In practice, anyone who has seen an Exercise Physiologist has had their technique adjusted on a number of occasions. You would have heard a number of different cues to help get your technique better. Whether it be a squatting movement, hinging movement or any upper body movement there are always corrections that need to be made for an exercise, particularly if you are new to exercising. There are a number of reasons correct technique is vital. You might think that all the little technique adjustments are unnecessary but they actually have a purpose to them. In this article, I am going to go over two of the main reasons why technique is vital
Injury prevention
Performing exercises correctly ensures that the load is placed on the muscles and joints that are being specifically targeted through the movement. Performing an exercise incorrectly can quite often lead to other joints and muscles being loaded or not getting the full benefit from the exercise in the target muscles. Furthermore, performing an exercise incorrectly and possibly loading up other muscles or joints can lead to serious strain upon the body which can lead to injury. Finally, performing an exercise incorrectly over time can lead to overuse injuries and other movement dysfunctions.
Correct technique becomes ever more important if someone has a pre-existing injury. It is important to load through the joints or muscles in order to rehabilitate that area and be able to get back to full function. If exercises are performed incorrectly the target muscles won’t be getting the full benefit of the exercise and therefore taking longer to get back to full function. For people with long-standing injuries, exercise technique becomes crucial if they are exercising and need to be careful of loading up joints in ways that can be harmful.
Creates correct movement patterns
When performing exercises over and over we are reinforcing that behaviour and movement. If you are performing that movement incorrectly you are teaching our body bad habits that can again lead to injuries but also lead to poor training outcomes. It is more important to have quality exercise and movement over quantity of exercise and movement, especially in the initial phases. Once movement quality is established and injury risk is lowered, movement quantity can be increased to achieve the desired training outcomes.
If you are currently training and unsure about your technique and whether you are performing exercises correctly come in and speak to one of our Exercise Physiologists. We will look at your technique, correct anything that needs to be corrected and help to improve poor movement patterns that have been established through poor exercise technique.
