Your Lifting Technique Is Killing Your Progress: Fix Your Form, Fix Your Fitness.

These are the most common weightlifting mistakes, and you’re probably making them.

Photo by Anastase Maragos on Unsplash.

I’ve spent many hours in the gym, both as a trainee and a trainer. When I became a trainer, I started to notice something: I’d see some people working out with great technique, but I’d see many (many) more working out with bad — no, abhorrent — form. I’d watch people squat in fashions that made me wince. I’d see people deadlift and say a little prayer for their lower backs.

Those same people are the ones who leave the gym plagued by lower back pain, a stiff neck or achy knees. In a best-case scenario, lifting with bad form gives you some annoying aches and pains. In a worst-case scenario, you wind up injured and out of the gym for weeks.

Exercisers with improper form are also prone to hit plateaus sooner or more often than those with good form. Your body is smarter than you give it credit for. If you feel like you just can’t break past a certain number on a given lift, consider perhaps it’s your body’s way of saying, “Nope. If we go heavier with this technique, we’ll herniate a disc.” Look at persistent plateaus as an opportunity to analyze your lifting form and identify areas for improvement.