Good Form for Bigger, Safer, More Engaging Fitness Gains

If you want to stay injury-free and build strength that works with the mechanics of your body, it is essential to learn how to engage the right muscles at the right time. Whether you are holding yourself in place or moving a joint through extended ranges of motion, good form is essential and it comes with big payoffs. That's why we're so stinkin' picky about it.

The example above demonstrates the advantage of tucking your pelvis in a plank (posterior pelvic tilt). That one little correction creates a solid, unbreakable bodyline—a hold that is essential for levers, handstands, hollow back presses, and more. You can see how the arched lower back of the first athlete weakens them, not to mention opening them up for lumbar stress. Correcting form at the beginning of your journey will save you from frustration later in your training.

There's no shame. Everyone begins at the beginning and doesn't see their own weaknesses. That's why our technique training videos (below) and form checks are so helpful.

Learning form cues builds your biomechanical understanding and muscle memory. At GymFit, you are actively learning how your muscles engage for stronger movements!

You see this guy? He didn't just pump weight then throw himself into a fun inverted lever. He knows how to engage all of his core muscles and his shoulders and his arms—in the right way. This body was built with brains.

Advanced calisthenics and gymnastics are intense, but this kind of fun requires an athlete to understand and learn their body. Over time and with the right guided progressions (like you get at GymFit.com) you can learn how your shoulder rotates and the extent to which you can rely on it to hold you at various angles.

And it's done one step at a time so even beginners can learn. You guys, this is fun and interesting stuff!

These two examples greatly simplify a long process. But there's no need to worry. Join us and we will hold your hand through each building block to correctly work toward dynamic body freedom.

And remember, our bodies are great at finding the easiest way through an exercise, which results in remaining weaknesses despite how much time you've dedicated to a progression. Using our form check system will allow you to hear directly from our coaches so you can correct any issues and build your strength properly.

You may already be familiar with the concept of training full range of motion. Our founder, Coach Christopher Sommer, started a wave in the fitness industry after being interviewed by Tim Ferriss in 2016. In the interview Sommer pinpointed the importance of training a joint's full range of motion in order to avoid injury and excel in performance. After training elite gymnasts for 30 years, he understands how improper preparation can break an athlete.

According to Coach, “You need an optimal surplus of strength. You need an optimal surplus of stability ... to perform and a little extra for when things go south. Not if things go south, when things go south. It is going to go wrong. And so you prepare the body for that ahead of time so that, when it does go wrong, it’s like, ‘That didn’t hurt.’”

So how do you build that kind of stability? By taking each joint to its limit and making it strong there, then repeating the process at every possible angle. Then, you extend the limit through stretching and continue the process of strengthening through that newly extended range of motion.

When considering the entire body and its systemic needs, that's a lot of training. Start slow. Stay consistent. Be patient. Progress comes to the faithful.