Lifting Form 1: Perfect Form

[the wister]

Ok, this is my 3 part guide to form. I will explain three major form variations. By form I mean technique style, etc. The three types that I will explain shall be Perfect Form, Negatives, and Cheat Form (Cheats). First and foremost, Perfect Form should be mastered before the other two should be tried, considering most people use Cheat Form when they're just normally lifting. For each form I will compare them all using the bicep curl and the bench press for examples.

Perfect Form , PF, is the easiest to explain. It is the ideal lifting form, what everyone should practice. For the curl, select a weight that you can do 10-15 reps at most with. On the upward portion of the curl, you want to try to bring the weight to your chest as quickly as possible, using more force than would be necessary. As you lower the weight, you should be able to count to three or four before you finish. Lower in a controlled and isolated manner. Your elbow should be in the same position the entire time, never extending backwards past your body. You want to start the next rep before your bicep becomes totally lax, you should still feel your arm straining under the weight. This position would roughly be when your arm forms a 150-160 degree angle, you'll get used to it. At this point you jerk the weight back up as quickly as possible, but again, in a controlled manner. PF is all about control. Most of the time you see those scrawny punks picking up the heaviest weight they can grip, taking 5 minutes to curl it, letting out a huge breath, and then dropping the weight back to their side. This would be the complete opposite of PF.

For the bench press, select a weight that is near your max, but one you know you can do at least 8 reps with. Lower the weight in a straight line, again, counting, this time from two to three seconds. The moment the bar touches your chest, reverse the movement and push as though you are trying to launch the bar through the ceiling. Be careful not to lose control. When I do it, i loosen my grip so that the bar jumps out of my hands about 1 cm EDIT*<---not very smart, always conrtol the bar, if it is uncomfortable to press this hard because the bar jerks on your arms, put more weight on. Original text--->(If you do it correctly, you will know, the plates will make that unmistakable sound. If the bar jumps pretty high, put more weight on. Even if the bar doesn't jump, if the plates sound like their still traveling up when you finish the rep, you're doing it correctly. Be sure to try with lower weights first and be very careful with this one.)*EDIT One thing to look out for is to make sure that the bar never bounces off of your chest. That is what we call cheating.

You'll want to do about half or three fourths of the reps you'd normally do until you get the hang of it

Next time will probably be Negatives. Comments, complaints, please let me know.

[BuckWyld]

good post, but you forgot to mentions that during curls your upper body should not move, and during bench you need to keep your *** on the bench.

[AXL]

your bench form tips are way off. 8 reps is personal preference, most people i know that are trying to get stronger shoot for 4-6 reps on heavy bench day.

throwing the bar up 1 cm out of your hands? is this a joke? if you wish to work on the upper portion of your bench motion then do heavy lockouts with a spotter. there are multiple other techniques to working various parts of your bench motion, but im not the one writing this guide.

did i mention how stupid this is? what if the bar jumps 2 cm up and you dont catch it perfectly? i could think of a few body parts that it is going to land on, and none would be pretty.

you left out about 100 things on bench form, but its just the way you do them. to anyone reading this, i would suggest just going to every website you can find on the topic, ask for help at the gym, and make your own decision.


as far as biceps curls, good tips, i would lower the reps, but again personal preference. but who cares about biceps curls, lets see some deadlifting and squat tips!

[1/2man1/2amazin]

Good start. Although i would defenitly be opposed to anyone taking their hands of a bar. Throwing up a bar like that can cause major damage on the way back down. Just thinking about it makes my shoulders hurt. I suggest controlled power all the way up, but don't lock out and take the tension off the muscle.

[the wister]

Yeah, letting the bar fly is quite dangerous, thats why I tried to stress the importance of being careful and using lower weights, I guess I didn't make it clear enough, I'll go back and correct that. The very first time I did it the bar came out of my hands, but that was only the first few sets, I lift like this now and the bar barely leaves my hands if at all. The only time the bar ever really jumps that high is when you do just bar. Please read it more thoroughly though, in no way did I directly say that the bar should jump, I said sometimes it does when I bench, but I guess it could have been unclear enough to be misconstrued to mean that.

I also usually aim for about 4-6 reps, that's why I suggested using a weight that you can 'normally' do 8 reps with, because this method, unless you already have perfect form, is harder than how you 'normally' lift, and you will probably only be able to do 6 at most. I never suggested and specific rep number.

Locking out, on the other hand, is probably the worst suggestion, next to arching your back, that I can think of, or bouncing the bar off of your chest. Locking out causes unecessary stress on your joints and cheats your muscles by taking the weight off of them. Thanks for the insights, as well as the insults, AXL, I fixed them.

Buck, thanks for your input, but the point of this guide, Buck and AXL, is to demonstrate a form that can be applied to all exercises, I just used bench and curls because if someone know's two exercises, chances are they are the bench press and curl. Very valid points though.

Letting the bar go is very dangerous, I guess my overall message is to press as though you are going to launch the bar, but keep your hands on it, and if you're constantly being yanked off of the bench after each press, instead of letting the bar go, simply put more weight on.

[the wister]

PS, check out my squat tips in the legs lifting guide.

[AXL]

Locking out, on the other hand, is probably the worst suggestion, next to arching your back, that I can think of, or bouncing the bar off of your chest. Locking out causes unecessary stress on your joints and cheats your muscles by taking the weight off of them. Thanks for the insights, as well as the insults, AXL, I fixed them.

lockouts, not locking out :) i normally wouldnt even point this out, sorry if i sound like a jerk, but lockouts are when you do a regular bench press but only go 1/2 or 1/4 the way down. And they are done with heavy weights, ussually more then your 'max'. I agree that locking out on normal bench day is wrong for the same reason you said.

Thanks for touching the post up a bit. hopefully some of the other members learn something from our debates.

[the wister]

I agree with 'lock outs,' they are great for pushing through plateaus. I do them at a squat rack with the bars set at 1/2 my bench depth. I guess I never knew the correct name for them.