Why Heavy Bodybuilding Workouts Can Lead To Numerous Muscle Injuries

Feb 13
12:41

2009

Francesco Castano

Francesco Castano

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Many bodybuilders believe that heavy weight and low reps are necessary for muscle gains, and although this concept is in theory correct, those who pursue bodybuilding with such a workout approach frequently embrace improper form in order to enhance the weight lifted during bodybuilding sessions beyond what is safe, resulting in injury.

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Many bodybuilders believe that using extremely heavy weights for their weight training workout sessions will produce superior results when compared with a higher rep workout focus,Why Heavy Bodybuilding Workouts Can Lead To Numerous Muscle Injuries Articles and this idea is correct to a degree. Heavy weight and low rep weight lifting sessions do produce larger, more dense looking muscles, so it's no surprise that most who achieve muscle building success perform at least a portion of their weight lifting workouts using a lower rep range.

Yet, the issue for many bodybuilders is that their goal of pursuing low rep weight training exercise sessions often causes them to sacrifice proper weight lifting form, which can lead to severe injury. If a legitimate study were conducted on the subject, I would not be amazed to learn that the majority of those who experience weight lifting injuries are using improper exercise form, which causes muscles to function in awkward ways, resulting in muscle strains, tears, and tendon issues. In fact, muscle gains are maximized only if constant weight training can be maintained for an extended period, and many individuals find themselves taking unexpected vacations from their weight lifting workouts due to nagging injuries stemming specifically from improper weight lifting form.

The desire is strong to loosen up form in order to enhance weight used for a particular exercise session, especially when using heavy weight and low reps during a weight lifting workout session, and when a weight lifter does not immediately fix such behavior, he or she will gradually alter weight lifting form to the point where the exercise is no longer safe, and severe injury is likely to occur.

What all bodybuilders must remember as they pursue maximum muscle mass increase is that the term "heavy" is relative, and correct weight training form is far more important than the weight used in each weight training workout session. Therefore, when you are contemplating adding weight to a bodybuilding exercise, make sure that you are doing so with correct weight lifting form in mind, adding weight in very small increments to avoid encouraging incorrect, awkward weight lifting performance.

If you find yourself gradually modifying exercise form to allow for more weight in a given exercise, then you should lessen the amount of weight used by 10-20 pounds, focusing on the mind/muscle connection during each set, only increasing weight (in small increments) when you are once again confident that form is 100% correct. It's simple to become convinced that because you have not added weight for 2-3 exercise sessions that your muscle gain efforts will suffer, when it's actually very common to stay with the same weight for several workouts while still increasing muscle size by a significant margin. But by using improper form to try and increase the amount of weight used in a given bodybuilding exercise, you will actually risk slowing muscle gains in the long run given both the injury potential, and the likelihood of transferring emphasis away from the intended muscle group.

Never forget that the success of your weight lifting pursuits will be based on how consistent you are able to train, and using improper form will lead to injuries, forcing missed bodybuilding workout sessions, and will impact your overall bodybuilding progress in a negative way.