The Reason Why Low Rep Weight Lifting Workouts Can Lead To Frequent Muscle Injuries

Many bodybuilders believe that using extremely heavy weights for their weight lifting workouts will lead to superior results when compared with a higher rep workout focus, and this theory is correct to a degree. Heavy weight and low rep bodybuilding sessions do produce larger, more dense looking muscles, so it's no shock that most who achieve bodybuilding success perform at least a moderate percentage of their bodybuilding workouts using a low rep philosophy.

Yet, the problem for many bodybuilders is that their desire for low rep weight lifting exercise sessions far too often causes them to abandon proper weight lifting form, which can lead to severe injury. If a legitimate study were conducted on the subject, I would not be surprised to learn that the majority of those who experience bodybuilding injuries are using improper form during their workouts, which causes muscles to function in awkward ways, leading to muscle strains, tears, and tendon issues. In fact, muscle gains are maximized only if constant weight training can be maintained for an extended time frame, and many find themselves taking unplanned vacations from their bodybuilding workouts due to injuries occurring due to improper weight lifting form.

The temptation is strong to loosen up form in order to enhance weight used for a particular weight training exercise, especially when using low reps and heavy weight during a bodybuilding workout, and when a bodybuilder does not immediately fix such behavior, he or she will soon alter weight lifting form to the point where the exercise becomes dangerous, and injury is likely to result.

What all bodybuilders must remember as they pursue maximum muscle building is that the term "heavy" is relative, and correct weight lifting form is far more important than the amount of weight used. Therefore, when you are contemplating adding weight to a bodybuilding exercise, make sure that you are doing so with correct weight lifting exercise form in mind at all times, adding weight in very small increments to avoid using incorrect, awkward weight lifting performance.

If you find yourself altering exercise form to allow for more weight in a certain exercise, then you should reduce the amount of weight used by 10-20 pounds, focusing on the mind/muscle connection during each set, only increasing weight (in small increments) when you are confident that form is perfect. It's unfortunately very easy to become misled into believing that because you have not added weight for 2-3 exercise sessions that your muscle building efforts will suffer, when it's very common to stay with the same weight for several workouts while still gaining muscle size. But by using improper form to try and artificially enhance the amount of weight used in a given weight training exercise, you will actually risk slowing muscle gains in the long run given both the injury potential, and the risk of transferring emphasis away from the target muscle group.

Always keep in mind that the success of your bodybuilding pursuits will be based primarily on how consistent you are able to train, and using heavy weight with improper form will lead to injuries, forcing missed weight training workouts, and will ultimately impact your overall weight training progress in a negative way.