Common
Movement Mistakes
Most injuries in training don't come from freak accidents. They come from movement errors repeated hundreds of times until something finally gives way. Fix the patterns early.
The most common errors
What to watch for
and how to fix it.
and how to fix it.
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Knee cave on squats & lunges
Lower body
The problem
Knees collapse inward under load. Shifts stress onto the knee joint rather than the glutes and quads doing the work.
The fix
Cue "knees out" or use a light band above the knees to build glute activation awareness. Reduce load until the pattern is stable.
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Lower back rounding on deadlifts
Lower body
The problem
Lumbar flexion under load. The lower back absorbs force it's not equipped to handle. High injury risk over time.
The fix
Brace the core before lifting, maintain a neutral spine. "Proud chest" cue. Reduce the range or load until the position is owned.
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Shrugging on overhead press
Upper body
The problem
Traps elevate and shoulders shrug as the bar goes up. Creates impingement risk in the shoulder joint.
The fix
Depress and pack the shoulder blades before pressing. Cue "armpits forward." Reduce load and drill the start position.
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Elbows flaring on bench press
Upper body
The problem
Elbows out at 90 degrees places maximum stress on the shoulder joint. Limits strength and creates long-term shoulder issues.
The fix
Tuck elbows to roughly 45–60 degrees. Retract shoulder blades into the bench. The pecs still do the work — the joints are protected.
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Using momentum on rows & curls
Pulling
The problem
Swinging the body to move the weight. The load bypasses the target muscle and gets dumped onto joints and connective tissue.
The fix
Slow the eccentric. Pause at peak contraction. Reduce load if momentum is necessary to complete a rep. Stimulus over ego.
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Shallow range of motion
All movements
The problem
Half reps. Moving the weight without fully loading the muscle through its range. Limits development and can create imbalances.
The fix
Reduce the load and earn the full range. Full squats, full pull-ups, full presses. The muscle grows through range, not despite it.
The underlying principle
Three rules behind
every fix.
every fix.
I
Technique before load. Every mistake listed above is made worse by adding weight to a broken pattern. Build the movement, then build the strength.
II
Record yourself. What you feel and what you're doing are often very different. A phone propped against the rack is the cheapest coaching tool available.
III
Address it now, not later. Movement errors compound over hundreds of reps. The longer a bad pattern runs, the more ingrained it becomes and the harder it is to change.
The Naked Truth
You've been doing that movement wrong for two years. You know because someone pointed it out and you thought, that's just how I do it. That's how injuries wait.
Lower the weight. Fix the pattern. Rebuild the load. The strength you lose in two weeks comes back. The injury you build over two years does not.