True 👍
Originally shared by Sean NalewanyjRemember: your muscles don't know how much weight is objectively on the bar. They can only experience how much direct stress they're under.
Yes, adding weight to your lifts over time is the most effective way of increasing that stress (and I recommend treating progressive overload as the central goal of your training program), but if you're just aimlessly slapping more weight onto the bar at the expense of proper form, you're probably doing yourself more harm than good.
Doing so might actually decrease activation of the targeted muscle (due to excessive momentum and the use of other surrounding muscles) and will almost certainly increase your risk for injury as well.
Bottom line: Yes, "lift heavy", but always with proper form and while ensuring that you're effectively activating the muscle you're trying to stimulate. And when increasing the weight, your form should look identical in comparison to the previous weight you were lifting. If it doesn't, you're moving too quickly and should take things a bit more slowly.
Remember that training is a lifelong endeavor and not a quick fix, and healthy joints are a limiting factor in the equation. Snap up a shoulder, elbow, your lower back or whatever else, and your entire program can be thrown off track, sometimes irreversibly.
(And P.S, no one else cares how much weight you can lift anyway. So, if you're ego lifting in order to try and impress others in the gym, just stop. Half squats/quarter bench presses using way more weight than you can handle has the opposite effect and just makes you look like a goof)
Yes, adding weight to your lifts over time is the most effective way of increasing that stress (and I recommend treating progressive overload as the central goal of your training program), but if you're just aimlessly slapping more weight onto the bar at the expense of proper form, you're probably doing yourself more harm than good.
Doing so might actually decrease activation of the targeted muscle (due to excessive momentum and the use of other surrounding muscles) and will almost certainly increase your risk for injury as well.
Bottom line: Yes, "lift heavy", but always with proper form and while ensuring that you're effectively activating the muscle you're trying to stimulate. And when increasing the weight, your form should look identical in comparison to the previous weight you were lifting. If it doesn't, you're moving too quickly and should take things a bit more slowly.
Remember that training is a lifelong endeavor and not a quick fix, and healthy joints are a limiting factor in the equation. Snap up a shoulder, elbow, your lower back or whatever else, and your entire program can be thrown off track, sometimes irreversibly.
(And P.S, no one else cares how much weight you can lift anyway. So, if you're ego lifting in order to try and impress others in the gym, just stop. Half squats/quarter bench presses using way more weight than you can handle has the opposite effect and just makes you look like a goof)
Remember: your muscles don't know how much weight is objectively on the bar. They can only experience how much direct stress they're under. Yes, adding weight to your lifts over time is the most effective way of increasing that stress (and I recommend treating progressive overload as the central goal of your training program), but if you're just aimlessly slapping more weight onto the bar at the expense of proper form, you're probably doing