# Form vs Heavy



## The Chilt (Jun 17, 2011)

Sooo ive been reading a lot about people saying you will get way bigger muscles if you use a lighter weight and get the form spot on? Does it work much much better than going heavy and not getting it 100% correct?

Thanks

Chilt


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## anabolik (Aug 19, 2010)

Heavy as you can with good form. No harm in letting form slip a little on the last couple reps though if you have to.


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## The Chilt (Jun 17, 2011)

Thats where ive been slipping.. Ive been going Heavy with not that good form.. Saying that.. Its been 2 months and ive made some pretty decent changes.. But maybe they would have been better with better form.


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## Milky (Nov 30, 2008)

Mind muscle connection, think about what your training and if it doesn't connect change it.

Anabolik is spot on, if you haven't been training long stick to form, learn to recognise the muscle your working, it will pay off in the end...


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## golfgttdi (Oct 6, 2010)

Massive difference between form slipping on last cpl reps of a bicep curl and squatting or deadlift in with crap form!

A bit of body English to hoist the bar during lat raises, military presses, lat pull downs, bicep curls, tri press downs etc (you get the gist-your not gonna out your self in harms way slipping at the last cpl of these)

But things like bent over rows, squats, deadlift, bench press (basically the big compound moves) should always have correct form in my opinion.

As long as using correct form isn't an excuse to slash the weight and do high reps.

Still work your ass off, just concentrate on the target muscles!


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## MRSTRONG (Apr 18, 2009)

depends on the goal .


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## golfgttdi (Oct 6, 2010)

Milky posted as I was typing, that's what I meant when I mentioned target muscles, good mind muscle connection 

Bet me to it!


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## The Chilt (Jun 17, 2011)

Yeahhh im off to the Gym ina bit so ill have a little change around. Tbh i shouldnt have to drop the weights toooo much i dont think. Its like when im doing my arms, im using say a straight bar. My elbows go back instead of staying by my side.


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## Milky (Nov 30, 2008)

Ewen is also correct it depends on your goals, strongman form isn't as important as BB form...


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## The Chilt (Jun 17, 2011)

Nahhh its defo BB Form..


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## Milky (Nov 30, 2008)

The Chilt said:


> Nahhh its defo BB Form..


Go on Youtube mate and check out Kai Greene, l am not a powerlifter.... fu*king good explanation of things :thumbup1:


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## saxondale (Nov 11, 2012)

<<<<<<<<<< looks at the words on my AVI - form, above all else.


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## BodyBuilding101 (Mar 8, 2006)

Master the form 1st and then once your used to it you can let it slip a bit. You have to find what works for you, go on to YouTube and you'll see many pros using sloppy form, really bad tbh, but they master the fundamentals first, now they workout and hit the intended muscle even though to an outsider his form looks bad. I mean who is going to tell Jay Cutler he uses too much back when he curls?


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## The Chilt (Jun 17, 2011)

So I did 100% top from at the gym earlier.

I had to slower some stuff like dumbbell curls by 5kg. Now I'm

On 15kg. That's the main thing that really changed. Buy my tri and bi's were soooooo pumped like more than ever, does that mean they it has worked better?


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## MattGriff (Aug 21, 2012)

Milky said:


> *Mind muscle connection*, think about what your training and if it doesn't connect change it.
> 
> Anabolik is spot on, if you haven't been training long stick to form, learn to recognise the muscle your working, it will pay off in the end...


How do those voluntary muscles move again?


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## eezy1 (Dec 14, 2010)

why not get a good mix of the 2

go for power some sessions and hypertrophy others


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## simonthepieman (Jun 11, 2012)

if your form is 100% perfect all the time, you ain't lifting hard enough.

if you form is ****ty most of the time, you won't get very far


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## alchemystical (Jan 16, 2013)

80% rule:

If you can't maintain at least 80% good form then you're only cheating yourself, drop the weights a bit and try again.

In related news, I recently cut all of my lifts in half and increased the rep range to 20 for a one month period just to change things up and reimplement stricter form. Let me tell ya, I found pains in places there were no places before and muscle memory just developed alzheimers.

Well worth trying if you want to shake it up as when you return to full belt you really notice the difference.


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## Beats (Jun 9, 2011)

Branch warrens form is terrible and he is one of the top boys


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## Milky (Nov 30, 2008)

Dizzee! said:


> Branch warrens form is terrible and he is one of the top boys


Do you think his form has always been terrible tho ?


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## Beats (Jun 9, 2011)

Milky said:


> Do you think his form has always been terrible tho ?


I dunno man but what would be the point in having good form then changing to poor form the better his career gets


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## Milky (Nov 30, 2008)

Dizzee! said:



> I dunno man but what would be the point in having good form then changing to poor form the better his career gets


Maybe he has got the size he wants etc...

He may just be one lucky tw*t TBH :lol:


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## DurkinG (May 11, 2013)

I think there is a common misconception with lifting weight.

Alot of people think too much on the weight and not on the technique.

You could bench press 200kg and have shocking technique.

And then you could get some lad who can only bench 70kg. It's still a lot of weight, but if he's got good technique not he no doubt has a good mind to muscle connection and can utilise his strength more than the big chap who can't lift properly.

For strength, the 5x5 protocol works wonders.

2 warmup sets at 60% and 80% which warms up your muscles but also allows you to practice your technique and then 3 main sets at 100% which allows you to not only lift your maximum but also follow the technique you used in the warmup sets and that's a good mind muscle connection.

Technique or heavy all day long.

Unless you want to be a power lifter, those guys typically lift shed loads but in less amounts.

Less reps more strength. More reps more hypertrophy.


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## T5dean (Dec 29, 2012)

Milky said:


> Maybe he has got the size he wants etc...
> 
> He may just be one lucky tw*t TBH :lol:


Surely he would still need to maintain his size.

I can't see any one using good form and then thinking "I've had enough of that good form and I'm where I want to be so I'm going to use crap form now"


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## Beats (Jun 9, 2011)

Milky said:


> Maybe he has got the size he wants etc...
> 
> He may just be one lucky tw*t TBH :lol:


I think he is just one lucky [email protected] lol


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## Milky (Nov 30, 2008)

T5dean said:


> Surely he would still need to maintain his size.
> 
> I can't see any one using good form and then thinking "I've had enough of that good form and I'm where I want to be so I'm going to use crap form now"


And like l said maybe he's just a lucky tw*t...

How will we ever know ????


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## martin brown (Dec 31, 2008)

Dizzee! said:


> Branch warrens form is terrible and he is one of the top boys





Milky said:


> Do you think his form has always been terrible tho ?


Lol, he started out as a very good powerlifter.

Yes his form on fluff exercises is poor but they don't really count for **** anyway. He couldn't care less as long as the volume is high enough.


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## dtlv (Jul 24, 2009)

Heavy loads and good form actually go hand-in-hand IMO - form allows for the most effective way to lift, and efficiency of movement during a rep allows for the best leverage and highest expressed level of strength.

If your form is turd, when you suddenly improve it you will be weaker as your CNS re-learns new technique, but very quickly you will catch back up and overtake where you were before. Good technique vastly reduces injury set backs too, and have never seen an actual example of anyone not improving either their strength, their physique or both upon improving their form.

Good form is not solely for the domain of low load lifting, in fact is most important when heavy IMO.


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## Fatstuff (Mar 2, 2010)

Heavy as u can for the reps u want as long as your form is good enough to avoid injury


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## martin brown (Dec 31, 2008)

Milky said:


> And like l said maybe he's just a lucky tw*t...
> 
> How will we ever know ????


I know as I had dinner with him a few years ago  Obviously the main topic of conversation was powerlifting - but he kept adding bits in about bodybuilding too as he'd just won something pretty major beforehand.

Nice guy, very humble. But bad form is not his approach on big lifts.


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## ladcrooks (May 15, 2013)

Sometimes a bit of cheating is needed, my forearms are going to give out before my bicep does. Then when it comes to squats, form is an absolute must. Various exercises allow for it others don't


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## Sambuca (Jul 25, 2012)

Personally I love higher reps and lower weights and getting pump on. No need to chase weights in bodybuilding again imo


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## BodyBuilding101 (Mar 8, 2006)

Sambuca said:


> Personally I love higher reps and lower weights and getting pump on. No need to chase weights in bodybuilding again imo


But how do you keep on progressing if your weights don't go up? Won't your muscles get used to the load your working with?

I only up weight if I feel safe I won't injure myself


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## Hannibal (Jul 4, 2012)

BodyBuilding101 said:


> But how do you keep on progressing if your weights don't go up? Won't your muscles get used to the load your working with?
> 
> I only up weight if I feel safe I won't injure myself


When comfortable just increase from 25 x 6Kg Db's to 8Kg Db's.


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## BodyBuilding101 (Mar 8, 2006)

JUSSI75 said:


> When comfortable just increase from 25 x 6Kg Db's to 8Kg Db's.


I'll opt for 7s mate, dont want to jump up too high now


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## Hannibal (Jul 4, 2012)

BodyBuilding101 said:


> I'll opt for 7s mate, dont want to jump up too high now


7's?? You lucky so and so. Wish my gym did 7's


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## hometrainer (Apr 9, 2003)

i go to train my muscles not my ego nothing worse than seeing someone load a leg press machine with 500 kilos and move it around an inch or so or the bicep throw my backout curl ,and the i'll do bench press and my mate can do upright rows while he spots me.like all things if its worth doing its worth doing properly .


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