep or two have bad form.

btw, there is absolutly no shame in asking for a spot in any lift. i always ask for a spot on the bench, usually my last set. no one has ever said no.

ironanimal

If 9/10 reps are good, cheating 1 a little isn't going to hurt and will probably help you move up to 10/10 at that weight at a later point.

bumblebums

I think form is important, not just for safety reasons but because doing weightlifting with control and good alignment involves more than just the "target muscle". When I am doing hammer curls, I think about what is going on in my tailbone and my toes and the lower abdominals, not just the biceps. Too much yoga, I suppose

alyssamiller77

As mentioned, good form is important to avoiding injury. It's more critical in this regard for some exercises than others. So we all agree on that. So let's set that aside. From a lifting effort perspective, I personally see no difference between letting a few other muscle groups get involved for the last rep or two and having a spotter step in and help you complete the last rep or two. What it ultimately does is change your isolation exercise into more of a functional or compound motion. So with your hammer curls, you won't be getting as much of an effort out of your biceps because now your shoulders, triceps and torso are all involved too. However the reason you have to resort to this is that your biceps are maxed out and need the assistance, so I don't see where it hurts you any and I can definitely see how stepping down to the next lowest weight might be too low and screw you up too.

The big keys in my opinion are make sure you keep for form as proper as possible for as much of the set as possible. This helps ensure proper isolation of the muscle and less stress on connecting tissues. When you do hit your max and your form starts to suffer be sure that you don't let it get too sloppy where you could potentially injure yourself (throwing your back to heavily into curls for instance can cause a back injury). And finally don't do it for more than one or two reps because beyond that it pretty much becomes a waste of your time.

__RANDY__

wth is a hammer curl?

Chief_Rocka

wth is a hammer curl?

It's kinda the opposite of *kitten*

R0asted

Assuming your goal is hypertrophy (muscle gain) than the point of working out is to stimulate your muscle as much as possible. If you are swinging and using momentum than instead of having a constant time under tension to maximize the work your muscles do, you're making your muscles do LESS work. In this case, bad form is stupid and pointless. You're lifting for ego and the number on the bar instead of improving your body. This goes for compound lifts like squats and bench too (if you're quarter squatting you're only cheating yourself).

HOWEVER, if you can do 6 reps and than reps 7-8 you cheat a little and without cheating you would have had to stop at 6 reps than I think it's OK since you're still MAXIMING the work you're doing. But if you can't even do a few reps with good form than you should lower the weight.

sunsnstatheart

I think there is a grey area but I wouldn't encourage bad form even a little bit because most people could really use some improvement there anyway. The primary reason I work with a trainer is to improve my form and there seems to always be room for improvement. Is perfect form critical? I'd say no, given that if you watch elite bodybuilders workout you will see a plenty of bad form on heavy lifts and last reps. But then again, you don't want to stray too far either. Its the old "give people an inch and they'll take a mile" analogy.

waldo56

It really depends on what you are doing.

I come at this from a mostly bodyweight perspective. Once the exercises start getting hard, "perfect form" becomes a bit of a mirage. There is such a thing, but it is a near impossible to achieve ideal. You do the best you can and always try to improve your form. As you get stronger, and you get more and more practiced, your form improves. You will never get to the good form though without spending time working with lesser form. Along the way you will learn that some form breakdown is not only acceptable, but necessary (it is an unavoidable consequence of working hard).

As an example, a one arm pushup. Your first will be utterly atrocious form, this is unavoidable, it is far too complex of a movement and too high of a load to to be truly ready with perfect from from the get go. Not happeneing. Even 6 months later, working continuously, your form will be better, but it will still suck. Things like removing all rotation at the shoulders and hips, removing all upper body twist, and keeping the midsection perfectly straight are near impossible to achieve. The only way you approach this ideal though is by working through lesser form, always striving to improve. However as you work, as you start nearing failure during your set, your form will degrade, and this is perfectly acceptable; it is not unsafe in the least bit and is arguably more productive than the reps done with your very best form.

Even though I'm a guy, I've read NROL4W, one of the big points the author makes is that women have a tendency to so overfocus on perfect form that they don't push themselves very hard (while guys have the opposite problem). In the scale of perceived exertion, once you pass a RPE of 7, to 8 and above, some form breakdown is to be expected. Slow reps and grindy reps won't be perfect form. If you aren't ever doing slow reps or grindy reps, you aren't working hard at all, sticking to recovery level workouts and below.

R0asted

Another thing to keep in mind when talking about bodybuilders is STEROIDS. If you watch videos of someone like Branch Warren lift his form is ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE and pretty much an example of what NOT TO DO. If the guy wasn't on every perfromance enhancing substance known to man he would probably be in the hospital (and even than he's had many injuries). On the other hand if you watch someone like Jay Cutler his form is impeccable. Don't assume that someone knows what they're doing just cause they have a good physique. If someone has good genetics and is on a lot of steroids they can get away with murder.

fjrandol

For me, I'd only count the 8/10 that were good form, and work towards getting the last two. Using proper form is different from essentially cheating yourself out of your workout. If you're meant to be isolating the muscle, then only those reps should count. In NROL, I believe that when he's making reference to proper form being overrated, it's regarding such things as (when tall people are doing squats) not allowing for any extension of your knees past the ankle, for example.