The commercial gym I use covers almost every inch of their walls with mirrors. Chances are, if you also use a commercial gym, you see the same thing I do.
I never really understood why they do such a thing (maybe to make the facilities look bigger?), but one enormous piece of advice I can give to an aspiring weightlifter is this:
DO NOT use mirrors when lifting.
Olympic weightlifters perform on a stage facing a live audience. They train for several hours a day, six days a week, staring at nothing but a fixed point a few feet away. They know that mirrors cannot help you with your technique.
First, relying on mirrors prevents you from learning the feel of each lift. For example, some people use a mirror to see if they squatted correctly – you will stunt your abilities because you will never learn the feeling of correct positioning. There’s a big difference between seeing and feeling when you squat below parallel. Moreover, if you look straight onto a mirror, it’s going to be difficult because a mirror only shows you one plane…. unless you use a mirror on your side….
Second, mirrors can be dangerous. Continuing with my previous example, turning your neck to see a mirror on your side can seriously compromise your safety. Not to mention, it can detract from your stability and tightness when lifting. Again, don’t rely on the mirror.
Third, mirrors can be distracting. With so many sights and moving objects, they sometimes break your concentration. The optimal view when lifting is some type of blank wall.
Sometimes it seems that mirrors were install in commercial gyms to build the ego, not the body – standing in front of full-length mirrors while performing bicep curls is a definite head-scratcher. In addition, it sucks when you want to do medicine ball work, but can’t throw it against a wall because they’re all covered with reflective glass. Hell, I’m afraid to push too hard against a mirror and crack it.
On another note, if you want to fix your technique, bring a camera to the gym and record yourself. If you have any questions, feel free to send me a video of your lift, and I would be more than happy to critique it.
Happy lifting!
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