why you should focus on ‘bad form’
Striving for perfection does more damage than you think.
I’ve got an important question for you. Does your gym routine reflect the life you live? While you may think it does, be really honest with yourself. Do your exercises truly recreate the challenges you put your body through daily? You may be surprised at how big the gap is between how you train your body and how you naturally move in the everyday.
As a trainer and kinesiologist, one of the biggest mistakes I see gym-goers make is being too black-and-white with training. People get obsessed with perfecting squat or deadlift form and they forget the benefits of functional exercise. They get wrapped up in perfect weekly splits, social media posts, or ideal alignment, and lose track of what their health and fitness needs are, or even how to listen to the body.
I’m here to remind you that there should always be a healthy dose of personalization, variety, and randomness in your training. While working to be strong or buff isn’t bad by any means, don’t lose sight of the incredible role that resistance training can play in fostering pain-free, functional living. The second you widen your scope of what this tool can look like, you’ll blow yourself away at just how high your strength and mobility ceiling is.
Want To Be Strong? Keep Your Body Guessing.
Before diving into any exercises, I want to issue a fair warning. Please be aware that the type of training below comes with its fair share of risks (as do pretty much any physical activities). If you have any chronic conditions or injuries that may put you in danger during exercise, please talk to a trusted health provider before following any of the advice below.
The whole purpose of this training philosophy is to ensure you’re not restricting what your body is capable of doing. While the established ‘perfect form’ for a certain exercise may have been agreed upon to protect individuals, there are many occasions where you can strip things back and get a whole lot more out of a movement if you question the logic. For example…
“Keep your heels on the floor during lunges to protect the knees!”
…but what if we were to just try it? Why is this so taboo?
“Don’t round your back when picking things up, it’s bad for you!”
…but why can’t I?
“Keep your knees tracking behind your toes on the squat!”
…surely we bring our knees over the toes during everyday life, no?
I hope this dialogue helps you to understand what I’m getting at. While we’re told not to go to certain positions during exercise, we frequently do these same movements in everyday life. Strange isn’t it?
Over the years there have been certain cues that seem to stick, but many of these rules can be bent and broken in your favor if you approach things correctly. Just don’t hear what I’m not saying. Don’t put yourself in intentionally dangerous situations. That’s not what this is about.
I’m simply encouraging you to question the why behind cues and exercise rationales while expanding your range of motion and strength in a creative but realistic way (none of this should be done with heavy load right away). As long as you slowly build up to these movements over time, you can get strong in even the most vulnerable of positions! It’s all about putting away preconceived notions of what’s possible and exploring your personal limits in a patient and safe way.
Here’s how this can be done in the context of a few of the most popular exercises out there. I hope this mindset gives you a breath of fresh air as you discover new variations to old favorites and expand your fitness along the way! Even 1–2 times per week of this functional type of work can go a long way for injury prevention and overall quality of life.
1) Jefferson Curl (overcoming the ‘perfectly straight back’ myth)
2 x 10-15 reps
Start on a step with a stick or other light object in your hands. Next, round the spine and roll down one vertebra at a time like a string of pearls — starting in your head and ending in your lower back. Hold for 1–2 seconds at the bottom position and then slowly reverse the motion to roll up, starting in your lower back and ending at the head. Keep your knees straight throughout. Remember to listen to your body and only go to your maximum pain-free range of motion!
2) Anterior Step-Down (overcoming the ‘knees behind toes’ myth)
2 x 10-12 reps
This is very similar to a regular squat. Instead of hinging from the hips, let your knees track slightly over the toes as you descend. Yes, this will feel awkward at first. Once you’re at a depth that feels challenging, simply extend back up by engaging your glutes. If you don’t have access to a wedge, use a household object like a book. Ideally, we’re aiming for about 15–20 degrees of decline at the ankle to the toes.
3) Creeper walks (overcoming the ‘heel on the floor’ myth)
2 x 15-20 steps per side
Stand up on your toes. Next, bend your knees slightly so that they track over the toes. Maintaining this slight knee bend, take steps forward as you keep your heels off the floor. Do your best to push the balls of your feet into the ground as you take each step. If it helps, picture wearing high-heeled shoes that are forcing your knees slightly over the toes as you walk. As soon as you’re ready, grab weights and hold them beside you in a farmer carry position to load up the legs even more.
Just because something is popular doesn’t make it right. As a kinesiologist, I’m tired of seeing people restrict what they’re capable of doing because of the limitations put on them by other ‘health professionals’. Resistance training should never be about striving for perfect form or alignment. We’re all different and it’s just a waste of time to attempt to victimize what is right and wrong in the gym.
What the true priority should be is using it to recreate the physical stressors of one’s individual life so that those challenges become easier. This is about using exercise as a vessel to become more functional and robust so that we can all pursue the activities that inspire us and bring happiness. That’s what fitness is all about.
Are you willing to make this mindset shift and start living a healthier life?
Don’t forget to check out my full library of comprehensive exercises here to start moving towards better strength, mobility, and function today!
