Small But Relevant Tweaks To Six Popular Exercises

Making a few simple changes to these six popular strength-training moves could be all you need to get great results.

- Steve Downs, CSCS

When you first started weight training, you probably paid close attention to form, noting how to sit, stand, hold a weight, angle your arms, and various other bits of positioning minutia that made an exercise more effective while keeping you safe and injury-free. However, who’s to say that you learned proper form to begin with? And if you did indeed etch exact form into your gray matter, is there still a way you can make a move more effective? Here, we analyze the biomechanics of six popular strength-training exercises, outing common mistakes, offering simple corrections, and even divulging some insider tweaks that can affect your training efficacy for the better. So tap into your inner-science geek and read on — you’ve got nothing to lose and muscle to gain.

LOWER BACK: HYPEREXTENSION

Angled Bench vs. GHD (Glute-Ham Developer)

While counter intuitive, the goal with strength training is to put your muscles at a mechanical disadvantage, causing them to work harder while keeping in the path of motion that allows for the most powerful contraction. This edict is very evident with a hip extension, during which your hip goes from a bent position to a straight one, such as with a stiff-legged deadlift. With this move, you are weakest mechanically when bent over and are strongest when fully upright.

This makes logical sense: When you’re standing, gravity pulls you straight down, and there is no resistance placed on your erector muscles. But as you bend forward, gravity pulls your torso down and forward, increasing the stress on your back exponentially. And since with a stiff-legged deadlift the resistance is heaviest when you’re in your weakest position — bent over — it can cause back issues if you’re not careful.