Form isn't just for light weight.

(please note that I just posted a very similar subject on the facebook page from fitbird.com.  This is a good supplement to their post).

Through my short time in the fitness community I have both seen and been told that for 1 rm maxes you have to "grind it out".  That for heavy singles it is okay to let the form break because it is so heavy that you have to lift it mentally.  I have even posted some 1 rep maxes that people in various online communities (I am looking at you reddit) said "you have a lot more in you. your form didn't even break down".  At first I look at my videos and think to myself "yeah I should have gone for more, I made those look easy".  But then after some actual thought I realized that I can lift the weight BECAUSE I have good form.  Every squat that I perform from an empty bar, to my max weight should look identical. I might be faster lifting 45# vs 440# but the technique should look identical.

Why is this?  Somewhere down the line, weightlifting (or lifting weights in general) got a macho reputation.  I can see why.  It is a pretty badass thing to take the heaviest barbell you can and pick it up off the ground or squat it or put it over your head.  If you get on youtube and look at professional lifters squatting or benching you will see a lot of "grinding it out".  Basically the barbell slows down to a crawl and the lifter must keep the barbell headed in the right direction.  It seems to take forever but eventually they get through the sticking point and successfully complete the rep.  It is inspiring to watch and makes you wanna go throw weights around.  But what most people aren't paying attention to is that their form never gets out of whack.  Ever.  When squatting or benching 3x your body weight, if form slips at all it is a failed lift or an injury.  There is no "ugly grind".  It doesn't happen.  But most amateur weightlifters don't see this.  They only see " the grind".  They think that for all maximal weights it is okay to break form a bit and grind it out.

I am not sure when this became the cultural norm when lifting anything heavy but get online and look at and strong individual lifting heavy weights.  Their form doesn't change just because the weight gets heavy.  It just doesn't happen.  Lets look at some videos.

I would like you to point out the time where Misha's form breaks down after 3 reps at 880lbs.  Oh you can't do it because it didn't happen?  Not even on the 3rd rep where he had to "grind"?  Weird.  That must be a fluke.

Here is another one where he slows down significantly in the last couple reps.  Yes his chest starts to slightly point down a little bit by the last rep, but this is 528lbs on his back.  Do you think he could do this by letting his chest drop and knees cave and lower back rounded just because it was heavy?  I think not.


So back to my original and final point.  These guys can lift heavy weight because their form is perfect.  Not because of some magical intangible mental toughness.  They lift heavy because they lift perfect with every single rep from the empty bar to the 1 rep max.

If you still don't believe me, here is a video with a bunch people having to "grind it out" with significantly less weights.  You don't look nearly as cool as you thought you did when grinding out heavy weight with shitty form. (especially with yakkity sacks playing in the background).

Get out there and lift big and pretty.