Beyond sheer power and brute strength, gifted athletes are masters of body mechanics: weight distribution, fluidity, efficiency. But when you look around the average gym, you see a whole lot of the exact opposite: wasted motion, lousy alignment, shoddy body mechanics, and poor overall form on even the most common exercises.
Never mind that these weight lifters may be getting a pump or a burn in their muscles — they’re also practicing bad movement patterns that can eventually lead to diminishing results at best, and poor posture, bad alignment, and physical harm at worst.
Below are seven common exercises that most weight lifters get wrong — along with how you can clean up your technique on each. Follow our tips and you’ll not only build more muscle and athleticism, but you’ll also improve proprioception — your sense of body position and alignment — which can reduce your risk of injury and enhance athletic performance.
Your joints will thank you.
