MEANING:
ANGLE: An angle is usually measure in degrees (°). For example, a vertical post planted in level ground is at a 90° angle to the ground. Getting the angle wrong for certain exercises will increase risk of injury and reduce exercise effectiveness. Understanding how angles affect your gym performance will enhance your overall technique.
LEVER: An understanding of levers is also important for good technique. In the human body, levers are limbs and fulcrums are joints (like knees and elbows). For a fuller understanding, search online for the physics of how levers and fulcrums work.
TYPES:
Mostly in the gym, we are concerned with angles of 90° and 45° but it can vary depending on the exercise.
As an example of a lever, consider doing a bicep curl with a dumbell. Assume person 1 has long forearms and person 2 has short forearms, and they both use a 5KG dumbell. If they perform the exercise exactly the same, then person 1 is actually doing more work!
TIPS:
People with long limbs should generally use lower weights than people with shorter limbs. Do not feel embarrassed to use smaller weights! – Technique is paramount! You should view your gym training as an art form, and strive for perfection (as any artist does).
Angles
The Mojoh Method often refers to angles. These are extremely important for gym technique. Common angles used in gym exercises are 45° and 90°. For example, when using an incline bench, many exercises are best performed with the bench backrest at an angle of 45° to the horizontal (this is just another way of saying at a 45° angle to the floor).
However, this is mostly a guideline and not many exercises require the angle to be exact, although some do. For example, when performing the bench press your forearms must be either pointing directly upwards (vertical), or you can perform the exercise with a wider grip on the bar for a slightly different engagement of the pectoral muscles, but NEVER should your hands be gripping the bar any closer together than the vertical forearm position.
Incorrect angles increase risk of injury, and reduce exercise effectiveness.
Levers
The Mojoh Method often refers to the physics of levers. These are extremely important for gym technique. A lever is a type of simple machine, which creates a mechanical advantage to perform tasks by changing the magnitude and/or direction of forces. Levers, angles and fulcrums are closely related in physics and I advise you to do a little reading about them. Once you understand the basic physical concepts, your gym technique will improve greatly. In fact your technique when performing everyday tasks will also improve and you will be less prone to injuries related to back, knee and joints.
A good understanding of how levers work will decrease risk of injury, and increase exercise effectiveness.