Why Heavy Bodybuilding Workout Sessions Can Lead To Frequent Muscle Injuries

Many bodybuilders believe that using extremely heavy weights for their weight lifting workout sessions will lead to superior results when compared with a higher rep workout focus, and this theory is correct to a degree. Heavy weight and lower rep bodybuilding sessions do produce larger, more dense looking muscles, so it’s no surprise that most who achieve bodybuilding success perform at least a portion of their bodybuilding workouts using a lower rep range.

Yet, the problem for many bodybuilders is that their desire for low rep, high weight bodybuilding exercise sessions far too often causes them to sacrifice proper weight training form, which can lead to serious injury. If research were conducted on the subject, I would not be surprised to learn that the majority of those who experience bodybuilding injuries are using improper exercise form, which causes muscles to function in awkward ways, leading to muscle strains, tears, and tendon issues. In fact, muscle gains are maximized only if consistent weight training can be maintained for an extended period, and many individuals find themselves taking unplanned vacations from their bodybuilding workouts due to severe injuries stemming specifically from improper weight training form.

The desire is strong to loosen up form in order to increase weight used for a particular weight training exercise, especially when using low reps and heavy weight during a bodybuilding workout, and when a bodybuilder does not immediately correct such behavior, he or she will gradually modify weight training form to the point where the exercise becomes dangerous, and severe injury is likely to occur.

What all bodybuilders must remember as they pursue maximum muscle gains is that the term “heavy” is relative, and proper weight lifting form is far more important than the amount of weight used. Therefore, when you are contemplating adding weight to a bodybuilding exercise, make sure that you are doing so with proper weight training form in mind at all times, adding weight in very small increments to avoid encouraging incorrect, awkward weight lifting performance.

If you find yourself gradually modifying exercise form to allow for more weight in a given exercise, then you should immediately reduce the amount of weight used by 10-20 pounds, focusing on the mind/muscle connection during each set, only adding weight (in small increments) when you are once again confident that form is 100% correct. It’s unfortunately very easy to become convinced that because you have not added weight for 2-3 exercise sessions that your muscle building efforts will suffer, when it’s actually very common to stay with the same weight for several workouts while still gaining muscle size. But by using improper form to try and artificially enhance the amount of weight used in a bodybuilding exercise, you will actually risk harming muscle gains in the long run given both the injury potential, and the risk of removing emphasis away from the intended muscle group.

Remember that the success of your bodybuilding pursuits will be based primarily on how consistent you are able to train, and using heavy weight with improper form will lead to injuries, necessitating missed bodybuilding workout sessions, and will ultimately impact your overall bodybuilding progress in a negative way.