Let me say first that the reason I write this post is because I have sub-optimal lifting mechanics for the kind of lifting that I do. This is also more relevant to those people who are actually involved in such activities, namely, weightlifting and related stuff like bodybuilding.
The other reason why I write this is because certain exercises are often touted as the perfect exercise for hitting various muscle groups. This can be very good or very bad advice in terms of safety. Other factors like muscle belly length, muscle fiber type, etc, one important factor are body mechanics.
I will define this here as the length of individual components of the body. The easiest example, I’m sure you know some guys who have long legs, others with long arms, long torso, etc. Well, this is true obviously: there are some people who will have longer arms proportionally, others with longer legs. This goes into other more specific parts, like your forearms, femurs, etc.
The purpose of this article is thus to explain such a difference in non-scientific terms and to show how this affects the way we go about achieving our goals. Here, the goal is to be able to perform a certain exercise safely and effectively; without getting injured while stimulating the muscles adequately.
Finally, I will touch on some exercises to illustrate the real world implications of such knowledge. If you want the objective take on squats vs leg press, I’d suggest the great article of the same title by Lyle McDonald.
O, I don’t worry, I will be using diagrams here. (or rather, my own stick figure drawings)
—
First let’s see 3 drawings illustrating differences in limb length.
The first guy has short arms, the second has short legs, and the third has a short torso (meaning long thighs comparatively).
Now let’s put these guys into the deadlift position. For your information info on the deadlift can easily be found on wikipedia, or if you’re interested, in Mark Rippletoe’s, lengthy analysis of the deadlift.
The first guy is pretty much bent over.
The second guy is pretty upright.
The third guy is also pretty bent over. He is a terrible deadlifter! Why? Because he is bending over a lot to get into the proper deadlift position. By some simple physics, we can see that he needs a lot more effort to lift the weight since the weight is acting along a longer lever. Ergo:
Now the issue here is that he won’t be able to use as much weight compared to a person built with better mechanics, and that’s where the problems lie. Because of these mechanics, the lifter (seeing his friends using more weight) will try to up the weight used. Because of his lousy mechanics, a slight bend in the lower back can put excessive pressure on the spinal discs. This is a recipe for disaster.
And the best part – You can’t do anything about it. You are built the way you are. Some people are BORN to be good deadlifters, others are not.
This hold true for most other such complex compound movements, as is illustrated in this drawing of the bottom position of a barbell back squat.
What this means
There are no perfect exercises. Some people are just not built for certain exercises. Those guys who go about saying that eeryone must deadlift or must squat or must bench to become big are simply wrong.
The underlying condition of any muscular growth is Progressive Tension Overload. All that means that as long as you are pushing/pulling more weight over time, you will be getting bigger. If you once squatted 100kg, and then 8 weeks later are squatting 120kg, your legs are likely to be bigger. Heck, even if you were doing quad extensions with 40kg loaded onto a machine, and then proceed to increase that to 60kg in 8 weeks, your quads are going to be bigger.
The key then is to find out which exercises you want to focus on to improve. This is probably where compound exercises are superior, since they hit many muscle groups at once. The easiest example is the one used above, whereby quad extensions work the Quadriceps exclusively, while squats and leg presses (Yes!) work the entire leg and some glutes. Another example is with doing Chin ups vs Bicep curls. You get the picture.
By exclusively saying that everyone must do squats, some people will be endangered by their efforts in the worse case (don’t get be started on the possible accidents), possibly causing severe damage to their lower backs. Even if they have the flexibility, when things go wrong, as they might at heavy weights, things go very wrong.
On the other end, because some exercises are not easy to perform by some people (the squat is one), they may not be able to stimulate their muscles as well. For example, someone squatting with a certain body structure may not be able to add weight to the bar like another person with good mechanics.
What to Do About it
Check for your suitability in an exercise. If you think you fit into the prototypical ‘bad deadlifter’ category, then don’t deadlift, find some other exercises that work better for you. (rack pulls may be alright)
There is this weird notion that has to do with pride, that men just like to do these big compound movements and use big heavy weights (some women do too, though it is arguably far less common). Unfortunately, you need to hold back if you are not built for such things. As with myself, who has successfully deadlifted 155kg in the past, (but looking at the video, I was rounding my lower back) but had to put out my ego to lift heavy weights for the sake of safety.
That means, reduce the weights and work on proper technique, or in the worst case, drop the exercise completely and use a machine. You may be able to progress better with such machines, and if you do, it means you are growing better.
Finally, accept your genetic traits, for better or for worse.
Related posts:
- Bodyweight Strength Training: 6 Reasons That It’s NOT The Path to Your Goals I make it very clear that I’m a big proponent...
- A Basic Weights Room Routine This is a related post to my original post on...
- Can you run safely? When I say running, I am referring to middle to...
- Training with weights: Do it right from the start When I started out training with weights for my sport...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
yup, individualise your lifts to suit you