Why technique matters

As a coach, one of the biggest things I help people with is their technique -I’m sure this is no great surprise to you. What does surprise people though is how often we have to go back to the basics and reinforce good movement- when you're learning something new, it's rare you pick it up completely on the first go. Think about learning how to drive a car - do you just have one lesson with someone before driving unsupervised?

No! (Ideally). Depending on your state, it's required we have 50-120 hours of supervised driving and pass a practical test before we are legally clear to drive by ourselves, the understanding being that we have learnt the road rules and can comply with them to not be a danger to anyone (including ourselves) when on the road.

It's commonly estimated that each person will own between 6-9 cars in their lifetime. That's 6-9 cars you'll have to get serviced regularly, fill up with the right fuel, and repair if they break down. A lot of time and money goes into thinking about the cars we own and how to operate them; however if you only had one car for the rest of your life, how would you treat it? You'd take the best care of it so it lasted you as long as possible… right?

It’s you. You are the car.

So why don't we think about our own bodies like this? Why is it that Health and Fitness are often the last things to be considered when putting together a weekly budget, or structuring our activities for the week?

This is where a fundamental shift needs to occur for many people to achieve their health and fitness goals, and why the exercise you do and the way you do it matters so much.

While everyone's body is different according to their medical and fitness history (not to mention their genetic background) there is one key aspect everyone should look at for improving their exercise and movement longevity - learning how to move in a way that gets the best results for their muscles while keeping their joints safe.

Consider the humble bodyweight squat - a key movement you will need for the rest of your life (think about anytime you sit down on anything, ever).

Seen here performed in a ‘box-squat’ variation.

Say you do fitness classes twice a week, and in each class you do 50 squats. That's 100 squats a week, 5200 a year. If you're doing something 5200 times a year then firstly from a value/time perspective, you should be trying to do it correctly to ensure you're getting the maximum results from all that time and energy you're spending doing them.

Roughly 8 weeks’ worth of squats. So many squats.

Secondly, if you're doing 5200 squats a year and doing them incorrectly, then you are risking injury with every rep you do that puts too much pressure on your knees, back, or anything else you are loading incorrectly. It's a case of the straw that breaks the camel's back - it's the load that accumulates over time that eventually gets to you.

While you may be able to initially get away with lifting with incorrect/poor technique, it will eventually catch up with you if you don't address it – ask anyone who doesn’t squat because it’s ‘bad for their knees’ or doesn’t deadlift because it’s “bad for their back”.

I can use myself as a case study here - I used to lift with poor form on some movements because I only thought about adding more weight to the bar (classic "ego lifting"). Eventually that stress caught up with me and caused a disc herniation in my lower back, which stopped me training pretty much anything lower body for 18 months.

Once I had rehabbed my injury and eventually returned to training my lower body, I had to start back at the basics – I began with doing bodyweight box squats and focussed on pain-free movement. Once I could do that I started slowly adding weight each week, taking care to keep my technique as close to perfect as I could. This was quite difficult at the start (not to mention frustrating) as it meant I couldn’t train anywhere near as intensely as I wanted to, but I stuck to the plan and focussed on technique with every single set and rep I performed.

Eventually I was able to build back up to 150kg, but it was the result of an arduous 16 week journey of adding a little bit of weight to the bar each week and focussing on the fundamentals – lift with the best technique I can (with the view of always trying to improve) and don’t do anything stupid (like trying to lift more weight than I can safely handle).

I use myself as an example here not to try and convince everyone to get onboard with lifting heavy weights (although it is really fun!) but to draw the comparison that even with a decade of lifting experience under my belt, it’s just as crucial for me to focus on the fundamentals of using good technique as it is for a beginner.

If you are unsure of how to do that, then please ask a coach or exercise professional near you to show you how! If you’re in the area and seeking further assistance feel free to reach out to me, but if not then I still encourage you to seek out someone who can show you the fundamentals of good technique in a program that encompasses the main movements (squat, hinge, lunge, push, pull, carry).

If you want your body to stay in good shape for a long time, you need to learn how to operate it properly and continue to do so – remember, it’s the only body you’re going to have.

Talk soon,

Alex