I have no idea how to tie my own shoes "the right way." As a precocious four year-old, I taught myself how to tie my sneakers one day, but because no one had shown me the "right way" I had to figure it out myself. Unfortunately for me now, I didn't get it quite right, and I am now the master of the "bunny ears" method of shoelace manipulation. Even though I've tried to learn how to do it more efficiently a number of times, I just never could break out of how I had taught myself while sitting on the floor of my kitchen over 25 years ago.
Whenever we try a new exercise or movement, we learn. Just like studying a foreign language will eventually allow us to become fluent in that language, consistently practicing a new technique in the gym will allow us to become "fluent" in that technique, eventually mastering it. However, learning another language takes more than just knowing how to translate your words: to truly become fluent, it takes an awareness of the differences in inflections, tone and even speed of your speech so that you truly learn how to mimic the accent, slang and expressions of that language. This is also true of weightlifting and even in tying your shoelaces: paying attention to the details along the way will make the difference between getting something done and getting something done well.
When we need to move, our Central Nervous System will figure out a way to do it. Whether the resulting movement is technically "right" or "wrong" in terms of muscle activation, recruitment, force or even the resulting movement itself isn't as important as actually getting the task accomplished, "properly" or otherwise. If one muscle isn't doing its fair share because it doesn't know "how to," other muscles will take over in the process. This is known as "Synergist Dominance," and over time it causes strong muscles to become stronger and weaker muscles to become weaker. In turn, this will begin a chronic cycle of altered biomechanics at the joints and soft tissues, and once your body becomes accustomed to moving "wrong," it's a very difficult cycle to break. The problem is that if you don't break this cycle of poor movement, eventually your body will break instead.
To understand why this can be so difficult to do, first we have to look at exactly how our brains learn to move our bodies, a process called "motor learning." Motor learning is a physical reorganization of cortical neurons in the primary motor cortex through a phenomenon known as "cortical plasticity." In other words, your brain actually changes physically whenever you learn something new! This requires a reorganization of synaptic connections in the brain, which takes time and energy. It is a difficult thing to reverse once it occurs, because not only do new connections need to be formed, but the old ones must be down-regulated. You may be more familiar with another form of down-regulation which can occur in our bodies: the down-regulating of motor units in unused muscles, which is what happens when a muscle atrophies and shrinks if you take a very long time away from lifting weights.
This is why "breaking old habits" can be so difficult for people to do, and why *some* of us can't tie our shoes correctly. Rewiring your brain is tough work! Learning a new exercise and proper form can be a challenging experience, but unlearning an exercise because of poor form can be even harder. Paying attention to the details and making sure that you learn how to move correctly early on can make all of the difference in the world, ensuring that you'll be improving your body for a long time to come.
Hopefully you took that time when you first began lifting weights and exercising. It turns my stomach when I see trainers or coaches not take the time to instruct their clients or athletes properly, either because they don't know how to see those mistakes in the first place or they don't realize how important it actually is. Luckily, it's never to late to fix those mistakes, even if it is more difficult to do after the fact. At least half of what I do in a typical coaching session is just that: fixing mistakes and improving movement, form and technique.
So check your form every time you attempt a lift, and make sure that you're able to spot your flaws and to correct them. Even better, find a qualified and expert trainer or coach to help you and ensure that everything that you do is done correctly.
Practice makes perfect, but BAD practice makes imperfect.
-Jonathan
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Whenever we try a new exercise or movement, we learn. Just like studying a foreign language will eventually allow us to become fluent in that language, consistently practicing a new technique in the gym will allow us to become "fluent" in that technique, eventually mastering it. However, learning another language takes more than just knowing how to translate your words: to truly become fluent, it takes an awareness of the differences in inflections, tone and even speed of your speech so that you truly learn how to mimic the accent, slang and expressions of that language. This is also true of weightlifting and even in tying your shoelaces: paying attention to the details along the way will make the difference between getting something done and getting something done well.
When we need to move, our Central Nervous System will figure out a way to do it. Whether the resulting movement is technically "right" or "wrong" in terms of muscle activation, recruitment, force or even the resulting movement itself isn't as important as actually getting the task accomplished, "properly" or otherwise. If one muscle isn't doing its fair share because it doesn't know "how to," other muscles will take over in the process. This is known as "Synergist Dominance," and over time it causes strong muscles to become stronger and weaker muscles to become weaker. In turn, this will begin a chronic cycle of altered biomechanics at the joints and soft tissues, and once your body becomes accustomed to moving "wrong," it's a very difficult cycle to break. The problem is that if you don't break this cycle of poor movement, eventually your body will break instead.
To understand why this can be so difficult to do, first we have to look at exactly how our brains learn to move our bodies, a process called "motor learning." Motor learning is a physical reorganization of cortical neurons in the primary motor cortex through a phenomenon known as "cortical plasticity." In other words, your brain actually changes physically whenever you learn something new! This requires a reorganization of synaptic connections in the brain, which takes time and energy. It is a difficult thing to reverse once it occurs, because not only do new connections need to be formed, but the old ones must be down-regulated. You may be more familiar with another form of down-regulation which can occur in our bodies: the down-regulating of motor units in unused muscles, which is what happens when a muscle atrophies and shrinks if you take a very long time away from lifting weights.
This is why "breaking old habits" can be so difficult for people to do, and why *some* of us can't tie our shoes correctly. Rewiring your brain is tough work! Learning a new exercise and proper form can be a challenging experience, but unlearning an exercise because of poor form can be even harder. Paying attention to the details and making sure that you learn how to move correctly early on can make all of the difference in the world, ensuring that you'll be improving your body for a long time to come.
Hopefully you took that time when you first began lifting weights and exercising. It turns my stomach when I see trainers or coaches not take the time to instruct their clients or athletes properly, either because they don't know how to see those mistakes in the first place or they don't realize how important it actually is. Luckily, it's never to late to fix those mistakes, even if it is more difficult to do after the fact. At least half of what I do in a typical coaching session is just that: fixing mistakes and improving movement, form and technique.
So check your form every time you attempt a lift, and make sure that you're able to spot your flaws and to correct them. Even better, find a qualified and expert trainer or coach to help you and ensure that everything that you do is done correctly.
Practice makes perfect, but BAD practice makes imperfect.
-Jonathan
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