07/15/2025
Something that is very important to my coaching philosophy, and that I make sure to tell all of my new clients, is that there are no bad movements or bad techniques.
There may be movements that are currently painful, have hurt you in the past, or are too advanced for your current fitness level, but this does not mean that any of them are inherently injurious.
Contrary to popular belief, strength training is very low risk, but the majority of people that I start working with are fearful of getting hurt in the gym due to having bad technique or doing a dangerous movement.
There are countless people preaching that certain movements are dangerous or bad for you. I’m sure everyone has heard things like:
“Deadlifts are bad for your back”
“Squats are bad for your knees”
“Don’t round your spine”
“Don’t lockout your knees”
“Running is bad for your joints”
“Situps aren't good for you spine”
“You shouldn’t lift so heavy"
“Bench press will hurt your shoulders”
“Don’t do preacher curls or you’ll tear a bicep”
And on and on and on.
For someone trying to start strength training, hearing things like this all of the time makes it very hard to find a place to start, and makes people fearful or lifting weights in general.
There is nothing wrong with any of these movements, and what people should actually be worried about is the risk of not being active and not resistance training. A well structured resistance training plan will gradually expose you to a wide range of movements so that your tissues become more robust and resistant to injury.
Technique does matter, especially when we are talking about individual goals and how to reach them most efficiently. When it comes to avoiding injury or pain, how heavy you are lifting, your sets and reps, how often you are training, and your individual training and injury history are far more important.
Something that might cause one person pain might be the cure to someone else's. Just because a movement might not be right for you now, doesn’t mean that it is bad and can’t be part of your training plan in the future.
Send me a message if you want to start strength training!
