Poor Form at the Gym

People don't seem to get it that just because you've made your presence at the gym doesn't mean you'll lose weight or you're work is done. You need to give your workout your undivided attention and remove any distraction such as the little hottie next to you or your ringing cell phone. It's one hour that you need to dedicate to you and only you and really pay attention to what you are doing. 

Too often I see people, mostly women, performing exercises incorrectly. This is SO BAD on so many levels. One, you can injure yourself and two, you are not going to see the gains you want. Your form is so important to your success. For starters, if you injure yourself, you'll be out of the gym and unable to perform exercises which obviously kills your momentum and results. You need total focus on the exercise at hand to ensure you are performing it properly. Why do you think they have mirrors at the gym? It's not for those muscle-bound meatheads to check themselves out, it's for you to watch your form so you are doing your exercises properly. 

When I participate in the Total Body Conditioning Class, there are people obviously using weights that are too heavy for them. It's ok to start with light weights instead of trying to impress the person next to you who probably isn't even paying any attention to the size of weights you are using. When you can't perform the exercise properly any longer, that means stop, or go to a lighter weight. At the start of class, I grab two different size set of weights so when my arms get tired with the heavier ones, I switch to the lighter ones. If you can't keep your back flat or straight, you've had enough. Arching your back is only going to hurt you. And NEVER swing your weights or dig your elbows into your sides to help with biceps. 

A great piece of advise is to allow six weeks of weight training to form a base before pushing hard. You can even hire a personal trainer to learn proper form and progression or take a weight training group class. 

How would you rate your form at the gym?