Lifting Mechanics: Quality not Quantity
- Posted on: Feb 9 2017
Many of my patients enjoy working out in some capacity whether it is at a gym or exercising at home. One of the major contributing factors to injury can be linked back to technique. Even some of those “I do this exercise all the time, I don’t know how this happened” injuries I often find can be from a small error in lifting technique that goes unnoticed. As a physical therapist I take pride in teaching my patients not only how to perform exercises correctly, but in a safe manner.
The purpose of doing any exercise is to target a specific muscle to achieve a specific movement. Often times, especially in the case of pathology or injury, it is very easy to compensate. This simply means that other muscles instead of the intended ones are being used to perform a movement or exercise. Physical therapists can help identify these movement impairments and use neuromuscular training to reeducate your muscles.
Neuromuscular training can retrain impaired movement patterns with exercises to prevent compensations. This could be something as simple as learning how to use your gluteal muscles when performing any type of squatting exercises. Small changes in technique can have large impacts on not only your workout but also assist in preventing injury. Remember, it is the quality that matters.
By: Dr. Frank Stewart PT, DPT
Posted in: Low Back
