After many years as a Personal Trainer, hundreds of clients and training myself for many different sports and events, I started to notice that there are a few "tips" (training rules) that when followed allowed my clients and myself to make better progress and avoid injury and burnouts.
Perfect form: This one is the most important of all the rules. If you forget all of them, make sure that this one is the one that you remember. All other rules are based on this one: ONLY do the exercises and repetitions that you can do with PERFECT FORM. If you don’t use PERFECT form, two things will happen. 1) You won’t get the most bang out of the exercise. 2) Sooner or later (usually sooner) you’ll get hurt! If you are not sure on how to perform an exercise, there are many good resources on the Internet or ask your gym/club's personal training staff! Just because you see someone perform an exercise and it looks "cool" and challenging, it doesn't mean that that person is doing it with correct form. Avoid the "me too" syndrome of copycatting someone else unless you know that they know what they are doing and that they are doing it with PERFECT FORM!
We train as we do. We do as we train: Think about Newton’s third law of motion “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” You will get as much out of fitness and training as you put into it.
Make every workout count: Have a clear plan of what you are going to do and what you want to accomplish with the workout. Don’t just go through the motions. Per-Form!
Lower back support: Protect your lower back at all times. If the equipment that you are using has a backrest, make sure that your lower back is flat against it (or SLIGHTLY arched). If no back rest is available, contract your ABS to stabilize your lower back muscles! Using a weight-lifting belt is another option.
Never hold your breath: Always be breathing. Inhale while getting ready to lift the weight. ALWAYS exhale while exerting force to perform the repetition. NEVER HOLD YOUR BREATH!
Never lock a joint: This is BAD form. 1) It puts the entire load on the bones and it can cause damage to your joints. 2) Because the bones are supporting the weight, the muscles relax, thus NOT getting a workout.
Always lift in control: Keep the weights (i.e.: bars, dumbbells, machines, etc) under control. You should be able to stop a repetition at any point without much difficulty. You should be able to dictate the tempo of the repetition, NOT the machine or weight. If you can’t control the repetition, then you are using TOO MUCH weight!
There’s always another day to lift heavier: Whenever in doubt as to how much weight you should use, go with a “lighter” weight. If at the end of the set you don’t feel that you got a good pump, add a few more repetitions or another set to your routine. If you use too much weigh to show off, most likely you’ll get hurt and then it’s TIME OUT until you heal. Be SAFE!
X+3: Increase your sets by 3 repetitions pass your normal range before increasing the weight. It’s safer! For example: if you are doing 12 repetitions on the bench press with 135lbs, wait until you can do 15 with PERFECT FORM before increasing the resistance. For upper-body exercises add 5-8%. For the lower-body add 8-10%.
Muscle intensity: Try to keep the muscle contraction through the entire set and range of motion. Don’t let the muscle relax! Keep the muscle under tension, specially during the eccentric part of the repetition.
Periodization: Change things up. Every 4 or 6 weeks make a few changes to your routine (i.e.: order of exercises, try a NEW exercise, change the grip, add another set, etc.). The body needs constant changes in order to continue on making positive physical adaptations (getting stronger)!
Motivation and goals: Set clear goals! A goal should be: measurable, challenging yet attainable! Make every workout count!
Rest: Give your body a break. At least 24 hours between WEIGHT workouts. It’s ok to lift every day as long as the muscles that you train are different. Also, it’s ok to do cardiovascular activity every day. Your cardiovascular system recovers much faster than your muscular system. Take at least ONE FULL day OFF a week!