One of my favorite classes at the University of North Carolina was sports psychology, primarily because of the professor, John Silva. He was a gifted storyteller, entertaining and engaging. Twenty years later, I still recall one of his most repeated mantras: ‘Practice doesn’t make perfect; practice makes permanent.’ The lesson is that just because you invest the time practicing a particular skill doesn’t equate to you performing it at its’ optimal level. If you spend all your time shooting a basketball with your eyes closed, you’ll probably get better at it, but not nearly as good if your eyes were open.
This lesson applies to sports and virtually every arena of life. As someone who spends many of their waking hours inside a gym, I get a front-row seat to witness the techniques of members practicing all sorts of skills, such as weight lifting, running, jumping, and rowing, to name a few. Once a skill is learned, like a push-up, modifying the movement pattern will be difficult but not impossible. If you know how to do a push-up with good form, then your chance of injury is minimal, and you’ll get the most significant benefit from the exercise. If your form is less than ideal, say your elbows go to your torso at a 90-degree angle instead of pointing back and nearly grazing your rib cage. You’re not doing it ‘wrong’ but could get more out of the exercise by correcting your form.
Thankfully, a push-up is a very forgiving exercise. However, the technical skill required to execute movements like back squats, deadlifts, and presses is high. These movements can be dangerous, mainly when performed with heavy weight and poor form. That’s why mastering the movement pattern using your body weight or light external resistance is crucial for injury prevention and optimizing gains in strength and hypertrophy.
Time For Tension
Tension has a negative connotation, but tension is not only encouraged but also a necessity when lifting weights. It can be a difficult concept to grasp if you’re not familiar with it, but once you do it, you’ll understand. Creating tension sets you up for success by building a solid foundation for the body to rely upon. Let’s go back to the push-up as an example of creating tension throughout the body; see the video below for an example.
This concept of creating tension should be applied every time you do a resistance exercise, be it with body weight, free weights, a suspension trainer, or a machine. Here are a few things to keep in mind when creating tension.
Remember to breathe! Most people automatically hold their breath when contracting their core and butt. You can breathe and brace at the same, I promise. It might take some practice, but you’ll get the hang of it.
The exercise will feel more challenging at first. This is normal. When you create tension throughout the entire body, you use more muscle and, therefore, more energy to perform the exercise. Upon continued practice, though, creating tension will become second nature.
Practicing tension makes you aware of what the rest of your body is doing during a lift and helps you maintain good form. Creating tension in the midsection and butt prevents the hips from sagging when doing a push-up.
Remember, practice makes permanent; practicing the act of creating tension with every rep sets you up for a safe and effective weight training session, not just for today but for the rest of your life.