Am I doing this right?
This has to be the number one question I receive during a training session.
And, it makes perfect sense as the primary reason people hire me is to help them “do it right”, make progress and avoid unnecessary injuries.
However, this can lead to one major drawback – being so focused on being perfect and losing sight of the intensity to push ourselves to a level of discomfort and create change in our bodies.
What I propose you do instead of answering the question “Am I doing this right?” with an emphatic “yes” or “no”, is understanding there is a large amount of “grey area” in most exercises.
An area where we aren’t performing the movement so poorly that I am afraid your back will literally explode in front of me at any moment.
But, also not “technically perfect” at the same time, but just in this grey zone of good enough for today while you work on improving your technique for the future.
With this thought in mind here is a list of exercises and “how wide” each grey zone is.
The wider the grey zone the more you can push yourself to exhaustion with relative safety. The narrower the grey zone – the closer to perfect we need to be.
ALMOST NO GREY ZONE: Olympic Lifts. Think of cleans & snatches. You need to do these right.
LITTLE GREY ZONE: Major Barbell Lifts. Think of the bench press, barbell squat, and deadlift. You can make some minor technique mistakes while learning, but you will want to dial these in sooner than later as the relative weights increase.
MEDIUM GREY ZONE: Multi-Joint Dumbbell and Kettlebell Exercises. We want to do these types of exercises with the best technique possible, BUT if we are taking them close to failure it probably isn’t the end of the world if the last few reps are a “little sloppy.”
This is also an opportunity to push yourself.
A LOTTA GREY ZONE: Single Joint Exercises. Go to town on bicep curls, triceps press-downs and calf raises. Not saying you can’t get more out of these by “doing them right”, but overall permission to be a meat-head here 😉
Coincidentally enough there are even more levels of “how wide the grey zone is”. Each of these categories, heavily influences how I design programs for my clients.
The newer you are, the more likely I am going to choose exercises with a vast grey zone – exercises that are almost impossible to hurt yourself, even if you do it completely wrong.
Over time, you will learn to move into the more technical (but higher reward) stuff as you learn and make progress.
Train Smart.
Train Hard.
Can’t Lose,
Nate
P.S. However you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you get happier and healthier:
1. Come in for a Custom Fitness Consultation
We’ll sit down together and discuss your goals, simple steps you can take to achieve them and see if there is a way to work together to give you the coaching and support you need to get the results you want quickly.
If you’d like to discuss a meeting for a Consultation, just reply and put ‘Consult’ in the subject line and I’ll follow up with you.
2. Do My 10 Years Younger Challenge
Accelerate your fitness & fat loss results…with my proven & guaranteed program where you’ll double your strength and flexibility in just 30 days.
Just hit Reply and put ‘Challenge’ in the subject line and I’ll send you over details.
3. Train With Me From Anywhere
If you can’t make it to my facility in Austin, you can still train with the best! We can train you on Zoom, FaceTime, Facebook Messenger, or almost any video software that you prefer. This is exactly like personal training, but it’s anywhere you need it to be, and it’s even more affordable.
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