By: Kris Thompson

stand·ard
ˈstandərd/
noun

1. 
a level of quality or attainment
2. 
an idea or thing used as a measure, norm, or model in comparative evaluations.

When I asked your Double Edge coaches why it’s important for our members to perform movements to their respective standard this is what they all said:

“If they don’t move to standard they’re not getting the full benefit of the movement and they’re just cheating themselves.”
– Joaquin Ramirez

“They will be less prone to injury and if you cut reps in the gym, you can’t cut reps in life. Your fitness doesn’t carry over, you can’t cut miles out of a 10 mile hike.”
– Alvie Hafen

“You’ll never be able to understand what your body can do if you’re not moving to full range of motion. If the speed limit is 65 and you’re always doing 50, you’re always going to be behind in miles.”
– Jacob Wellock

“It translates into real life, full squats, full push ups, full sit ups. Everything in the gym we do in real life. If you don’t practice full range in the gym and a real life situation calls for full range and you can’t accomplish it then you can get injured and you’re not able to apply your fitness outside of the gym.”
– Derek Wellock

“Safety and efficiency equals performance. A safe and efficient movement will always create the highest level of performance.”
– Joel Cochran

“Injury prevention.”
– Trent Soares

“I think it’s important because, it requires commitment, dedication, drive and integrity to not only yourself but to others that are watching to understand and perform the movement to standard.
– Sabrina Blajos

“It’s a safe and efficient way to perform that movement, so when you cut the movement you put yourself at risk and you exert more energy than necessary.”
– Leo Fontana

Do you see the common theme? SAFETY! Safety both in and out of the gym, this is just one of many reasons why moving to the set standard is important. Now let me back track a little bit, some of you might be wondering what I mean by “standard.” Other than the definitions that I had at the beginning of this post in terms of Welded the standard of a movement can also be described as moving full range of motion as well as cues that are necessary in order to count a rep as “good.”

Example #1: the squat
What we look for is that the “hip crease” passes below the knee in the bottom position and the hip reaches full extension at the top of the movement.

Example #2: the push up
What we look for is that the chest comes down, touches the ground in the bottom position and then the arms reach full extension at the top of the movement.

Other than safety, which is the main priority, I’ll give you another reason why moving to standard is important and that brings me to the second definition that was given at the beginning; “an idea or thing used as a measure, norm, or model in comparative evaluations.”

What this means is that if everyone moves to the same standard then it is easier to measure our results. Whether you’re competitive or not, this is important, because if we hold everyone to the same standard then the scores that we see are more accurate and the measure of progress is also more accurate.

With the Welded Games Open around the corner, understanding and ensuring that you are completing good reps is also important. This is a time where we will judging each other by making sure that movements are completed correctly and to standard as well as all the reps in the workout are being completed. Because of this it’s best to always perform good reps and avoid that dredded “NO REP” now, before that can happen especially during The Open later.

So when you hear your coach telling you to, “get lower” or “full extension,” you try your hardest to work on it and get there!

If you aren’t sure as to what the Welded Games Open is, check this out:

And click here!

If you want to find out more about the Welded Games, here’s this:

And this link!