Having Trouble Getting It Up?

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The majority of people in the gym who are strength training/bodybuilding/weightlifting make the mistake of  prioritizing “getting the weight up” over proper form—proper form being the most expedient route toward achieving productive results.

This is why we see so much poor form and so much cheating at the gym—and thus so many injuries: for these people their workout is primarily a contest. It’s about testing themselves with poundages.

Challenging the target muscle with demanding yet manageable poundages is the foundation of any sound strength training/bodybuilding/weightlifting program; hoisting ungodly amounts of weight just for the sake of moving it is not. Proving one’s mettle by hoisting Herculean poundages is called powerlifting, not bodybuilding. All things considered, powerlifting is more about strength-testing than strength training.

Weight is the tool we use to challenge the target muscle so that it will strengthen and grow in a way that will make us more formidable in both strength and attractiveness. Lift too heavy and the opposite is often the result due to improper form.

The egoists will always insist that you’re doing it wrong if you are not lifting heavy, so go ahead, let them pontificate. I’ve found most of these types to be in their twenties, immature and lacking in necessary life experience. 95% of them will not be still training into their 60s, 50s or even their 40s due to their espousing this sort of lunkheaded dogma. They will wreck themselves long before, and most will be too proud to ever admit that’s the reason they are no longer in the gym. They aren’t living in your body and won’t be paying the price for your injuries. Free advice is rarely that; there’s almost always a cost.

Looking around the gym it’s usually easy to spot those who have a plan, a schematic for achieving their goal. These are the people who aren’t jabbering with others or continually swiping their phone or resting for five minutes between each set. They are the ones with their nose to the grindstone—but sensibly so. They use proper form. They aren’t paying attention to what anyone else is doing. They aren’t misusing the machines as if they were rides at Disneyland. They aren’t self-conscious nor do they care what others think. Their success is right there in the results they have achieved: they’re wearing it, 24/7.

All things being equal, who do you think might offer the soundest example and most level-headed advice based on experience, the boastful gung-ho guy in his twenties or the impressively buffed guy in his 50s and beyond? All ages have both sages and idiots. It’s up to us to recognize each.