Form Police: The Real Reason Your Lifting Technique Matters

When most people hear “good form,” they think of injury prevention. And that’s true,  lifting with poor technique puts unnecessary stress on your joints and connective tissue, and you can’t make progress if you’re constantly sidelined. Good form also tends to produce better results because it allows for proper muscle activation, which means more of the work is done by the muscles you’re actually trying to train.

But for me, the most important reason to prioritize form isn’t just safety or muscle activation. It’s consistency.

Progress in the gym comes down to doing a little bit more over time. If your technique keeps changing as the weight gets heavier or the reps get harder, you aren’t really progressing. You’re just moving the goalposts closer.

Every exercise you do should be set to a standard for technique that you never waver from. This ensures that your progression is actually happening from your body, and not by variability in the way that you perform an exercise. 

Take the bench press. If you’ve set your “standard” as bringing the bar all the way down to your chest, that’s your rep. But if instead you stop at some arbitrary point above your chest, there’s no way that point won’t creep higher as the weight increases. Did you really get stronger? Or did you just cut your range of motion shorter?

Same with squats. If your standard is hitting just below parallel, that’s the depth. If instead you sometimes go low, sometimes not so much, then when the weight gets tough, your squat depth is guaranteed to shrink. Again, did you progress, or did you just cheat the rep?

This applies to every exercise, even the simpler ones. That’s why I believe in setting a clear standard for your form on every lift: set-up position, grip position, range of motion, breathing technique, equipment settings, and rep tempo – and never wavering from it. Progress only counts if the standard is the same.

Ultimately, good form is more than just staying safe. It’s about holding yourself accountable, maintaining consistent training, and ensuring that when you add weight or push for more reps, you know it’s real progress, not just an illusion.