Author: Riley Pearce
Director of Social Media
When it comes to getting the most out of your workouts there are so many factors to consider. Do we up the intensity? Do we take specific supplements before or after the workout? How should we organize our workouts – with cardio before, or after weights? The list of considerations goes on and on.
If there is one aspect of exercise that is often overlooked it is technique. How you perform a movement is something that everyone should be thinking about when they approach a new exercise.
Anyone who has attempted a lift like the deadlift without understanding proper technique can attest to this. If you don’t know how to engage your lats, hip hinge, or drive through the heels, then chances are you lifted the bar off the ground, but then felt pain in your low back for several days afterwards.
Having proper technique not only protects you from injuries, but training a movement through the correct movement pattern can mean better alignment of joints, balance in strength between the sides of the body, and you’ll actually train and strengthen the area of the body that you are trying to target.
The 10 main movements are the best place to start to understand technique for all other exercises. These movements are hip hinge (deadlift), knee hinge (squat), lunge (split squat or lunges), horizontal push (bench press), horizontal pull (seated row), vertical push (overhead press), and vertical pull (pull ups or lat pull downs), anti-rotation (side planks), anti-flexion and anti-extension (planks, deadbug, bird dog, etc.).
If you can master these 10 movements, then every other modification of those exercises becomes easier, and your chances of performing the exercises safely increases.
This is also where working with a personal trainer becomes incredibly valuable. A personal trainer has gone through certifications, and education to understand the joints and muscles of the body in order to truly understand the technique involved in performing these moves correctly. A personal trainer will also understand how to modify each movement, either regressing or progressing the movement to suit the fitness level of the individual.
A deadlift or overhead press might look really cool and simple online, but in actuality, these movements require you to focus and engage your whole body, from head to toe. If performed incorrectly, both of these movements have the potential to lead to injury, and you could develop very bad muscle imbalances.
Lastly, these 10 movements are known as compound movements. They require multiple joints, and large muscle group in order to perform the exercises properly. If you can master the technique of these moves, your whole body benefits from each exercise. Not only that, but the energy required to perform these exercises is much higher than that of isolation exercises, and therefore you get a much higher calorie burn from these exercises, than you would have had you isolated the individual muscles used in the compound movements.
Technique matters, and although rushing through a workout and just getting exercises done might feel like you’re getting the most out of your workout, you are missing out on a major part of the workout. So talk to your trainer about proper technique and have fun educating yourself on the value of proper exercise technique.
