Mirrors: Do You Need Them For Weight Lifting?
Mar 6th, 2008 by Mehdi Tags: Strength Training, Weight Lifting
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I trained for 5 years in a commercial gym. In 2004 I built a home gym. I first thought getting mirrors too. But I got more interested in strength training by that time, and had seen videos of guys doing Squats in front of a blank wall.
If they can do it, I can do it. I didn’t buy any mirrors. Except for a few occasions where I trained with friends in a commercial gym, I have not used mirrors for weight lifting since 2004. And I will never use any again. Here’s why.
Why Would You Need Mirrors? These were my 2 reasons to use mirrors for 5 years, and they probably are your reasons for using mirrors too.
- To Check Form. Checking if your exercise technique is correct in the mirror: feet stance, knee position, etc
- To Check Progress. Fat loss and muscle mass progressions. Squeezing your arms in the mirror like bodybuilders do.
The Problem with Mirrors. Mirrors in fitness clubs & clothing stores make you look smaller. Mirrors in bodybuilding gyms make you look bigger. Mirror don’t reflect what’s really happening.
- You Can’t Check Form. Mirrors only give you information about the front plane, not the sagittal/transverse plane. You can’t see if your hips come lower than your knees on Squats without a side mirror.
- You Can Injure Your Neck. Squatting while looking in a side mirror to check form will tweak your neck. Same thing if your look up in the starting position of Barbell Rows, Deadlifts, Power Cleans.
- You Don’t Develop Kinesthetic Sense. Mirrors prevent you to develop a feeling of how your body moves through space: kinesthetic sense. Use the input you get from proprioception rather than relying on visual input.
How to Switch to Mirror-Free Workouts. Olympic weight lifters, powerlifters & strongman don’t use mirrors. They face the public. You can also workout without mirrors. You’re already doing it actually: the Bench Press.
- Ignore Mirrors. If you can’t workout without facing a mirror, focus on 1 point while doing your sets. Don’t look at the mirror, but through it.
- Listen to Your Body. Training without mirrors will feel weird at first. Persist. You’ll get used to it and your kinesthetic sense will develop.
- Get Feedback. Tape yourself or ask someone at the gym to give you feedback on your technique until your kinesthetic sense develops.
Mirrors are for bodybuilders who like to check if their muscles are pumped up between sets. No need for that in strength training. Check the mirror when you get out of the shower only. You’ll feel better about yourself.
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Excellent post. In high school I trained in the basement of our house and there wasn’t any mirror. In college and afterwards, I always worked out at gyms, fitness centers, etc. and they always had mirrors. I think they do have a mental effect on training. Recently (4 months), I have been barbell training again and there is only one mirror where I train, and I find I am more efficient with my workout — less time spending admiring myself and more focus on technique and lifting the weight.
How do mirrors in the gym make you look bigger?
Mirrors are for perfecting the ego more than perfecting the form
@Gee,
Mehdi will have to comment on what he meant but I suspect that it has to do with perception rather than in the literal sense. Perception works both ways. Looking in the mirror at your abdominal fat may make you see more than their really is. Last time I looked in the mirror, it showed that my head was much balder than it really is
@Gee
Never noticed that you look bigger/smaller in some mirrors than in others? Commercial mindtricks.
I thought that when working out your body/muscles etc pumped up/expanded to a certain degree?
Sure you need mirrors. That way you can catch a glimpse of the hottie working on the thigh machine, without looking like a complete perv!
I’ve seen places that mount mirrors at a slight angle, so you look taller and more imposing. Other places put vertical shims at the center to make the mirror curve, which compresses the horizontal dimension and makes you look skinnier.
Right on Mehdi! I just ordered myself a home gym and am very excited about it! I’ve been training in a commercial gym for 2 years now and can’t wait to finally be able to work out in the convenience of my own home. There won’t be any mirrors either
I would have to say I agree with a lot of your points, but I can also see the benefits of using mirrors. If you set up mirrors on two walls, it is possible to monitor more than one pane during different points in your lift. i would probably also recommend making a video of a workout. It would be helpful to review a video once in a while to see if there is waste of movement, proper form, and as an archival tool for size.
GREAT post. I’ve been meaning to post in my blog about this very thing, but you nailed it. I went through the exact situations you did, and now I really prefer no mirror. Once you know what you’re doing, you don’t need them, they don’t really help, they’re terribly distracting, and it puts the emphasis on cosmetics. Now I open the garage door and focus on the sky and trees instead, and I’m a healthier person, a little less myopic, too, I hope.
The lighting in a gym plays a part too - if the lighting comes from directly above, it emphasises a lot of muscularity and makes you look sinister - sort of like a metallica album cover. Ambient lighting or daylight gives a more neutral picture.
i definitely agree and will try this out at my next session of power snatches. I often find myself looking straight ahead at a mirror when i should be either looking down or up or whatever during different phases of my lifts. I know it willl feel weird but starting next time , i shall face the gym while working out. Also thought i comment on ambient noise levels and how they hurt performance. The manager at my gym ALWAYS plays rock/metal, and mostly its quite loud, esp since the speakers are right above the squat rack and the lifting platform. However, i started wearing ear plugs while lifting and am much more efficient at my workouts. I cannot see how people can have their ipod earbuds on, blasting music so that one can hear them from 6 feet away!!! 1) you cant totally focus on your exercise and 2) you certainly cant pay attention to the music! Regarding strength training, esp olympic style movements, where timing and coordination are paramount, minimum distractions (music, mirrors, mammaries:P) means maximum performance.
Anthony is right on… a video is the best anyway to check form. It can be surprising too!
I like having mirrors though because seeing the results of what you are doing is a confidence booster and that just helps be bust out a couple extra reps. This may sound funny but sometimes when you need to give yourself a stern talking too to complete your workout… looking at yourself in the mirror makes that internal dialog a little louder.
Actually, I see a lot of people bench pressing and tilting their head forward EVERY rep to see their form in the mirror. Waiting for injury I think.
Personally, I have squatted without a mirror for 1 year. When I moved to another gym, there was a mirror in front of the squatrack. I feel my form has improved since and I squat lower since.
In the other gym there were no people who would correct me if my form was wrong (or even capable of differing good from bad) so I think it’s important to have someone who can check your form.
I would like to go in my gym one night and put in some of the carnival mirrors used to distort the person standing in front of them. I would specifically place them where the dumbell racks are because there the people get up close to it. Other than that, the only use mirrors seem to have is they make the gym look bigger than it really is.