Used occasionally as a supplement, cheats are OK. But not all cheats actually increase strength, they just allow you to use more weight. You are not using more strength, you are just cheating to add weight to the bar. You need to honestly ask yourself why you are straying from standard form, and if it has anything to with the number (lbs. or kilos) you probably shouldn’t do it.
Some Good Cheats
-Board press
-Floor press
-Straight Bar curls with slight bump at bottom
-High Band Box Squats
-Your buddy giving you a slight touch through your sticking point
Some Bad Cheats
- Using you ribcage as a trampoline so you can add 10lbs. to your “1RM” on benchpress
- Straight Bar curls with a huge swing at bottom and a back bend at the top so you can curl 5 more lbs.
- Tag-team curls where your spotter actually curls more weight than you do
- Your buddy having to perform a Max Effort deadlift enroute to you setting a PR on the benchpress