You go to the gym, and see lots of people doing lots of different exercises. Some people look like they know what they’re doing, and others look like they’re getting ready to shoot a gym fails video.

To help you make sure that people don’t mistake you for a gym fails video actor/actress, that’s what this article is all about: whether you should be using momentum to lift weights, or lift it in a controlled manner.

Image result for biceps curl bad technique back

Original source: here.

In particular, we’ll discuss:

  • Using momentum to lift weights vs. controlled lifting
  • Thinking about the muscles vs. thinking about the movement.

Using Momentum to Lift Weights vs. Controlled Lifting

First, let’s clarify one common misconception: controlled lifting does not mean “slow lifting.” You can lift fast, but under control too. Or you can lift fast and sloppy. You can also lift slowly and out of control. Controlled lifting is simply referring to the precision of the movement (are there definite, and clear stop and start points to the movement?) – not the speed.

Lifting with momentum, on the other hand is using momentum to help you lift a weight (obviously). Most of the time people lift with momentum for a couple of reasons:

  1. They don’t know the proper technique, and lifting with momentum is easier than lifting without momentum. And heck, we like to cheat.
  2. They know they’re not doing it properly, but it helps them lift more weight, so technique and safety be damned – they’re not there to train their muscles. They are there to train their ego. That’s why I call them “egogymaniacs” (ego – gym – maniacs).

However, momentum is not bad all the time. There is a time and a place for it. A lot of gym purists oversimplify things to “controlled lifting – good; momentum – bad.” Momentum is bad if you’re not using it properly. But momentum can be good if you are using it properly. So that begs the question – what’s the proper use of lifting with momentum?

One proper use that comes to mind is if you’re emphasizing “negative” work. What is that? Every movement has a “positive” phase and a “negative” phase. In a biceps curl, when you’re lifting the weight, that’s the positive, and when you’re lowering, that’s the negative. So let’s use that as an example. You can lower more weight than you can lift, so you use momentum to lift the weight, and control to lower it. This is a fairly advanced training technique called “accentuated eccentrics”, and beginners and intermediates need not concern themselves with it. But when you get close to the limits of your strength, and you need special techniques to extract that last bit of progress, this is a time to use momentum.

Another proper use of momentum is for exercises that simply can’t be done without it – like Olympic lifts. But again – the average gym goer doesn’t really need to worry about this.

The downsides of using momentum when the exercise doesn’t call for it (and in 99.9% of cases, it doesn’t) are:

  1. Risk of injury
  2. Decreased progress. If you’re using momentum, you’re shifting the emphasis from the target muscles, to more elastic structures, that don’t have the capacity to grow, like fascia and tendons.

So for the majority of the time – stick with controlled lifting (and again, I distinguish between “controlled” and “slow”).

Thinking About the Muscles, or Thinking About the Movement?

This is a debate going on right now – what’s better to think about when you’re exercising – the way your muscles feel during that exercise (an internal focus), or moving the weight from point A to point B (external focus)?

The answer as usual is not a clear one, and it brings us back to my favourite phrase – it depends. It depends on what you’re trying to do.

If your goal is direct toning, and growth of a particular muscle, then an internal focus (on the muscle) is superior to a focus on the movement (and if you want to learn more about muscle growth, just check out this article). Why? Because in most movements, there’s more than one muscle that contributes to it. And if you don’t focus on the muscle, you may be working the wrong muscle. For instance, a bench press is in theory a chest exercise, and yet, a large number of trainees feel it in their triceps. So for those people, it’s a triceps exercise. And if they focus on the muscle, they’ll realize that, and either choose a different exercise, that works the chest, or adjust the bench press to have more of an emphasis on the chest.

However, if your goal is more performance oriented (as opposed to aesthetics oriented), then a focus on the movement is superior. Going back to our bench press example, rather than focusing on the target muscles, you would focus on the motion of the bar. When you shift your focus externally, you can usually lift more weight, which is better for performance, but the contribution of the different muscles to the movement will be determined by the muscles most suited to get the job done, as opposed to the muscles you want to develop the most.

But let’s put things into their proper perspective: the important thing is that you’re strength training properly, and adjusting your program as necessary. Why? Because as I mention in so many articles, progression is the single most important variable in an exercise program.