Where is the focus in your weight room? Are coaches focused on the program only or on coaching the lifts and exercises? The program needs to be precise and adjusted for your specific needs. But, if you don’t coached on HOW you to perform the exercises precisely the plan will not be successful.
After coaching for 10 years I’ve seen how these subtle differences in a movement affect athletes. Minor changes in form make athletes stronger instead of injured. A slight adjustment can also make some exercises go from being easy to extremely challenging.
This applies to every movement in the gym, but maybe the easiest and most recognizable would be the hip thrust. If you haven’t done one before you can see the video below. It is essentially laying on your back with your feet under you and pressing your hips to the sky. Sometimes you will see athletes do this by pushing only through their heel. The slightest change, however, makes this movement not only more difficult, but more effective as well. Place your entire foot on the floor and then perform the thrust by pressing evenly across your entire foot. This will dramatically increase the activation you feel in your hamstrings and will keep you from using your lower back.
During your next training session push your coach to watch your form and give you feedback. Fixing these tiny errors will make a massive difference in the long run. This assessment will help you make sure you are building strength and power where it is meant to be generated.
We require our athletes to send us videos of their lifts so we can adjust them. This ensures your training is going as planned. Want some feedback on your own form? Shoot me a video at (865)448-5115 !
