Beyond-Brawn-2nd-Edition

HARD WORK—THE BIGGEST TEST OF TRAINING CHARACTER
the discipline to maintain good form at a higher level of intensity. en you
will be able to go deeper into each set without your form breaking down.
9.19 ere is a relative difference in how training is perceived in different exercises.
Taken to the same degree of failure, a set of squats is hugely more
demanding than a set of curls. e biggest exercises have a severe systemic
effect in addition to causing local muscular fatigue. e other exercises are
felt mostly locally. It is much less difficult to train hard in a small exercise
than a big one.
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Good exercise form is critically important no matter what training
intensity you use. But the harder you train, the greater the importance.
Whenever you take intensity to the extreme you increase
the chance of injury because the body is working at its limit.
The dangerous reps
9.20 e first rep of a set can be dangerous if you do not move the weight in
proper form. is danger is exaggerated in low-rep work and is a major
reason why adequate warmup work is needed prior to work sets. e first
rep or few of even a medium-rep set can also be dangerous if you apply a lot
more force than is needed to complete each rep.
9.21 During the final reps of a set you need even more caution and discipline. If
you are using singles or very low reps, then all your reps are in the final reps
category. Even if you are training in a slow cadence with no momentum, the
need for caution still stands true. Suppose you are bench pressing and the
sixth rep grinds to a halt but you keep pushing because you want to make
that rep. As you push, the bar tilts slightly to one side, you lose the groove
a little, and push slightly asymmetrically, and one shoulder lifts a bit from
the bench. ose few small deviations from perfect form can be enough to
injure a shoulder.
9.22 In exercises where you can be pinned you must use safety bars or alert spotters.
is is not optional. During brutally hard bench pressing, for example,
you would continue until the bar is at your chest and you cannot get it up
unassisted.
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