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Should EVERY rep look the same?

Ernie Frantz wrote something like "Treat the light weights like the heavy weights and the heavy weights will go up like the light weights" (I'll double check this later when I have his PL book in front of me) and yeah, I agree with it. BUT, that doesn't mean everything is going to be the same. I don't have a problem with people perfecting their technique - we should all do that, of course. It's the overfixation on absolute technical perfection for every single rep that prevents some (maybe many, I don't know) from progressing that I have a problem with.
 
Boris Bachmann said:
Ernie Frantz wrote something like "Treat the light weights like the heavy weights and the heavy weights will go up like the light weights" (I'll double check this later when I have his PL book in front of me) and yeah, I agree with it. BUT, that doesn't mean everything is going to be the same. I don't have a problem with people perfecting their technique - we should all do that, of course. It's the overfixation on absolute technical perfection for every single rep that prevents some (maybe many, I don't know) from progressing that I have a problem with.
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I agree.

Some people are just too scared to progress the load. I think at that point it's just easier to imagine one is progressing on the technique.

And the load itself is a great teacher. Often people can develop better with loads heavy enough. But some just don't get it.

I think it can be even worse with hypertrophy/bodybuilding movements. The form police can be obnoxious. However, as the old saying goes, the most vocal form policemen are often the smaller ones in the crowd.
 
Antti said:
The form can't be the same with light weights, it's apparent with the deadlift.
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Exactly. This is why I don’t like hearing/reading things like “if you can’t squat ATG with no weight, you shouldn’t be doing it with weight.” Its not that simple.
Antti said:
However, as the old saying goes, the most vocal form policemen are often the smaller ones in the crowd.
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yep.

And I might add that the saying “don’t add load to dysfunction” is perhaps a gross oversimplification. There are a number of top athletes who have what other people would call “dysfunction.” Usain Bolt has a degree of scoliosis, Michael Phelps has a degree of kyphosis, Klokov has that twist at the top of his overhead position…there’s more to be sure. If you aren’t experiencing discomfort or lack of progress, fixating on being symmetrical and having some idealized form can hold you back from just getting stronger.

I was listening to a podcast between two coaches. One was relating a story about how one of his clients was hyper fixated on what she thought was her scapular dysfunction. In his view, the fact that she had trouble pressing a 15 pound dumbbell overhead was a bigger issue than what she perceived as scapular dysfunction.

I hope I don’t have to say this, but I will anyway. I think it’s obvious when it’s not a good idea to add load, or whether someone is actually having an issue. I do think there’s a degree of people just not putting in the work to get stronger, and instead becoming fixated on minutia such as structural imbalances or asymmetries that they think they have.
 
bluejeff said:
I was listening to a podcast between two coaches. One was relating a story about how one of his clients was hyper fixated on what she thought was her scapular dysfunction. In his view, the fact that she had trouble pressing a 15 pound dumbbell overhead was a bigger issue than what she perceived as scapular dysfunction.

I hope I don’t have to say this, but I will anyway. I think it’s obvious when it’s not a good idea to add load, or whether someone is actually having an issue. I do think there’s a degree of people just not putting in the work to get stronger, and instead becoming fixated on minutia such as structural imbalances or asymmetries that they think they have.
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Yeah, it can be a tough thing. And there are people on both extremes with this. I have had many athletes w. "issues" technically that they just would not or could not address with enough focus and consistency to significantly change their already hyper-fossilized technical flaws.
Similarly, and I've talked about this a lot, I've had more than a few of those kids with "Little Steve Rogers Syndrome" - the kind that think that charging 100% hard is ALWAYS the right way to train and compete. These are often the same kids that will not slow things down (literally/figuratively) enough to work on technique. Getting them to learn technique, pacing and tactics, in training and competition, was just (apparently) beyond me as a coach, no matter how we structured training or how many heart to heart conversations we had.
 
Antti said:
The form can't be the same with light weights, it's apparent with the deadlift. Wedging myself between the bar and the ground is super important, and when I'm wedging the bar gets off the ground with loads up to past 300lbs. Maybe closer to 400lbs the bar just bends, or I coil more.
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Good point. Anyone looking at my YouTube, you'll see I just posted a new one today with two singles each at 125, 135, and 145 kg. For the two lighter weights, the bar comes off the ground when I wedge, but not so with 145 kg. (125 = 275 lb, 135 = 298 lb, 145 = 320 lb)

-S-
 
bluejeff said:
do think there’s a degree of people just not putting in the work to get stronger, and instead becoming fixated on minutia such as structural imbalances or asymmetries that they think they have.
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I’ve seen a few examples of people that focus so much on this that they spend years building up to a movement like a deadlift and end up maxing at a level that for their age weight and height would be easily attainable in their first year, not their fifth year of training.

I think it is the same phenomenon as “productivity procrastination “. Where people spend a ton of time on productivity hacks instead of just doing the work. They end up spending all their time on the minutea that just doesn’t matter or really move them towards their goal because they have some mental block that tells them hard work isn’t the right way because it is hard.
 
silveraw said:
I think it is the same phenomenon as “productivity procrastination “. Where people spend a ton of time on productivity hacks instead of just doing the work. They end up spending all their time on the minutea that just doesn’t matter or really move them towards their goal because they have some mental block that tells them hard work isn’t the right way because it is hard.
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Sometimes. But other times it's because their experiences in other fields (academic, performance, art, business, athletics, etc) may have taught them that focus on details and technique, rather than just gutting it out, IS the path to progression (and sometimes that's true).
 
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