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Written by Bob Forney ISSA CFT AFPA
We have all seen the guy in the gym who loads up the curl bar with far more weight than he can lift, and instead of exercising his biceps, he exercises his lower back. Many would refer to this guy as cheating, but let’s make a quick distinction between cheating and bad form. For those who load up a bar with too much weight and have to rely on bad form in order to complete the set, let’s refer this as bad form.
On the other hand, cheating is using other muscles in order to help you get out a few more reps after you have reached a point in which you can no longer perform reps using proper form. One could logically say that you are using bad form to perform a few more reps, and I cannot dispute this, but when it’s planned as part of your routine to maximize overload, than it can been seen as part of a well planned training routine. Using bad form all the time will actually lead to injuries, but using cheating as part of a program, when used properly, can actually maximize your results.
Hopefully I have made the distinction between cheating and bad form, so now let’s focus on using cheating to maximize your weightlifting results. When you decide to use “cheating” in your workouts, you should make sure you’re using it correctly and at the right time in your training. You should not use “cheating” all the time since it can lead to injuries or over training. You are probably wondering when the right time is, and the right time depends on the individual and their goals. There are so many different ways to correctly program cheating into your program that it’s very difficult to give anyone an exact point at which to use cheating, and it should be set up based on the individual, their history, their goals, etc ad infinitum.
I don’t want to leave you hanging without giving you some examples of when to use cheating, so let me at least give you some ideas on when to use the “cheating” method. I want to make it clear that these are NOT rules that you have to follow, these are simply examples of when you can properly use “cheating” to improve your results. Let’s take a guy or gal who uses autoregulatory training. When this trainee is feeling good, they hit the weights hard, but when they are feeling weak or tired, they drop their intensity and take it easy. On the days this trainee is really feeling good, they add in a few cheating exercises in order to maximize their overload on this specific training day. This is what I would consider a good use of cheating. Another example is of a bodybuilder who uses a program in which he peaks his training intensity and adds cheating during the peak phases of training. This again would be a good example of when to use cheating in your program. There are far more examples that I could give, but I think this gives you the basic idea of when to use cheating in your training.
Cheating can be used for nearly any training objective. For example, powerlifters could use cheating when they have a partner help them through a sticking point, so cheating is not limited to any specific goal or training objective.
Before I end this article, I also want to make the case for cheating. There are many people out there who believe cheating is always bad. These types of folks are set in their ways, and I can understand why. First of all, these people associate cheating with bad form, and I mentioned this earlier in this article. In this regard they are right, but many times they associate any type of cheating as negative, which I would have to say is the wrong way to look at it. Let’s take for example, a guy who trains smart and who has programmed “cheating” into his workout program. He knows that cheating will allow him the ability to maximize overload, but at the same time, he knows that too much overload will lead to over-training and injury, so he programs his training accordingly. He decides to use cheating during his peaking periods, or periods of high intensity training. This guy is not using bad form per se, but rather, he is maximizing his training to provide maximum overload which will maximize his results, but not so much overload to cause injury or over training. So instead of only being able to curl 150 lbs for 8 reps, he performs 8 reps with 150 lbs and then 2 more reps with just enough cheating to get him past his sticking point. He has added more overload to his muscles more by adding in a few cheating curls.This is what I call cheating for success!
So if you are cheating the correct way and someone says “hey, that is cheating”, tell them, “yep, your right, I programmed cheating into my workouts in order to maximize overload in order to maximize my fitness results.” And then explain to them how you cheat on purpose in order to maximize your results, or point them to this article instead.
We have all seen the guy in the gym who loads up the curl bar with far more weight than he can lift, and instead of exercising his biceps, he exercises his lower back. Many would refer to this guy as cheating, but let’s make a quick distinction between cheating and bad form. For those who load up a bar with too much weight and have to rely on bad form in order to complete the set, let’s refer this as bad form.
On the other hand, cheating is using other muscles in order to help you get out a few more reps after you have reached a point in which you can no longer perform reps using proper form. One could logically say that you are using bad form to perform a few more reps, and I cannot dispute this, but when it’s planned as part of your routine to maximize overload, than it can been seen as part of a well planned training routine. Using bad form all the time will actually lead to injuries, but using cheating as part of a program, when used properly, can actually maximize your results.
Hopefully I have made the distinction between cheating and bad form, so now let’s focus on using cheating to maximize your weightlifting results. When you decide to use “cheating” in your workouts, you should make sure you’re using it correctly and at the right time in your training. You should not use “cheating” all the time since it can lead to injuries or over training. You are probably wondering when the right time is, and the right time depends on the individual and their goals. There are so many different ways to correctly program cheating into your program that it’s very difficult to give anyone an exact point at which to use cheating, and it should be set up based on the individual, their history, their goals, etc ad infinitum.
I don’t want to leave you hanging without giving you some examples of when to use cheating, so let me at least give you some ideas on when to use the “cheating” method. I want to make it clear that these are NOT rules that you have to follow, these are simply examples of when you can properly use “cheating” to improve your results. Let’s take a guy or gal who uses autoregulatory training. When this trainee is feeling good, they hit the weights hard, but when they are feeling weak or tired, they drop their intensity and take it easy. On the days this trainee is really feeling good, they add in a few cheating exercises in order to maximize their overload on this specific training day. This is what I would consider a good use of cheating. Another example is of a bodybuilder who uses a program in which he peaks his training intensity and adds cheating during the peak phases of training. This again would be a good example of when to use cheating in your program. There are far more examples that I could give, but I think this gives you the basic idea of when to use cheating in your training.
Cheating can be used for nearly any training objective. For example, powerlifters could use cheating when they have a partner help them through a sticking point, so cheating is not limited to any specific goal or training objective.
Before I end this article, I also want to make the case for cheating. There are many people out there who believe cheating is always bad. These types of folks are set in their ways, and I can understand why. First of all, these people associate cheating with bad form, and I mentioned this earlier in this article. In this regard they are right, but many times they associate any type of cheating as negative, which I would have to say is the wrong way to look at it. Let’s take for example, a guy who trains smart and who has programmed “cheating” into his workout program. He knows that cheating will allow him the ability to maximize overload, but at the same time, he knows that too much overload will lead to over-training and injury, so he programs his training accordingly. He decides to use cheating during his peaking periods, or periods of high intensity training. This guy is not using bad form per se, but rather, he is maximizing his training to provide maximum overload which will maximize his results, but not so much overload to cause injury or over training. So instead of only being able to curl 150 lbs for 8 reps, he performs 8 reps with 150 lbs and then 2 more reps with just enough cheating to get him past his sticking point. He has added more overload to his muscles more by adding in a few cheating curls.This is what I call cheating for success!
So if you are cheating the correct way and someone says “hey, that is cheating”, tell them, “yep, your right, I programmed cheating into my workouts in order to maximize overload in order to maximize my fitness results.” And then explain to them how you cheat on purpose in order to maximize your results, or point them to this article instead.
