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[Ronnie Rowland]

I see a lot of repetitive questions in the training section and in the anabolic steroid section. What do you think is the #1 mistake I have witnessed by both natural bodybuilder's and drug enhanced bodybuilder's in my 24 years as a trainer? I bet you thought I was going to say over-training, diet or taking the wrong kinds of drugs didn't you? While those can be problems, the biggest mistake being made by many (and this applies to people on this board) is improper exercise form. Ever noticed how many people on the net are always getting injured? They get shoulder pain, elbow pain, knee pain, and the list goes on and on! And it can be even worse for steroid users because they get stronger faster.

If you train with the right form you will rarely, if ever get an injury that will put you on the sidelines. If you are always striving to beat a log book you should resort to power-lifting, not bodybuilding. Bodybuilding and powerlifting are two different sports. I think many people tend to not understand this. I see them asking how to bring up lagging body part when the answer is simple-use better form!

A true bodybuilder goes to the gym to work his muscle, not lift a certain amount of weight. Sure, you will get stronger to a point as you progress but feeling the muscles stretch, squeeze and contract while using no momentum is what builds the most muscle size and keeps you injury free. In fact, as you progress your goal should be to keep improving your mind muscle link which can mean reducing the weight load. I realize some people just never learn and they are not secure enough within themselves to let someone else lift more weight than them on a particular exercise even if it means throwing the weight. For those who are still searching for how to gain maximum size without dealing with nasty injuries you will want to take this all in. You've got to quit worrying about what others think and start worrying about your own self if you want to keep training for years without having to deal with all sorts of chronic injuries down the road. I steer clear of people who are always bragging about how much they lift. I say who cares unless you are powerlifting! I am never impressed when a bodybuilder comes up to me and says I did 315 for 6 reps on the bench today. What does impress me is when I hear someone say they got a good pump on chest by using perfect form.

Strength is mostly determined by genetics not training routines. And you can take all the steroids you want and never be as strong and many guys who are all natural because they have thicker tendons, etc. Some people are just very strong while others are not so strong. Sometimes it's the big guys who aren't that strong and sometimes it is the big guys who are very strong. Either way you must go to the gym with the attitude I am really going to feel my muscles working today, not with the attitude I am going to lift more weight or get another rep if it kills me. That's a stupid way to train because it causes certain injury over-time and you will not develop the muscles to your ut-most potential.

Most people fail to max out their genetics because they use momentum to lift the weight. When momentum is used the ancillary muscle can do more of the actual work than the targeted muscle group. It's an ego thing and has no part in bodybuilding.

[Hamma Head]

Great post bro! The ladies dont care how much you lift, but they do care about how you look!!!!!!

[Someguy123]

one majorly important thing you left out. is WARM UP!!! although as a bodybuilder, its not in your best interest to go lift the max weight everyday. we still do run heavy training routines, which can be taxing on the joints and muscles. and a thorough warm up is a MUST, when doing a heavy weighted routine. if you wanna remain injury free.

but i completely agree about proper form. it pains me to see the form some people use in the gym. and i want to go correct them. but you know youll only be taken like some all knowing ass hole. so you just have to let them go on about their workout, doing things wrong.

[Kibble]

Excellent post. And to be honest, you look like a straight up dumbass when you try to lift too much weight. When plates fall offof the bar. When the bar comes up unevenly. When you slam the weights around. I get a much better burn when I go slow and controlled. I actually went lighter on my cable rows yesterday, just so that I could get a great contraction. I am feeling it today. I also go light on biceps sometimes... so that I ensure that I am targeting the BICEPS. Once again, great post.

[stevey_6t9]

yeh proper form is very important. I wish i knew that earlier. I do believe in maybe one or two cheat reps at the end of a set for barbell curls for that extra stress.

[Ronnie Rowland]

one majorly important thing you left out. is WARM UP!!! although as a bodybuilder, its not in your best interest to go lift the max weight everyday. we still do run heavy training routines, which can be taxing on the joints and muscles. and a thorough warm up is a MUST, when doing a heavy weighted routine. if you wanna remain injury free.

but i completely agree about proper form. it pains me to see the form some people use in the gym. and i want to go correct them. but you know youll only be taken like some all knowing ass hole. so you just have to let them go on about their workout, doing things wrong.

Yes! Proper warm up is also very important.

Power-lifters use lower reps and heavier loads but unlike bodybuilder's they rarely train to muscle failure. Training to failure with poor form and/or very low repetitons is what causes many injuries. The term heavy is relative. What's heavy for one person will not be for another. Trying to keep up with someone stronger than you is a sure fire way to become permanently injured.

[Okinawa_Power]

Great post....

[dec11]

good post, as a former pt, i understand, u see ppl wreckin themselves with bad technique all the time. ego's need to be checked at the door, if your outa form, its too heavy and where powerlifting is concerned, u still need form, go outa it and boom, injury( and usually a lenghty lay off), ive screwed up too many times just b4 comps to know lol

[OH REALLY]

good post

[TITANIUM]

Agreed!

Excellent post!

Great work and thanks for the time put in on this.

Best

T

[yungone501]

Ronnie, you should go to my gym and tell everyone. You have the newbies and the wanna be vets thinking they all have good form. I think it's hilarious when a barbell curl turns into this lower/mid body workout!

[brew69420]

I love watching idiots in the gym bouncing the bar off their chest to get it up. (The weight i mean)

[lovbyts]

I LOVE Sentence 3
"A true bodybuilder goes to the gym to work his muscle, not lift a certain amount of weight"
MOST people seem to have difficultly whit this. There is another guy at my gym who always comments how he can lift more than me (not legally/form) but he is only 1/2 my size. I keep trying to tell him STOP lifting so heavy. ALL of hes reps are forced, no form and using full body. Ohhh well.

Nice write up.

[Ronnie Rowland]

good post, as a former pt, i understand, u see ppl wreckin themselves with bad technique all the time. ego's need to be checked at the door, if your outa form, its too heavy and where powerlifting is concerned, u still need form, go outa it and boom, injury( and usually a lenghty lay off), ive screwed up too many times just b4 comps to know lol

I agree totally that with powerlifting you must use good lifting technique even though a power-lifters goal is just lifting the weight from point A-B.

[Ronnie Rowland]

Ronnie, you should go to my gym and tell everyone. You have the newbies and the wanna be vets thinking they all have good form. I think it's hilarious when a barbell curl turns into this lower/mid body workout!

Trust me, I've been to a lot of gyms and it's the same everywhere. Oddly enough, some of the older men who should know better are just as bad as the kids when it comes to throwing weights.

[Ronnie Rowland]

I LOVE Sentence 3
"A true bodybuilder goes to the gym to work his muscle, not lift a certain amount of weight"
MOST people seem to have difficultly whit this. There is another guy at my gym who always comments how he can lift more than me (not legally/form) but he is only 1/2 my size. I keep trying to tell him STOP lifting so heavy. ALL of hes reps are forced, no form and using full body. Ohhh well.

Nice write up.

Don't you just love it when their training partner is lifting most of the weight during forced reps on the flat bench.

And you will see poor form very often on squats but isn't it funny how you don't see them doing forced reps when squatting. It's almost always the flat bench!

[Ronnie Rowland]

I love watching idiots in the gym bouncing the bar off their chest to get it up. (The weight i mean)

Not long ago we had a chiropractor, that's right a "chiropractor" bounce the weight off his chest so hard during flat bench that he broke a rib, rolled off the bench into the floor and passed out..

Later on I fussed at him for being so stupid. He said and I quote-" when you get my age you'll see how easy it is to break things." I asked him his age and he said 43. I asked him how old do you think I am and he said 30. He was shocked to find out I was also 43 years old.

[dec11]

Not long ago we had a chiropractor, that's right a "chiropractor" bounce the weight off his chest so hard during flat bench that he broke a rib, rolled off the bench into the floor and passed out..

Later on I fussed at him for being so stupid. He said and I quote-" when you get my age you'll see how easy it is to break things." I asked him his age and he said 43. I asked him how old do you think I am and he said 30. He was shocked to find out I was also 43 years old.

lol, i once had a doctor on a free pt taster session who thought press ups were graet for building the biceps

[Narkissos]

Great post Ronnie