Today I cottoned on to a few important things - and they are both interrelated, and no doubt have had a pretty negative impact upon my training. For how long, I don’t know. Maybe all along?
Anyway, here they are…
- Because I train alone, maintaining good form (or indeed, acquiring good form in the first place!) can be difficult when you don’t have experienced people coaching you. You’ve just got to make the best of it. Anyway. Today wasn’t a day when I do bent over rows. But, I was certain that I wasn’t parallel to the floor enough and so mimicked how I usually perform them in front of a mirror in my house (there is no mirror in my garage). It turns out I was right - in fact, I was way too upright. I now need to get used to feeling and positioning of being parallel to make this big correction, or my lat training is undoubtedly going to suffer. This error is also very much related to the next point…
- Today I learned something new. A little technique to engage the lats in the bench press more. I first heard Louie Simmons say about it, but didn’t really ‘get’ what he meant, until I saw a video on YouTube with a guy explaining it. Now I get it.The technique is to try to ‘pull the bar apart’, which has the effect of engaging the lats, making for better form and a better lift. (Imaging holding a bar in the press, and trying to pull it apart, your hands trying to move outwards away from one another, pulling the bar apart.)
I was actually sort of dreading doing the bench press today, prior to the second revelation. I’ve never been what you’d call very proficient in the bench press, and to be honest, the fact pisses me off greatly because although I’ve got very long arms, I still feel that I should be capable of lifting far more than I am. But anyway… to the point… I remember Louie Simmons mentioning that the lats are one of the most important muscles in the bench press. And… the way I have been not only training my lats, but, how I’ve been engaging them in my bench press form has probably been nowhere near optimal.
That’s the sobering reality. But, I’d take that over fantasyland any day.
Although I’ll make the technique amendment immediately, the effect on my strength and growth will obviously be little to null while I’m cutting and losing strength, but still, at least I know the score and I’m going to be far better off for it in my next muscle building phase.
So, that’s 2 important lessons. The most important probably being regular form checks are imperative, and, that I need to get a mirror put in my garage ASAP.
On a more positive note, I looked in the mirror after my training, I actually thought I looked pretty damn good (Either that, or the mirror is telling very cruel lies!). So, I’m looking forward to really cracking on with this fat loss, then on with more muscle and looking even better - and you just try and tear me away from the mirror then!