WORKING OUT THE RIGHT WAY (190 words)

Before I reach to the brass tacks and start off with the nuts and bolts of targeted exercises, I have this to say. Weight training, these days, is well formulated and actively researched. And faulty technique is sacrilege. Poor technique, as the training resistance progresses, can be tormenting; to the joints as well to the muscles.

This apart, technique correction can be despairing. Any movement practiced once is bound to be repeated the same way the next time. After a while, with increased loading, muscle memory is built up. Continued ignorant progress on weights, will build up Motor Nervous Memory which in turn, over time, becomes a reflex. At advanced stages one cannot train on reduced weights. At such stages, even on learning the proper technique, the body, on being pushed to heavier weights, will resort to the faulty lifting techniques that have been imbibed and now reside as reflexes.

Thus it’s imperative to begin with the proper technique—which can only be taught by a competent person and cannot be picked up by reading blogs or watching CDs.

However, reading makes you aware and knowledgeable. And knowledge is power.