The Importance of correct form

Keeping correct and safe form is very important in any form of exercise you do. Not performing an exercise with correct form can result in muscle imbalances and even worse injuries. The main thing I see in the gym are people wanting to lift heavy, going to lift heavy then cheating or using improper form to make themselves look big and strong. These are the people that then go and get injuries and are sidelined for weeks from the gym. The main piece of poor form I see are on bicep exercises particularly barbell curls or dumbbell curls. When performing these exercises you see people leaning back or swinging their arms and gaining momentum to lift the weight. This shows terrible form and proves the weight is too heavy for you too lift. The answer....GO LIGHTER!!! Another reason that poor form won't help you is because if you cheat when you lift then you cheat your muscles and they won't grow. The best tips to make sure you lift effectively are to make sure you follow these points on any exercise:

1. Don't arch your back unless you want back problems in later life.
2. Don't strain your neck unless you enjoy neck ache.
3. Don't rock your body to gain momentum otherwise you are cheating your muscles.
4. Breath when lifting, otherwise you will cause your blood pressure to rise, causing you to feel light headed.
5. Use full range of motion to enhance your flexibility and the time and range your muscles are under tension.
6. Focus on the muscles you want to work on and make sure you feel it in those muscles.
7. And lastly only increase the weight on an exercise by small amounts so that none of the other 6 points apply.