You might think you’re doing amazingly by starting to exercise, but if you’re not doing it right you could be doing more harm than good.
It’s true that anything that gets your heart rate up is a good workout. But when it comes to bodyweight exercises, you’ve also got to make sure that you’re working out with good form.
What is ‘good form’?
Good form doesn’t mean that you have to do things perfectly, or with a professional athlete’s skill. It just means using the right technique for each exercise you do and getting your body in the right positions, allowing you to fully reap the rewards of exercise.
What are the benefits of good form?
It’s mainly about preventing injury. Using your body improperly can put unwanted stress on muscles and joints and lead to all sorts of injuries that can put you out of action for weeks or months at a time.
Maintaining good form also means you’ll have proper control over your body while performing bodyweight exercises, so you won’t feel quite as undignified while you get to grips with doing something new.
What happens if you’re not doing it right?
Well, you definitely increase your chances of seriously injuring yourself, when you should take every step to avoid that for obvious reasons. Bodyweight exercises are a safe and very effective way of exercising, but only if you do it right.
Doing weight exercises incorrectly can also hamper your progress as you won’t be exercising your muscles as well as you could be. You might think you’re better at it than you actually are, which could lead you to increase the intensity or weight and run the risk of even more injury.
Basically, it’s a no-win situation even if you’re lucky enough not to injure yourself.
Examples of good form
Good form differs depending on the exercise you’re doing, and it can also look different for different people. An example of good form is maintaining good posture – stand up straight (think: shooting people in the head with lasers out of your chest), don’t hunch your shoulders and keep your head level.
When squatting, for example, you’ll want to make sure your back is straight, your head is level and your knees don’t extend beyond your toes.
How to tell if you’re doing it right
Take a look at yourself performing the exercise in a mirror, if you can. Find instructional videos from personal trainers online, or if you’re at a gym see if you can get one of the personal trainers there to give you feedback on how you’re doing.
Pay close attention to the specifics of each exercise and do your best to mimic them. It can be hard to critique our performances because you might feel like you’re doing it perfectly well, so it always helps to get an extra pair of eyes to check.