Are You Performing Your Exercises Correctly?

So you are one of the hard working, dedicated individuals, which have been working out on your own for some time. You took the initiative to get started and have been maintaining it for a while. You have been doing some type of cardiovascular routine that has allowed you to shed a few pounds and decided to start working with strength equipment. You may have bought a book, magazine, searched on-line, watched a DVD or FitTV for tips and feel you are pretty good with it. However, sometimes you have to take a step back and ensure that you are doing those exercises correctly.
I met a woman this week that came to one of my fitness classes for the first time. Since I did not know her, I paid more attention to her than my regular attendees. I noticed her form was off during some of the exercises and assisted her along the way. When we finished class, I spoke with her to find that she likes to swim and run and started using a book to help her with her strength training.
There is commendation to individuals that want to start their own fitness regimen and research fitness tips from resources such as books, magazines, DVD’s, etc. The drawback is there is no one there to correct you when your body is out of alignment. These resources are guides, however, what you see in a book and how your body moves may be two totally different things. Let’s take the basic squat as an example. I asked her to do a squat as she normally would on her own. She proceeded by sitting and pushing her knees forward past her toes. This form will not only put pressure on the kneecap, which could lead to injury, but she is not engaging the muscles the exercise is intended for. Injury and inefficiency of exercise are two results when you do not have the proper form. Investing in personal sessions with a trainer will help correct the form and ensure she understands the basic fundamentals as she continues to work with weights. She can also continue to attend fitness classes to work with a "live" instructor to correct her form.
If you have already taken one step toward improving your well-being and health, you may consider taking an extra step to prevent injury and increase efficiency of your workouts. Proper form is so important when executing strength moves.