If you have been going to the gym for some time, then there is a 99% chance that you have encountered individuals who lift more weight than their capability and brag about it. Lifting heavy loads is fine if you can control the weight. However, if you are lifting beyond your capability, then you are guilty of ego lifting.
In this article, we will briefly discuss the following topics:
- What is ego lifting?
- The problems of ego-lifting
- Signs that you are ego-lifting and
- How can you avoid ego-lifting?
So, without further ado, let us discuss the topics.
Contents
What is ego-lifting?
In simple words, ego-lifting is lifting much heavier weights than you are capable of. You are letting your ego dictate your decision about how much weight you should lift rather than making a rational choice.
It seems harsh, but it is a showoff tendency that gymgoers develop to showcase themselves as superior to others. For an ego lifter, lifting lighter or moderate weights seems less attractive.
A common tendency of an ego-lifter is to impress others by showing how strong they are.
However, in reality, no one cares that much about how much weight you can carry. By doing so, one might think they can increase their might in the gym, but they do not understand that the only thing that they are increasing is the chance of an injury.
The problems of ego-lifting
When you push yourself beyond your capability in the gym, there are always drawbacks. We are not saying that training hard is bad, but it does not mean that you only need to crank up weights that are beyond your limit. Doing so is not training hard; it is simply ego-lifting.
When someone’s ego lifts, there are some problems they bring with themselves. They are:
Increasing the chance of injury
When you do ego-lifting, you increase the chance of getting an injury to a great extent. An ego-lifter often gets injured. Some can be minor, but in many cases, they face significant injuries. The common injuries that some ego-lifters face are:
1. Weight falling on the body:
When people lift more than their capability, one of the most common injuries they face is weight falling on their body.
This kind of incident happens because the person is not able to control the weight, and after a few reps, the muscle gets fatigued super-fast because of the excess weight. In most cases, grip strength gives up, and the weight falls on the body. It sometimes leads to fatal injuries, so think twice before lifting your ego. It also happens when trying to rerack the weight; as the weight is too heavy, the lifter is not able to control the weight, and the weight falls on the body.
2. Joint Pains:
Lifting too much heavy weight compromises joint health. Your joints receive enormous pressure when you do ego-lifting, especially on exercises you perform vertically, like the squat. When you put too much weight on the squat bar, your knees receive enormous pressure, which will lead to joint pain or, in the worst case, fractures.
We exercise to keep ourselves healthy, so why would you compromise your joint health by doing ego-lifting? Always choose a weight that is suitable for you.
3. Muscle Tear:
Your muscles have a limit. There is a limit to the pressure they can handle. If you stretch a rubber band beyond its capability, then what happens? It simply gets torn after reaching a certain limit.
The same principle applies to muscles as well. If your muscles can handle 100 pounds of weight and you put 250 pounds into them, they will not be able to last, and they will simply get torn.
Lacking Improvements
Muscles grow when they receive stimuli from training. When doing ego-lifting, you are using multiple muscles to pick the weight from point A to point B, which does not provide enough stimuli for any particular muscle to grow.
You may think you are training hard, but in reality, you are just doing cheat reps. In the gym, we go to train our muscles, not our egos, so you should focus on training muscles.
Signs that you are ego-lifting
When you start training, you might do ego-lifting without even realizing it. If you are unsure whether you are ego-lifting or not, you can check for the following signs.
Jumping weights randomly
To grow muscles, progressive overload is required, which means you need to push yourself a little bit weekly or every two weeks. You can do this by increasing the weight a little bit, doing more reps using the same weight, or making the exercise a bit harder in any other way.
Many beginners mix progressive overload with ego-lifting. They randomly increase weights weekly or, in extreme cases, daily. Without progressing to the next weight class, they jump 2X or 3X weights.
For example, an individual does the leg press with 120 pounds. In the next week, without any significant improvement in his strength or form, he jumps to do the leg press with 180 pounds.
The example mentioned above is a precise scenario of ego lifting. When an individual jumps weight without making any prior improvements, the chances of injury can go sky-high.
So, you should always progress slowly; making small jumps every week is always recommended.
Doing half-reps
When lifting more weight than your capability, it is almost impossible to maintain a good range of motion because of the lack of control. All ego lifters do partial reps; they always let the eccentric phase to get performed by gravity or do not do the eccentric phase at all.
When performing biceps curls, you need to fully squeeze at the top and fully straighten your arm at the bottom. Ego lifters only go down as much as 90 degrees and also do not even squeeze at the top, as they are unable to control the weight fully.
So, if you are one of them, then drop that weight and perform the exercise as it should be performed.
Bad Posture
Maintaining the correct posture is tough when the load is overly heavy. No ego-lifter can maintain good posture as most of the strength gets sucked out to lift the weight.
You can see it easily; just record yourself while doing a set and check whether you are maintaining the correct posture throughout the exercise.
For example, if you perform squats with weights more than your ability, your back will round in the bottom position.
In other exercises, you will also see that you are not able to maintain a straight back or arch in the back, even if you are trying because of the heavy weight.
Excessive swinging
When someone does ego-lift, especially on curling exercises, they mostly use swinging to generate momentum so that they can lift the weight. They generate strength through their hips so that they can lift the weight along with their ego.
When performing dumbbell curls, you might see many people start lifting in a way that looks like they are dancing. Without that extra swing, they will not be able to lift the weight, so they rush through every rep as if there is a timer set out for the exercise.
Blindly Following Others
Ego-lifting is done to showcase one as the strongest to get some attention.
Many beginners fall into the trap of following others to satisfy their egos. If someone with a good physique is squatting 180 pounds, then they also start replicating that person and doing the same exercise with the same amount of weight. The problem is that the person they are replicating might be training for years to perform that exercise with that amount of weight. However, you just started, so there will be a significant gap between the two.
Your day 1 and someone’s day 100 will not be the same, as that person’s worked hard to reach that level. You can replicate his training plan or diet plan to improve gradually, but you cannot expect to close the gap instantly with someone who has been training for years.
How can you avoid ego-lifting?
There is a famous saying in the gym: “Always keep your ego out of the gym door.” You need to be very clear that you go to the gym to train yourself, not to impress others. By changing the mindset, ego-lifting can be eliminated.
You can follow the tips that will help you clear your mindset and avoid ego-lifting.
Become the best version of yourself
Everyone is different and unique in a different way. You are unique in your aspect, and you do not need to prove anything to anyone in the gym. If you are getting results by using moderate weight, then why bother?
Most people do ego-lifting to satisfy themselves by falsely showcasing how strong they are. People do not care how much you lift. When you step out of the gym, all that matters is whether you have a good physique, as no one will ask you if you lifted heavy or light to get that physique.
So always strive to be the best version of yourself by keeping yourself and your joints happy. Ego lifting only elevates the risks of injury and does not contribute much to any positive aspect.
Be Patient
Results do not come in a day or even in a month. It takes several months or even years of hard dedication toward training to grow.
Rushing on weights will do more harm than profit, so it is better you avoid it. If you receive any severe injury, you will not be able to train for months or even, in extreme cases, for years.
Patience is the key for growing muscles. You will not see many changes in months, but suddenly, you will be growing fast. It is because of the cumulative effort you have put in for all those months without rushing.
Have patience, and for sure, you will achieve your goal.
Go for hypertrophy
Hypertrophy training mainly focuses on growing muscle by providing muscles with enough stimuli to grow. Usually, in hypertrophy training, you use a suitable amount of weight so that you can perform anywhere between 5 to 30 reps.
The rep numbers in strength training are below 5. We are not saying you should not go for strength training; if your goal is to be a powerlifter, then you should. However, for beginners, hypertrophy training is the best choice as it significantly reduces the chance of ego-lifting.
If you cannot do at least 5 reps with proper technique, this can give you a clear indicator that you are doing ego-lifting.
