So I’ve encountered a lot of people recently who are doing exercises and weights way beyond their current abilities.

And they feel entitled to do the workout moves even though they really aren’t doing them correctly.

They feel entitled because they believe they are in shape. Because they’ve been doing intense stuff for years. Because another trainer let them do it.

Well, I’m sorry, but you don’t just get to do an exercise, you have to earn it.

I mean think about it right now…Do you actually do a full push up? Is your push up perfect?

Is your body in a perfectly straight line? Do you touch your chest to the ground and then completely lock out at the top?

Or does your chin jut forward? Are you’re arms at 90 degrees from your body? Do your hips sag toward the ground or is your butt up in the air?

Be honest with yourself because I can tell you now after hours of watching push ups that 95% of the people out there can’t do a push up worth SHIT.

Sorry to curse, but seriously I am just fed up. I saw all these men and women deciding that they deserved to do the toughest push up progression when they honestly weren’t even near ready.

Is it pride or bragging rights or just that we want to be “bad-ass” that make people stupid enough to do something truly beyond their level?

Or do people really just not realize how bad their form is? Do they not equate their nagging injuries to the fact that they are trying to run when they haven’t even learned to crawl properly yet?

And the funniest part is that I don’t consider myself a stickler on form. I believe that there is a scale of “acceptable” form aka form that is good enough that the person won’t get injured, BUT that as the person gets stronger will be worked to be improved.

However, the form I’ve seen is just completely unacceptable especially since people keep pushing to do something harder than they should.

Why does everyone believe they are above progression!?!

SLOW DOWN PEOPLE!

FORM is important to the extent that it PREVENTS INJURIES! And usually correct form means that you are doing something in the most efficient and functional way possible – the way that will truly give you the most power and STRENGTH.

So why waste your time on incorrect form and just keep pushing ahead when you won’t get near as much out of the move as you could if you just slowed down and took the time to properly engage the correct muscles?

Maybe you never thought of it that way…huh?

Stop trying to run before you can walk and walk before you can crawl. If you take the necessary time at each stage, you are going to find that not only will your lifts be stronger but that you will also suffer from fewer injuries!

So try a push up. Before you do that hard variation you saw in the magazine, ask yourself if you can really even do more than one round of 20 perfect push ups in all of the levels leading up to that new variation.

If you can’t, spend some time EARNING that new variation! It may be a great way to motivate yourself to work hard over the next few weeks or months!

Check back soon for a post about how to do a perfect push up…And in the meantime learn how to do a pull up!