I want to talk to you about- PROPER FORM. This is an element in CrossFit, weight training, and performing movements in life. Proper form is always more important than speed no matter how much you want to ramp up the intensity. I know that from experience, your form can go south very fast if you are moving quickly to complete a WOD. This happens because your body starts think faster instead of be consistent and focus on form before intensity. I am GUILTY of this !!! I want to move FASTER and with speed which sometimes compromises my form which causes the words no one wants to hear: NO REP! (insert angry face)
So why is proper form important? Proper form of every exercise is the first step to building a fitness foundation, especially for beginners. If you learn good habits from the start will succeed at a much greater speed and you will see results almost immediately. Proper form is crucial when training for progress and training success. For example, if you are going to be doing 20 slow controlled deep squats, your core, back and every muscle in your body is engaged to it’s full potential. This starts to recruit a bunch of muscle fibers, it is a lot harder then it may seem to perform every single rep in that perfect form. When you practice proper form you are going to become more effective in working out and your body will start to transform faster. Having more muscles recruited means more calories are burned over time.
As an athlete, good form is important to creating muscle. You want to be able to engage muscles with control and learn how to activate them. If you are performing a clean and jerk but are not using your legs or hip drive, then you are not only losing power BUT you are not being efficient with the movement and losing power thus intensity. Athletes cannot perform to their full potential without learning the techniques first. WHY ?? Your body needs muscle memory and learned behaviors that help to engage muscles and create a better foundation for harder skills.
Before each work out try to practice doing every exercise in a proper form during the warm up. Take that seriously because you are teaching muscle memory for the exercise. During your actual workout, stay in that form and be aware of how you are moving. It is the quality of the exercise that makes a huge difference in training. You want to make sure that your core is tight, pelvis is neutral and the mid-line of your body is tight. Once you master your core and back, the rest of your body will follow.
Remember we don’t like NO REPS so focus on form and be efficient !