Sacrifice form for higher weight?

[Daniel2746]

I've just come back to the gym after being really sick for about 3 weeks.

Using bench press as an example, I was doing 5 sets of 100kg for around 8 reps. I had fairly poor form really, doing it quite fast and bouncing the bar off my chest.

Since getting back i thought i'd re-evaluate my whole workout and try and lift a bit lighter and hit perfect form.

I did a chest workout yesterday, started with 80 kg for 12 reps as a warm up. Moved to 82.5 for 2 sets. Up to 85 for 1 set. Then down to 60 for 1 final set of 12. All of these reps were performed slowly and with perfect form.


Is it better to lift with perfect form and less weight? or should i be trying to stack on as much weight as i can handle and keep moderate form?

[BioPulse]

I've just come back to the gym after being really sick for about 3 weeks.

Using bench press as an example, I was doing 5 sets of 100kg for around 8 reps. I had fairly poor form really, doing it quite fast and bouncing the bar off my chest.

Since getting back i thought i'd re-evaluate my whole workout and try and lift a bit lighter and hit perfect form.

I did a chest workout yesterday, started with 80 kg for 12 reps as a warm up. Moved to 82.5 for 2 sets. Up to 85 for 1 set. Then down to 60 for 1 final set of 12. All of these reps were performed slowly and with perfect form.


Is it better to lift with perfect form and less weight? or should i be trying to stack on as much weight as i can handle and keep moderate form?

I suppose this question makes sense for someone that is 19.
Wait until you are in your 30's and you care more about your body.
I would take being injury free over heavy weight any day.

Aside from the injury factor, what is the point of lifting heavy ass weight if you cannot do it properly?
So you get stronger with bad form?
Then all you have done is increase the amount of weight you can bounce off of your chest. Not the amount of weight you can lift.
There is a name for people that sacrifice form for the sake of ego: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...=181983&page=1

If you cannot lift the weight with good form, then you quite simply, cannot lift the weight.

ANT

[RugbyTank]

I suppose this question makes sense for someone that is 19.
Wait until you are in your 30's and you care more about your body.
I would take being injury free over heavy weight any day.

Aside for the injury factor, what is the point of lifting heavy ass weight if you cannot do it properly?
So you get stronger with bad form?
Then all you have done is increase the amount of weight you can bounce off of your chest. Not the amount of weight you can lift.
Three is a name for people that use sacrifice form for the sake of ego: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...=181983&page=1

If you cannot lift the weight with good form, then you quite simple, cannot lift the weight.

ANT

Strong ^^^

[Daniel2746]

Thanks for the quick reply, I thought as much. Which is why i am using this opportunity to start lifting properly.

Thanks again.

[MLindsay91]

Aside for the injury factor, what is the point of lifting heavy ass weight if you cannot do it properly?
So you get stronger with bad form?

If you cannot lift the weight with good form, then you quite simple, cannot lift the weight.

ANT

^This.

[Daniel2746]

I looked at that link and yes...I am officially a gym idiot -_-


Very enlightening, measly reps.

[MLindsay91]

ALWAYS lift with good clean form. Lifting with correct form will allow your muscles to develop the way the exercise is intended to. As said by ANT, if you're lifting a certain weight with bad form, why would you lift higher weight with worse form? Once you injure yourself you're fukced, i'm not in my 30s but i have injured myself from doing a new exercise with incorrect form, and i cherish my recovery. Avoid injury, use good form. #duh.

[Tyciol]

There is a point where people can be focusing so much on attaining 'perfect' form that they don't get decent enough workload though.

The lateral raises Antoine does in his shoulder vids don't come up to parallel and people might balk at how 'imperfect' the form is, yet it's massive weight and his shoulders are also massive.

[MLindsay91]

tyciol, i definitely agree with you and I know what you're saying. I, just like a lot of ppl, have those times when the last few reps of my last heavy set of an exercise won't have perfect form, but i still go for it for the sake of progressively overloading my muscles. But i think in OP's sake, he should focus on good form for now until he is able to lift heavier. Always better safe than sorry

[BioPulse]

There is a point where people can be focusing so much on attaining 'perfect' form that they don't get decent enough workload though.

The lateral raises Antoine does in his shoulder vids don't come up to parallel and people might balk at how 'imperfect' the form is, yet it's massive weight and his shoulders are also massive.

For your example, I'd say that most people would agree that there is a difference between bad form, and achieving full ROM. There is certainly some overlap between the two, but not going all the way up to parallel is much different than swinging them around with "sloppy" technique. Each exercise is different and requires a certain amount of technique, vs finesse. Doing it safely while exhausting the muscle (hypertophy) is the key. As long as those two criteria are met, I don't care what the weight is..

ANT

[RugbyTank]

There is a point where people can be focusing so much on attaining 'perfect' form that they don't get decent enough workload though.

The lateral raises Antoine does in his shoulder vids don't come up to parallel and people might balk at how 'imperfect' the form is, yet it's massive weight and his shoulders are also massive.

That would be a personal trait fail called ocd.

Form should be proper ROM for most of the reps in your set,
I allow myself to have sh!t form only on the last rep of the last 1-2 of sets but

If I have 3 of the last reps on more than 1-set , its time to go back down in weight.
Increased too early.

[seanni11]

Thanks for the quick reply, I thought as much. Which is why i am using this opportunity to start lifting properly.

[fightingfalcn91]

or should i be trying to stack on as much weight as i can handle and keep moderate form?

This is the perfect definition of CrossFit!

[Engineer_Guy]

There's a difference between form breaking down a little and using incorrect form. The former is a normal part of progression and these little break downs in form get corrected over time. The latter usually happens when people lift too much weight than they can handle and have to "cheat" to get the bar up.

Bouncing the bar off your chest when benching is an example of incorrect form. Use chains if you want to overload the top of your bench. Otherwise lower the weight to something you can do without bouncing it off your chest.

[wdmvp]

Never sacrifice good form in order to move more weight. It can be a tough pill to swallow for your ego (sometimes), but it'll be well worth it in the long run. You will reduce the chance of injury and generally get more out of your workouts. Controlled, full ROM lifting is the way to go.

[Scoundrel]

In for the 'my shoulder hurts, should i continue lifting?' thread followed by the 'i cant lift my arm, fml' thread.

[oldballs]

I will use momentum to swing weight around I couldnt normally lift. Nothing wrong with that. Look at the push press, that is an exercise where you put on too much weight and use your legs to start the weight moving. Exercises like curls, front raise, lateral raise, tri push down are all fine to use momentum on but something like bench press it just has no place. and the fact that you have to ask this question means you are not advanced enough to be trying it.

[kenethleclair]

perfect form prevents injury bro....visa versa.....

[Engineer_Guy]

perfect form prevents injury bro....visa versa.....

Injuries can still happen even with "perfect" form. Just like any sport, putting your body under constant stress can lead to problems. Most of us probably won't lift at a level that leads to these types of injuries though.

Form-related injuries should not even be an issue. However people will continue to lift like idiots and squatting will continue to get a bad rap for hurting knees and backs.

[DJAuto]

Some flexibility is required to advance, particularly after a few years under the belt.

[k9pit]

I usually give my self a little "wiggle room" when it comes to form and low rep sets to help gain strength (in order to rep out a higher weight in the future), but all things considered flat and incline bench (and deadlifts for that matter) are absolute last movements I sacrifice form on for strength gains.
The potential injury risk vs potential reward factor of grinding out reps on these movements has proven too high for me.

[PowerOfWill1]

FORM FORM FORM, never sacrifice form for ego

[Daniel2746]

I will use momentum to swing weight around I couldnt normally lift. Nothing wrong with that. Look at the push press, that is an exercise where you put on too much weight and use your legs to start the weight moving. Exercises like curls, front raise, lateral raise, tri push down are all fine to use momentum on but something like bench press it just has no place. and the fact that you have to ask this question means you are not advanced enough to be trying it.

You're a douche.

Thanks everyone for the replies.

[TheFuzz1290]

Once you get a little more experienced, it can be alright to cheat a little on the last rep or two (like another poster stated). However, wait until you're comfortable with your form prior to deciding to cheat a little (and I mean a little).

[oldballs]

You're a douche.

wat? why?

[oldballs]

You're a douche.

ok ill try to make it more clear for you. You can do cheat reps and cheat sets if you want. Use momentum to swing the weight. Here is a vid for you to better understand, skip to 1:33 to see Arnold wildly swinging the weight. Pretty much any exercise he does he is cheating at except for squat or bench.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBHu_wi5FaI
Should you use crappy form like rounding your back to do a deadlift? never. can you use momentum to swing some weight to lift higher then usual weight? yes, and I do it often and it works well for me.

if you are mad because you didnt get an answer you wanted to hear the let me change my answer to always use proper form.I started lifting when you were 9 years old,so have some respect.

[Gra8052]

When you sacrifice form for weight you are undoubtedly using the wrong muscle group to lift the weight. You may get stronger with whatever muscle group you are using to lift the weight, but using improper form will not target the muscle you are trying to improve. I see this ALL the time at the gym. I start with a moderate weight to warm up and practice proper form. I continue adding weight for each set until my form starts slipping. When the weight gets too heavy to keep proper form then I know I have too much. I superset every set. Do reps to failure.