Form Doesn’t Matter, Execution Does

We’re going to define form as the external display of body position, relative to the intended exercise. We’re going to define execution as the intention of an intended exercise. Understanding the difference between the two is the single biggest game changer I’ve had to my training in the 12 years I’ve spent working out. This is an important distinction to make because there is a difference between internal and external feedback; internal feedback is what’s felt, external feedback is what’s seen. For most exercises, emphasis should be placed on both the lengthened and shortened end ranges of motion; yes some exercises are advantageous to train the stretch versus the squeeze and vice versa but it’s a good rule of thumb. This is where form and execution differ, form is the display and execution is the intention; when doing an exercise, good form means you had good bodily position, good execution means you had intent on the strengths an exercise has, intent meaning more spent there to accrue more time under tension. So how exactly does that look from exercise to exercise? Free weight chest pressing movements have emphasis in the lengthened position, this means the intention should be to spend more time in the stretch to take advantage of what the exercise has to offer. Good form on bench press simply means keeping your chest tall to promote pec engagement, that’s a different metric than execution. This goes for overhead press too; good form would be simply not overly extending at the spine, but good execution means allowing the elbow to drift lower, with control to place emphasis on the stretch. Let’s look at this lat pull down, emphasis here should be the upreaching stretch of the arms and the pulling together of the shoulder blades, spending time in each portion would be considered good execution; good form here would be keeping the torso relatively stable, with little to no regard for where tension is being emphasized, good form just means pulling without momentum. This goes for accessory and isolation movements too. With dumbbell lateral raises, the biggest “no no” is to swing at the torso, basically just lift the dumbbells without momentum. This doesn’t really give any consideration for where the dumbbell lateral raise is most effective in terms of contractile range, which happens to be the shortened position at the top of the rep. So does someone really have good form AND execution if they keep their torso still but doesn’t spend any meaningful time at the top of the rep where tension is highest? Take a brief look at rear delt flies too. In the cable cross over, emphasis would be placed in the shortened position, because usually the arms don’t cross in this set up. Good form with this movement would be not bending at the elbows, hinging forward at the neck or using momentum to move the cable. Good execution would be having a brief pause when your arms are pulled out to spend time in the shortened position where tension is highest. As someone who has gone down the path of pushing for more weight used on an exercise, in the pursuit of progressive overload and has experienced literal bodybreaking myself, I can say with the utmost urgency that most gym goers take one step back on the load they use on any given exercise and rework their execution; this one step forward, one step back approach to building strength over time is the best way to uphold the highest quality movement patterns to ensure you are BodyBUILDING B4 BodyBreaking and can sustain it for the long-haul. If this resonated with you or you don’t know where to start, check out our Skool Community through the link in our bio. We have a lot to offer there, an exercise library, programs, concept videos, coaching feedback and more, all for $25/month or $250/year, both with a 7 day free trial.