Breathing is another crucial aspect of resistance training. Starting out, your lifting and breathing techniques should be the number one concern. It doesn’t always come natural, and many times it will feel weird to anyone who has never consciously thought about breathing. None-the-less, make sure you are always breathing.

For older individuals, or anyone with cardiovascular issues, this becomes even more important. Blood pressure spikes during resistance training, jumping as high as 160/110 in healthy individuals, even with proper breathing. For some perspective, this would usually indicate STAGE II HYPERTENSION if it were resting bp. Without breathing, systolic bp can hit 350!

If you are already hypertensive, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t weight train. On the contrary, research shows that resistance training lowers blood pressure over time. However, breathing is just that much more important for these individuals.

This can not be stressed enough. Perfect the movement before advancing to higher loads or speeds!

Even though it may make you feel better to throw around the big boy weights, there is no doubt that you are sacrificing results for ego. The fact is, an untrained individual will see huge improvements in strength over the first 6 months or so of training and, guess what? A negligible percentage of these gains are actually due to an increased cross-sectional area, i.e. force production capacity, of the muscle.

The primary cause of these initial strength increases is more efficient motor-unit recruitment. This effect is maximized when you use reasonable loads and maintain proper technique.

All else the same, the faster you perform your repetitions, the more work you do over a shorter period of time, i.e. the higher the intensity.

Speed is an important principle in power training methods, like plyometrics. It also seems to play a significant role in functional ability in seniors as well as muscular hypertrophy. Although the literature is still not completely clear, moderate to fast-paced repetition speeds during the concentric phase elicit the greatest hypertrophic responses. More importantly, a slow eccentric phase maximizes hypertrophy.

Brad Schoenfeld, CSCS, CPT, sums it up:

Concentric repetitions should be performed at fast to moderate speeds (1–3 seconds) while eccentric repetitions should be performed at slightly slower speeds (2–4 seconds)

Make sure you are atleast vaguely aware of what the normal RoM is in a joint, though. Refer to this list of norms for more information.

It also helps to understand some basic anatomy. For example, the glenohumeral joint actually only has about 120 degrees of unassisted RoM. The other 60 degrees are facilitated by re-positioning the shoulder girdle. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do dumbbell front raises through full RoM (the girdle is extremely important..), but it’s just something to think about.

http://youtu.be/M4wvk5o-cN0

To clarify, if you do bicep curls from 90-160 degrees of flexion, you will make virtually no gain in strength between 0-90 degrees of flexion. This holds implications for people who train isometrically, where contractions take place and force is produced, but joint angle remains the same. In this case, it’s important to utilize isometric contractions at varying joint angles, so that strength gains are made throughout the RoM.

However…

There is good reasoning for the madness of training short ranges of motion, at least for powerlifters. Studies have shown that training through the full RoM can neglect the point of maximal force production, i.e. the point in the lift where your muscles have to work the hardest. This is called the “sticking point” and is the reason behind heavy lifters doing things like block benching.

Machines usually require a static line-of-pull, so you want to make sure your primary joint working is properly aligned with the axis of the machine or pully. This is usually as simple as adjusting the seat or other aspects of the machine to fit you.

Notice how this person’s knees are directly aligned with the axis of this leg extension machine:

When sitting or laying down on a bench, there are 5 points of contact that should be made:

1. Head – placed firmly on the bench or back pad
2. Shoulders – resting evenly on the bench/back pad
3. Butt – again, up evenly against the bench or seat
4. Right foot – flat on the floor
5. Left foot – flat on the floor.

Rarely will you go to a gym and see the more experienced lifters adhering to this basic tenet, but rarely will you meet an experienced lifter who’s never been injured…these points should be established every time you prepare to lift, and also maintained throughout the whole lift.

The importance of stability when performing any lift, cannot be overemphasized. There are two reasons for this:

1. Stability mitigates the risk of getting thrown off balance and subsequently injuring yourself.
2. Stability promotes proper alignment, i.e. power. Even if you manage to keep your balance despite instability, loading muscles and joints that are misaligned is just about the worst thing you can do.

When standing, your feet should be about shoulder-width apart, with the heals and balls of your feet touching the floor, and your back should be flat. For most people, it’s also crucial that you don’t lock out or hyper-extend your knees; you want to always have a slight flexion in the knees.

http://youtu.be/M0qgMdxxkyI

Grip width is generally reduced to either (1) wide, (2) narrow, or (3) common.

Common width is more or less shoulder-width apart, and is optimal for most basic exercises. However, depending on the shape and fiber arrangement of the muscle, varying the grip can target different muscle fibers of the prime mover as well as different stabilizing muscles all together.

Narrow grip

Wide grip

These are just general descriptions given to a specific grip. A open grip, or false grip, is simply when the thumb doesn’t wrap around the bar, like in the hook grip.

And as you probably guessed, a closed grip keeps the thumb wrapped tightly around the bar, like in a traditional pronated or supinated grip.

You’ll see the open grip used in movements other than the deadlift at times, but it should not be used for overhead movements or in vulnerable positions. They call it a false grip for a reason..