Train With Bad Form, Too
Why it’s important to break the rules sometimes
It’s hard to perfectly execute any given movement or exercise. There’s always improvements to be made, and few of us will ever achieve ‘perfection’. But is perfect form the be-all and end-all?
Well, why do we train any given movement? To increase our capacity to perform in some other, real-world situation. Maybe we’re training for sport, for profession, or simply for a healthy life. In all of these contexts our physical training improves our capacity to react to external demands on the body as we go about our days.
We repeat certain movement patterns, like a squat or an overhead press, in the process getting stronger and increasing our proficiency at them. We’re able to shift a higher load, or move faster. And that improves our capacity to deal with external forces in similar directions. The squat helps us to pick up heavy boxes from the floor. The overhead press comes in handy when maneuvering a heavy sofa around a tight staircase.
The strength we build gives us options when an “oh shit” moment inevitably occurs, when life surprises us with a load we weren’t expecting. When your partner drops their end of the sofa, or when the box is heavier than expected. We’ve developed strength and capacity in those positions, so have a buffer with which to…
