Good form is important in exercise. But it's not the only thing that matters. My client Madeline's previous trainer insisted on perfect form on every exercise and so never made the load heavier. Did her form get better? Of course not, she just got bored, frustrated, and stayed weak. We need to move well and do more, the two work together.
Any movement is best when,
- safe
- effective
- elegant
in that order.
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| Performance begins as inconsistent and is more consistent with practice |
The thing about a beginner's performance is not so much that it's poor – some are remarkably good - but that it's inconsistent. One rep looks great, the next terrible, the next okay, and so on. Practice makes the movement more consistent. We'll all still have our good or bad days, but the variation won't be so wild. Whether this consistent level is good, okay or poor depends on individual talent. As the person continues practice, the level improves.
The competent trainer or coach will first try to make sure the movement is safe, even if it's not effective – after all, if the person gets injured, they can't do the movement at all. For example, a squat with knees rolling in and going onto the toes is neither safe nor effective; a half-squat with heels on the floor and knees out is safe, but generally not effective. As the performance becomes more consistent and always falls within the safe range, the trainer or coach ensures the movement is effective; the half-squat becomes a squat, and is loaded up with weight.
With enough practice, the performance becomes very consistent, and as well as being safe and effective it's elegant. We wouldn't expect someone to walk into a gym for the first time in their lives and do a 200kg squat, so we shouldn't expect someone to have an elegant squat in their first workout. Making a movement look good takes time. Anyone who's ever had a child will know just how much practice is needed to make even simple movements look good.
Any movement has perhaps 10 or 12 different points which matter in making it elegant. But there'll always be 3 or 4 things that if you get them right, everything else falls into place making the exercise safe and effective. For example, in the squat these things are: weight through heels, chest up, knees out. Get those three things right and the squat will be safe and effective, to make it elegant means things like bar placement and grip and the stance and whether you look up or down during it, and so on.
My client Agatha has a tendency to let her wrists bend as she squats down. The bar rolls an inch or two down her back, so that when she comes out of the bottom of the squat she can't keep her back up or she'd drop the bar, so her hips rise up and then her shoulders follow – it's not a squat but a knee extension followed by a good morning. When she squatted 40kg this wasn't really obvious and anyway didn't matter, the exercise was still safe and effective. Now that she squats 70kg it's much more obvious and does matter - if she wants to progress further. So now we get picky.
The worth of simply practicing the movement should not be underestimated. My client Swati got a routine from me as a gym member, doing goblet squats with a dumbbell. She never went beyond 10kg or so, but did the movement every time she came to the gym. When she became my client 10 months later, in her second session she was able to barbell squat 50kg for a single, nothing amazing but 20kg heavier than most women starting out, and a good start – and a lot closer to elegant than most people their first time under the bar.
Simply practicing the movement is good for more experienced lifters, too. Dan John has a 40 day programme, the same 5 exercises every day, not pushing but always working within yourself, and people report that they're often stronger after it.
Don't agonise over form. But don't ignore it, either. Try to make it good enough, it can be perfect later. Practice will make it better. Get those 3 or 4 things right with each movement, then practice them. Which are those 3 or 4 things with each exercise? Well, that's what competent trainers and coaches are for. But in the end, lifting weights ain't ballet. First make it safe, next effective, then over time it'll become elegant.
