Do you have certain exercises you don’t seem to get along with? Movements you struggle to keep form with and don’t feel in the right place?
If you do, you’re not alone! This is something I’m still working on and I’m sure at some level always will be. Here I have a few tips to that have worked for me and I hope can help some of you…
1 Activation exercises
If you don’t already, you must do some activation exercises prior to lifting. Ideally the movements you use to warm up with should replicate your workout focus and mobilise the joints you’re going to be using. If you go straight into your workout without a warm up you’re not preparing your muscles to perform well and more importantly you’re at a greater risk of injury.
Example. If you’re going to do leg based exercises you could try bodyweight squats, lunges and glute bridges to activate, then inchworms and hip flexor stretches to mobilise.
2 Close your eyes
Mind muscle connection is a real and powerful thing so this is a good one if you’re really struggling to feel the right muscle groups working. By closing your eyes you can really focus on the intended muscle and movement. By taking out a big sensory player here, you have more energy to focus on the movement alone.
3 Lower the weight
Sometimes the answer is simple. Forget about how much weight you’re lifting and focus on the quality of every rep. Try lifting less weight with a focus on the form and feeling of the muscles contracting as they work. Sometimes you may be able to move a heavier weight but the targeted muscles doesn’t have the strength alone so may recruit other muscles to help. That’s why you may feel your shoulders or arms doing a lot of work in an exercise targeted for your back.
When you’re ready to try a heavier weight try to remember which muscles were working. Ask yourself are they still working at that higher weight?
4 Move on
Don’t spend 20 minutes of your gym session getting more and more frustrated. Trust me, I’ve been there, A LOT. Nothing’s worse than letting the 10 minutes you spend trying something over and over put a damper on the rest of the time you spent training dam hard.
It’s much better to move on to something else and use that time productively. I don’t waste half an hour of my client’s session trying to fix something that just isn’t working that day, we move on and you should do the same.
5 Get another set of eyes
If you’re really struggling to get it right, next time ask for help! There are plenty of personal trainers at your gym whose job it is to support you. Find someone you feel comfortable in approaching and ask if they can spot anything. You may be surprised by a relatively simple solution you wouldn’t have spotted alone.
That’s it, 5 easy tips to help you focus on targeting muscles properly in the gym. I know it can be frustrating when you feel like part of your workout isn’t going right. It can be hard to not see that workout as a failure, what was the point right?
Wrong
No workout is a bad workout. Try to focus on the rest of the time you gave in the gym, the exercises that felt good or easier than before. It’s easy to focus on the negative and forget the progress you’ve made!
