couple of curious questions I had on form and sets

Doman26

First,

I was at the gym the other day doing deadlifts. I look to the right to see myself in the mirror to check my form. The one trainer told me I shouldn't do that because its exposes my spine and could be bad. I understand what he is saying but I was wondering what you guys thought. Is the turning of the head significant or just marginal for possible damage?

Second,

What is the advantage or disadvantage of working out in pyramid set.

Crude example,

set 1 10 reps of 25lbs
set 2 8 reps of 40 lbs
set 3 6 reps of 50 lbs

How is this compared to just doing lets say 8 reps and going down in weight per set?

Is one technique better than another for certain body parts? Or what is the purpose?

In the last two years I have only really done the pyramid with deadlifts because I can't see myself lifting 300 lbs on the first set, so I do it to warm up to the heavy weight.

I currently do a full body workout 3 times a week, definitely an ectomorph. I do similar things to Gary's beginner workout, I wish his link was still available to compare workouts.

Thanks for your time

Doman26

OH how many reps should I be doing? I want some strength and some build. Isnt the middle range 6 to 10 reps? I took off 18 months so I need a refresher.

Thank you!

cellaratt

IMHO, Turning your head could certainly cause seriouse damage to multiple parts of your body. Why not just turn your body towards the mirror ( There has to be enough room if you look for it, maybe take a couple of steps back ). I would say I probably pyramid most of my sets, but this is how I started and have never seen a reason to change it as it has worked for me. I think the standard way of thinking is heavy weights-low reps for increased strength. Size gains may be a little trickier to pin point but I like to stay anywheres between 6-12 reps depending on exercise. I put 100% faith in my body telling me when I'm done and when I've got to do that one last rep even if it's one or two over my pre-set number.

Tall

Don't turn your diet while you are lifting but you can turn your head if you need to check that your setup is correct.

Pyramidding (sp) is fine if it works for you and you are able to track progress with it.

CMinOZ

If you need to check your form from the side, ask someone to video, camera phones are pretty good for this.

cellaratt

No disrespect intended but ppl saftey is a real concern. Tall you are very respected member of this and other communities so I was a little thrown off with your quick answer that could have warranted a more in-depth review instead of being dismissed. It bothered me enough to contact a highly respected Chiroprator for a real answer.

Conversation is as follows in full content with names removed:






-----Original Message-----
From: laddermaster@hotmail.com>
To: nlbme@aol.com
Sent: Wed, 5 Mar 2008 5:45 pm
Subject: Quick Question


Hello Nancy,

If you could take a moment out of your busy schedule I could use some of your expertise. I'm a regular on a bodybuilding chat forum and a question came up that I think you could clarify for me. The question is : While performing the exercise known as Deadlifts w/ heavy weight is it ok to turn your head to look in the mirror to adjust your form while lifting will this make you acceptable to injury. Any help with this, maybe a small explanation of yes or no would be greatly appreciated. My personal belief is that this could lead to injury, but others disagree and I would hate for careless responses to lead to serious injury.

Sincerely ,
Nick


I'm with you Nick. Facing the mirror and adjusting as necessary is wisest and if you need a lateral look, surrounding yourself with mirrors is best. Turning your head to check out your form is almost like lifting and twisting...which we all know is not a good idea. Good luck!

Nancy

crazycal1

where? which one?

i do reckon videoing your form is the best bet.

einsteins mind was the key to all things...to understand more than to know.

www.extremenutrition.co.uk

Tall

Which is what I said above...

Don't turn while lifting. You can turn and check your set up is correct...

Unless I'm missing something the Chiro practor agrees with me...?

Tall

PMSL

cellaratt

I guess the phrase Don't turn your diet while you are lifting but you can turn your your head to check your setup may have mislead me to believe that you where suggesting that turning your head while the exercise was being perform, lead to misinterpritaion for me and may have for others as well. My intentions are not to cause a argument but to stress the importance of lifting safely.