Why you shouldn't reduce the weight on the bar to improve your technique

There are two main reasons why we want to perform exercises with ‘good technique’ in the gym.

1. To load the target muscle as desired

2. To make the exercise as ‘easy’ as possible for ourselves (so that we can load heavier). This essentially means managing our centre of mass in combination with the external load (weight/band/cable etc.)

You might think it’s to avoid injury, but this is actually a by-product of the above two points. If you’re not loading the target muscle and not managing your centre of mass correctly, then you’re loading tissues that may not be able to tolerate that load, increasing the possibility of overloading the tissue.

So let’s look at the two points above. Firstly, will reducing the weight help us load the target muscle as desired? No, as due to the reduced weight, we aren’t loading the muscle to a capacity that is going to promote an increase in strength.

Secondly, will reducing the weight help us manage our centre of mass better? Also no, as a lighter load will make it easier to move through the exercise in any way, not necessarily the desired way.

Then how do we improve our ability to execute an exercise well? Let’s welcome the concept of a constraints-based approach!

Constraints are restrictions on exercises that make it difficult to do them in the wrong way. The constraint challenges you to solve a problem in the exercise. There are many types of constraints, such as the tempo of an exercise, external objects, task objectives, and vocal cues.

Let’s use a Barbell Bench Press as an example to improve technique.

In a good Bench Press, as the bar rises, it needs to drift backwards from in line with the chest, to over the shoulders. If it doesn’t, then we are having to actively hold the barbell from dropping forwards towards our hips, rather than keeping it stacked over our shoulders. This would limit the amount of weight we could lift due to poorly managing the centre of mass of the bar and ourselves.

A constraint we can apply to the exercise is a slow tempo during the concentric (lifting) phase. If we apply a 3s tempo to the concentric phase, it is far more difficult to move the bar in an inefficient path, because we have to spend longer in a more challenging position. Because we still need to achieve a similar Internal Load, we may also reduce the weight on the bar, but this shouldn’t be done in isolation. The slow tempo makes it much more important to move the bar in the most effective way to manage our centre of mass. If we only reduced the weight, then we’d make it easier to move the bar in any way.

Let’s look at another example of a constraints-based approach using a Back Squat. If you have trouble keeping mid-foot pressure and find your centre of mass shifting forwards and backwards, rather than simply reducing the weight, try laying a band underneath the arches of your feet. This gives a physical cue of where you need to apply force into the ground, and will help you maintain balance in your feet. Simply reducing the weight won’t teach you how to keep better mid-foot pressure. Once you increased the weight again, you would likely have the same problem. When constraints are used appropriately, we can achieve a stimulative Internal Load whilst also improving technique. This means that the training is effective and efficient.

Simply reducing the weight on the bar might seem like the best way to improve your technique. But realistically, it’s not teaching you how to better perform the exercise. Working on technique should still feel like hard training. As constraints sometimes make the exercise more difficult, you may need to reduce the weight on the bar. The important difference being that reducing the weight is not the primary strategy for improving technique. Due to the decreased weight, the External Load might not be the same, but the Internal Load will be similar. Achieving an effective Internal Load is ultimately the goal of training, and not just how much weight is on the bar each week.

So how can you effectively use constraints in your training? Admittedly, it's difficult to know yourself how you can improve your own technique. Firstly you need to be able to identify the problem, then give yourself a constructive solution. A good coach will be to help you work out the best way to improve your technique of an exercise. As coaches, we can identify what is the root cause of error in the exercise, and give you a constraint that will improve it. This will help you load the target muscles you are trying to train, as well as manage your centre of mass better.