One of the things I've learned throughout my fitness journey is to be in control of an exercise as much as possible. Making mistakes along the way through trial and error, it's important to understand that although form may not always be what makes or breaks you, it's the control that really pits the findings of avoiding getting hurt and getting injured. In some videos you see people making all kinds of mistakes and flopping around like a fish out of water and can't control themselves if they tried in a fucking boat.
When it comes to exercises like Push-ups, how far do you go before you lose control of your form or better yet, how much control do you have over the amount of tension concentrated on the movement itself. For some, it doesn't take long before their arms turn to jello or they think that arching the back for a regular pushup is a good idea. Let me put it this way....This is a work of art and control, this is bullshit form and think this is in some way good for people.
In weightlifting or just typical weight training, control is a must otherwise something terribly wrong can happen, granted that the heavier you go, the greater the form and control but even then you can get hurt. Some bodyweight fanatics admire guys like Herschel Walker who's a genetic freak and has done hundreds to thousands of pushups, squats, situps and such a day for decades; the weird thing is, his form isn't always pretty looking and looks like he does half reps or TUT (time under tension) throughout the movements which has worked for him well and is still a hell of a specimen (despite having a few issues in the political arena these days) but those particular movements aren't always meant for people with different body structures. Hell even the Great Gama didn't practice the best form when it came to the Hindu Push-ups, Hindu Squats, Sapates and other things because the form and control was very different in order to work his body for a specific purpose, it sure as hell wasn't completely for health sake.
It can be stingy to how we control a movement and which muscles to focus into as we move throughout any specific exercise. There are certain things you can get away with but you can't teach people the same exact style as you because different body types come with different structed areas of the muscle groups, you can't teach a 6'6 man at 25 pull-ups the same way you teach a 5'1 75 year old granny, the mechanics yes, absolutely teach that area the best way you know how but the structure in order to perform pullups is different due to arm length, shoulder distribution, the control of the torso so it doesn't swagger and other things.
Training is meant to help prevent injuries as much as possible, not to cause them. There are ways to train like a madman and not have as many injuries or if any if they can help it. We can't 100% avoid injuries from training, it's a part of the game and it's important to understand that no matter what we do, whether microscopic or something completely stupid, there is a chance of injury. However; if we practice our control and keep a solid focus on making a movement work to our advantage so the chances of injury are reduced, that's a far better option than just seeing how many reps you can do and think you won't suffer the consequences when your form turns to shit.
That's one of the things I love to learn from guys like Matt Schifferle, his style of training is to put tension and control into every movement he does in order to make any exercise he does efficient and maybe not spectacular looking but solid enough to where the muscles are worked and it takes on a life of its own even at a low-skill setting. His books in particular like Overcoming Isometrics & Suspension Calisthenics give you an inside scoop to how you can practice controlling your body in order to make exercises effective to their highest degree. His style is more Low-Skilled compared to say someone like those guys from Barstarzz that at times are so advanced that an extremely small percentage of the population can pull it off. The hand placements, the straightness of the core, the curvature of the spine as it moves and the level of tension throughout the body is what will make or break you.
Swinging a sledgehammer is another and it's going to tell you if you're in control or not. If you can barely swing it and your core is too loose, it's going to wreck your back and put strain on the hips, elbows and shoulders. People who work for a living with sledgehammers understand this as well and after many years, some are wrecked regardless because it is really hard physical labor. The point of this area is to understand what you are working with and learning the mechanics while training safely and effectively. As you can see here working with a near 73 lb hammer, I have to keep my body tight in many areas otherwise I'm risking serious back problems and greater chances of blowing a disk along with hernia problems. Also, I wouldn't be training with a hammer that big all the time. With a much lighter hammer, the mechanics are a bit different but the principle of keeping your body safe as you work throughout the movements is the key and to avoid injury whenever possible. I can do hundreds of reps if not up to a thousand or more with a 25 lb hammer and not get injured or have any serious issues but it's only because I pay attention to my body and keep on eye on being not so much stiff but keep control of how I move with precision and speed.
Depending on the type of exercise you do (not kipping pull-ups or crappy form in olympic style lifting), keep control of your body and the movement you perform. Never take such a risk that it becomes a serious injury sooner rather than later. Like I said before, we can't 100% avoid an injury, but we can avoid them a good portion of the time if we learned control and utilizing the best form possible to make ourselves stronger, healthier and in far better condition than the person who can literally be going to the hospital due to stupidity more often than he is training. Be safe yet bold, strong with control and be amazingly awesome in the things you do.
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