We’ve all seen it in the gym, and it can be frustrating to watch; People training with weights that are obviously too heavy for them and in order to move the heavy weight most people tend to use a swinging motion.

I spent years making the same mistakes in commercial gyms and I WISH somebody had stepped in to stop me.

We've got heavy weights swinging up and down basically relying upon momentum to get from the bottom to the top of each rep.

Is this the best way to build muscle? Certainly not.

Unless you’re training for a powerlifting competition; remember why you started training in the first place - to build muscle, not lift the heaviest weights possible!

To get the maximum effect out of each exercise whilst you are training you must use strict and correct form. Many people in their quest for heavier weights slowly let their form go.

Think about the muscle group you are trying to hit. Make sure you’re engaged in the movement. Agree with yourself or your coach, a duration under which that muscle should be under tension. The tempo of the exercise is one of the variables we can manipulate in the question for progressive overload.

Think about whether the muscle is under tension during the movement, if it’s not, there’s a strong likelihood that the form of resistance being used is in the wrong place in relation to muscle you’re trying to hit.

If you’re ever unsure of which muscle you’re supposed to be hitting during an exercise, or how to better position your body to engage that muscle, ask myself or one of the PT’s at MYPTstudio, and we’ll be sure to put you right.

Things to focus on when ditching the ego …

• RANGE OF MOTION
• SLOW DOWN (Assign a tempo)
• FOCUS ON MUSCLE CONTRACTION AT THE PEAK OF THE REP
• GET SOMEONE TO WATCH YOU WORKOUT, or film yourself for feedback

Mike Kelly works as a Head PT at MYPTstudio. Get in touch, here.