One thing that never ceases to amaze me about weightlifting, bodybuilding and the fitness industry in general is that everyone thinks they can do it at a level reserved for professionals.

Can you imagine someone watching a half dozen baseball games, watching a couple youtube videos on how to properly swing a bat and then fully expect to hit Jordan Hicks; 105 mph sinker? What about someone who read a tennis magazine and then went and tried to return a few ace’s from Roger Federer, watch some golf and try to sink a hole in one, take a cardio boxing class and then try to unify the heavyweight championships. All of this would be totally insane.

But you get lots people who has seen some weightlifting on tv, taken a bootcamp class, maybe had a session with a trainer or watched a bunch of form videos on youtube then they go onto bodybuilding.com and download the arnold blueprint workout and go and try to crush it.

This is not, by any means, to put down either the blueprint to mass or to shred. I have done both of them and they are both excellent, but they are difficult and require a background knowledge in lifting.

Because lifting LOOKS LIKE it requires only moving a weight from point A to point B no one bothers to think about the massive amount of knowledge and technique that goes into doing it properly.

When you go into the gym with an advanced program like the Arnold Blueprints or the WB Fitness Program you need to realize that you are participating in a sport at a level close to that of professional. As such, it is not just the effort in the gym you need to put in, but you need to constantly be working on how to lift….even as far as what it means to lift.

I have been talking about lifting with your muscles and not lifting with your hands for as long as this site has been online, but now I am going to add some exercises to really drive the idea home.

The first one I really want you to practice whenever you can is the dumbbell curl. I am doing this practice right now with a sharpie in my hand in place of a weight. Use a pencil, a water bottle, a towel or even use nothing just make a fist.

I want you to hang your right arm down next to your body with your palm facing out. You are going to to an incredibly simple and immeasurably important exercise right now. With your arm hanging down holding your sharpie (or whatever) naturally, not super slack but also not tensed up, squeeze your bicep. Channel your inner 8th grade boy who made muscles for the girls and squeeze that muscle as hard as you can.

I want you to squeeze that muscle until your hand starts to move up in the curling position. That is, you will be curling the item in your hand. You are not TRYING to curl that item, you are only trying to contract that muscle as hard as you can. That the item in curling is just a side effect of contracting that muscle.

It may take a few times to get it right. Ignore your hand and the sharpie that is in it. Just contract that muscle until every time you do it the hand just goes into the curl without your trying to curl it.

That, my friend, is lifting with your muscles. That is our goal for each and every lift. Your hands are just hooks with weight on them. The lift needs to come from the muscle(s). Keep doing this with your arms into a curl until it really sinks in that you ARE NOT LIFTING WEIGHT you are simply contracting muscles as hard as you can and weight is being lifted as a result. Just keep your mind on the target muscle and its contractions. You will be amazed what the body does for you afterwards.

Once that really sinks in, try it with other lifts. Any lift. Isolation lifts. Compound lifts. Get some PVC and really practice doing lifts in such a way that you are in no way moving weight, but only contracting muscle.

Remember, when you take this into the gym you might find that you will be using lighter weights than before. That is not just ok, that is great. As long as you are using the maximum weight that the muscle will allow you are doing a great job.

Grind on!