Buzz
You've received all the typical advice, like keeping your chest high and pushing your knees outward. You believe you're doing everything as you should, yet something still feels off. If this sounds like you during your workouts, it might be because you're not aligning your form with your unique body structure.
When it comes to lifting weights, there are two key factors to focus on: balance and moments, concepts you might have encountered in high school physics. Essentially, you're balanced when your center of gravity (the majority of your mass) is above your base (where you make contact with the ground). This matters at the gym because making progress is tough if you keep losing your balance every time you try to lift a weight.
Moments, despite what the term might imply, have nothing to do with time. Instead, they refer to the turning force applied around a pivot. To illustrate: think about using a spanner. If you attempt to twist a stuck bolt by hand, it's nearly impossible, no matter how hard you try. But with a spanner, less force is needed. By applying force at the end of the handle, the bolt starts to unscrew. This is because the force you apply is farther from the pivot (the bolt and screw), creating a larger turning force (moment) and making it easier to turn.
In weightlifting, the goal is to reduce moments around the key joints, while ensuring your center of gravity stays above your base for stability. After all, it's challenging enough to combat gravity, let alone deal with biomechanical inefficiencies. And this is where your personal anatomy plays a critical role.
How you minimize the moments around your joints depends on the length of your limbs and your relative muscle strength. For instance, take the squat as an example. The squat involves two key pivots, your hips and knees, and two major levers, your femurs and torso. If you have long legs and a short torso, your challenges will differ greatly from someone with short legs and a long torso. To understand why, let’s examine an (oversimplified and highly exaggerated) diagram:
As shown in the diagram, the individual with long legs and a short torso must bend significantly more to keep their center of gravity aligned with their base. As a result, they face greater moments and must work harder to prevent tipping forward. In contrast, the person with shorter femurs and a longer torso finds it easier to stay upright, as their body segments don’t shift too far from their center of gravity.
In addition to these factors, other aspects also influence form. One such factor is the presence of injuries. If you're recovering from an injury or have a sensitive area, it may be best to modify your form to avoid aggravating the affected area. Another factor is mobility—if you're too inflexible or weak to position yourself correctly, adjustments will need to be made.
How to Modify Your Form for Your Body
The point isn’t to give up if you're genetically predisposed (blessed?) with long legs or less-than-ideal levers. Instead, recognize that there’s no universal formula when it comes to the gym. The ‘right’ way is the method that feels best for you and allows you to use the least effort and energy to move the weight where it needs to go.
With this in mind, here are a few straightforward adjustments to squats and deadlifts—arguably the most crucial and challenging exercises—that can help jump-start your progress in the right direction:
Squats
If you have long legs and struggle to keep your torso upright, or if you face ankle mobility issues, try adopting a wider foot stance. This minimizes the distance your thighs need to travel forward, reducing the amount of forward bending required.
If wide-stance squats don’t resolve the issue, consider low-bar squatting. In this variation, the barbell is positioned just above your shoulder blades. If your shoulders have enough flexibility, the lower bar position can help reduce the moment at your hip joint, engaging more muscles in your glutes and hamstrings.
If knee pain is an issue, steer clear of high-bar narrow stance squats, as they tend to put more stress on the knee joint.
Deadlifts
If you struggle with mobility and can’t quite reach the bar, try elevating the barbell by placing it on weight plates or consider switching to sumo deadlifts.
If you have shorter arms or a longer torso, sumo deadlifts might be a good option for you as they allow you to start closer to the ground, minimizing the distance you need to lift the weight.
If you’re recovering from a back injury, a trap bar deadlift might be a better alternative. This variation places less stress on your lower back, reducing the risk of further injury.
The explanations I've provided are quite basic, but they should give you a clearer understanding of how physics influences your form. If you’re interested in diving deeper, Eric Cressey offers a fantastic breakdown of deadlift variations, and ExRx provides an extensive analysis of the squat. They may be a little technical, but they’re fascinating and the principles apply to other exercises as well.
Image by berry.
