Have You Been Practicing Your Lifts?

What do they say about all great athletes? It took years of practice, hard-work, dedication. It took blood, sweat, and tears to achieve their goals. Why is it when we pursue fitness, including cardio and lifts, we understand all requirements except for practicing? 

You Forgot to Practice Your Lifts!

When was the last time you heard someone say that they were off to practice walking? How about practicing a squat? Almost everyone goes into the performance of physical movement without any recent practice. Could this be why many make such little progress in the gym? 

If a basketball player doesn’t practice the three pointer, they will be unfamiliar with the process during the game. The result would be no baskets made, a game loss, and their legacy diminished. 

Practicing is For Everyone

You might not think you should treat working out this way. I challenge you to rethink your position. Working out is the one area of life where we are all athletes. It is where you can become better, measuring yourself from the last performance to the latest. It is also where you can seriously injure yourself. 

Not practicing an exercise to improve your form and function limits your potential. This self-imposed limitation can, and will have an aftershock effect upon the rest of your life. Mediocre exercise performs will lead to mediocrity in other areas of importance.

Practicing Your Lifts is Possible

The good news is that we internally understand this need for practicing lifts. This is why so many people, incorrectly, lift weights 5 days a week or more. Training at a high intensity this frequently can do more harm than good.

We can, however, leverage your ambition, and exchange a few performances for practice. Exchanging a few days for the purpose of practicing movements, we continue the repair process, improve form, and prepare for our future workouts. 

Practice Where You Prefer

I get it, few of us want to go into the gym and squat 95 pounds when we squat 225 for reps. I mean, what will people think of these pitiful weights (sarcastic tone)? If you can get past the fear of looking weaker than you are, then the gym is your practice ground.

Alternatively, you may want to separate practice from performance. If this is you (it is for me), then get yourself a little home gym, with the equipment you need to practice. 

Practicing Lifts at home makes for a fantastic way to perform micro-workouts. Among other benefits, micro-workouts can improve insulin sensitivity and bring blood and nutrients to the muscle to speed up recovery.

Practicing Speeds Up the Process

Just before my freshman year in high-school I picked up a golf club, the obsession was immediate. I dreamed of playing on the PGA tour and spending my life on the links. Not only did I dream, but in the mind of an optimistic teenager, the dream felt attainable. 

There was no way I could fit an entire golf course at my house, but there was plenty of room for me to practice. A few dollars spent on a net, wiffle golf balls, and a mat was all I needed to create a practice facility.

As a freshman, within 6-months I had made the Varsity golf team. I attribute this rapid progress to passion but also, and more importantly, to practice.

Talent had nothing to do with my progression. It was the time I took to do what few others would, perfect my craft. 

Knowing What Lifts to Practice

How do you properly execute the movement for maximum effectiveness? If you are uncertain, then it is a red flag that you are missing out on progress in the exercises you perform. If you decide to practice your lifts, you will need to know what to practice. 

Are your elbows tucked by your side on a push-up? Do your knees stay out on a squat? Do you step the proper length on a lunge? There are many questions that require answers, and most do not even know they exist. 

If fitness really is life for you, then do not dabble with your exercises. Commit to learning the process and understanding how to perform the movements.

This may mean spending your hard earned money on 1 on 1 instruction from a fitness professional, who knows their stuff. At the very least it means buying a book or course on the subject and studying on your own.

Don’t let Practice, Pass you By

Many, workout in a boot-camp setting where the instructor leads the crowd through exercises with energy high and calories burning! This is even more important for you and easy to forget. Notating the exercises and then learning how to perform them properly will smooth out your workouts.

Even if you have some instruction on “what” to do, that does not mean you have the correct instruction on “how” to do it. Ask your instructor if you can setup a session to focus exclusively on form.

Practice Digging Deep

Too many of us stay at the surface level of what we find important. With exercise, dig deeper than the surface. Find the gems of understanding that will take your progress to the next level. I promise, the practice you put forth, will pay off in the long run.