Ok, this isn't so much targetted to the guys out there who have injured themselves already, but for the newer guys out there who have yet to do it. Once you injure yourself to tend to have a slightly better understanding of your body. But, maybe not always, so hopefully someone will get something out of this post.
I'm always reading about injury prevention all over the internet, and for the most part people aren't giving very good advice.
Let me give you a good example:
Yesterday I was doing some stiff legged deadlifts when one of the other powerlifters (one of the retired ones actually) came over to me and critticized my technique...saying one of his training partners, a very good martial artist, tore a bunch of back muscles using the same technique that I was today.
A little later in my workout he comes back and asks why he doesn't see me stretching in between my reverse hyper sets. He explains that his training partner, the martial artist, always advocated that he stretch during a workout and that he wished he had taken that advice. Of course, which one of the two had to take a year off from squatting and deadlifting due to injury? Not the one who omitted stretches!
Now, somehow the irony of that situation escaped him, and I'm not insulting him, because I think it escapes a lot of weight trainers. Right now I'm gunna go through the cookie cutter "injury prevention" advice, and tell you why its not really accurate.
-stretching: Stretching just flat out does not prevent injuries. Look at track athletes, runners, gymists, and weight trainers who have all practiced stretching and have all torn connective tissue. Stretching will change the flexion of your muscles, which is dangerous when you train with weights. You will condition your body to require stretching in order to perform a task, and when this stretching is absent, you will hurt yourself. You only need to be as flexible as necessary to perform a movement through its full range of motion. For most of you, this means being able to squat ass to ankles, bench to your chest, and get down low to deadlift. If you can't, don't stretch til you can, practice your technique until you can.
-warmups: Warm ups are great for getting in extra volume and practicing technique, and those two things will prevent injury to some extent. Extra volume means you'll be stronger, hopefully keeping the strength of your connective tissues balanced. Good technique is always a good idea to avoid injury. However, the idea of being "warm" or having good "blood flow" are not things that prevent injury. If you constantly depend on warmups, you will condition your body to require these, and in the absense of them, you will hurt yourself. However, if you never did them in the first place, you wouldn't be dependent on them, and consequently wouldn't be hurt now.
I'm not trashing warmups. I do them for certain exercises. However, its important to know why you do them, so you can decide if they are appropriate for the lift or not.
-lockout: I've seen a few guys on occation say that they don't lockout weight on the bench or certain exercises because they want to "save their joints". I really think this practice is misguided, and again...that they are just conditioning their bodies to be more vulnerable to injury. Mechanical advantage is maximized at lockout, so you are at your safest in this possition. Don't fear the lockout...please.
Now...I know what you guys are thinking..."well, shit, I do all that stuff, now what the fuck can I do to prevent injury?"
Here ya go:
-Small changes: Injuries never result from one stupid mistake, but many simultanious stupid mistakes. I make stupid mistakes all the time, but I've never torn a muscle, connective tissue, or blown a joint. Sure, I've had my share of minor strains and pulls, but its never gotten past the microtrauma stage. Lets face it, if you don't pull or strain something on occation you're probably not trying hard enough.
The reason why it never gets past the microtrauma stage is because I only usually make one dumb mistake at a time. What one needs to do to ensure they only make the occational error is this: Pick a quality routine that you can commit to for at least half a year, if not a full year. I don't care which, but something good; 5x5, HST, AnimalMass's DF program, Hogg's 2x split, Grizzy's program, the Super Squats program, one of Ramstein's 3x a week programs, etc.
Stick with the program, and only make one or two minor changes after each training cycle. Do not change anything during the training cycle if possible. In reality, there isn't much that needs changing with those programs, so stick to it and only change whats been causing you some nagging pain or stiffness. This way, when you do something stupid, or just make an innocent mistake, you'll only get a minor injury, instead of a terrible one.
-AAS: Don't start a new cycle at the same time you're starting a new training program. This one should just be common sense. You have no idea what the training cycle will do to you, and you have no idea what your strength will be like on this particular AAS cycle. If you're going to go on an AAS cycle, make sure you're already doing a program that you know your body responds well to, because you've done a few training cycles with it. If you have never done a good program in the past, this is ALL THE MORE REASON to get on one before you start AAS. Put off the juice for another 2 months while you do a real program instead of a Muscle and Fitness whack-off-fest. Your body will thank you, you impatient fuck.
-Balance: Ok, keep your muscles balanced. This seems like common sense, and a lot of people think they're doing this, but they frequently aren't. And I'm not talking about making sure your legs are proportioned with your upper body.
In years past weight trainers and bodybuilders were still incorporating a lot of Olympic Weightlifting variations in their training, but few people do this today besides Olympic Lifters. Olympic Lifters are the best overhead pressers pound-for-pound in the world. I mean they have 150 pound guys pressing 400-500 pounds overhead. Unbelieveable right? So where are all their shoulder problems? Well, they don't get them very frequently because external rotation work is inherent in their training. Everytime they clean a barbell (which is many times per week) they train this movement, and as a consequence they have healthy shoulders.
If you're not doing some kind of clean, upright row, or a comparable variation, you're probably not training your external rotation. So, at the very least you need to do this through isolation movements. This article isn't the best on the subject, and maybe later I'll tell you what I would do instead, but its a good start: http://www.t-mag.com/html/body_145shldr.html
HOWEVER, its better to just stop being lazy, and start doing some kind of clean or upright row. Also, don't let this substitute heavy shoulder pressing, you need to keep that up as well.
The second most common imbalance is with your grip. We train our closing hand muscles all the time, but never the muscles that open the hand. Go to www.ironmind.com and order an Outer Limit Loop attachment, I think its the best training implement for this at the moment. If you're broke, get a bucket of rice or sand, and open your fingers against the resistance of the sand. Good and cheap alternative. Or hell, do both.
-Train the core: I know a lot of you guys don't like training your core muscles. Well, you're really opening yourself up for injury if you don't. I know, I know, big core muscles throw off your proportions and make you unaesthetic. Fuck that, how many of you are REALLY going to step up on a bodybuilding stage? Yeah, thats what I thought. You guys just do it to look good, so shut the fuck up and start getting in shape. I noticed some of you guys calling side bends "gay" in another thread...well, you better put on your wingtip shoes and capri pants cuz you need to start doing them 2x a week. Heavy ab work as well. Some kind of weighted situp is best, preferably with straight legs. And you had BETTER be doing some kind of heavy pull from the floor, be it a deadlift variation, or a clean variation. This same retired powerlifter was telling me about his hernia operations...come to find out he never did any ab or oblique work. Go figure.
A lot of these ideas belong to guys like JS, Louie Simmons, and other fantastic strength coaches. A few of the ideas I ganked from guys like Gavin and AnimalMass...and a few of the ideas are my own. But they're all good.
These are a good start. Work on this stuff and you will be better protected from injury. Nothing is full proof, and I'm sure I've horribly jinxed myself...I'll let you guys know tomorrow when I tear both pecs, blow out my back, and drop a deadlift on my foot.
Oh yeah, and keep a detailed training diary. I can't stress that enough. Its impossible to prevent injury without knowing whats worked in the past and what hasn't.
I'm always reading about injury prevention all over the internet, and for the most part people aren't giving very good advice.
Let me give you a good example:
Yesterday I was doing some stiff legged deadlifts when one of the other powerlifters (one of the retired ones actually) came over to me and critticized my technique...saying one of his training partners, a very good martial artist, tore a bunch of back muscles using the same technique that I was today.
A little later in my workout he comes back and asks why he doesn't see me stretching in between my reverse hyper sets. He explains that his training partner, the martial artist, always advocated that he stretch during a workout and that he wished he had taken that advice. Of course, which one of the two had to take a year off from squatting and deadlifting due to injury? Not the one who omitted stretches!
Now, somehow the irony of that situation escaped him, and I'm not insulting him, because I think it escapes a lot of weight trainers. Right now I'm gunna go through the cookie cutter "injury prevention" advice, and tell you why its not really accurate.
-stretching: Stretching just flat out does not prevent injuries. Look at track athletes, runners, gymists, and weight trainers who have all practiced stretching and have all torn connective tissue. Stretching will change the flexion of your muscles, which is dangerous when you train with weights. You will condition your body to require stretching in order to perform a task, and when this stretching is absent, you will hurt yourself. You only need to be as flexible as necessary to perform a movement through its full range of motion. For most of you, this means being able to squat ass to ankles, bench to your chest, and get down low to deadlift. If you can't, don't stretch til you can, practice your technique until you can.
-warmups: Warm ups are great for getting in extra volume and practicing technique, and those two things will prevent injury to some extent. Extra volume means you'll be stronger, hopefully keeping the strength of your connective tissues balanced. Good technique is always a good idea to avoid injury. However, the idea of being "warm" or having good "blood flow" are not things that prevent injury. If you constantly depend on warmups, you will condition your body to require these, and in the absense of them, you will hurt yourself. However, if you never did them in the first place, you wouldn't be dependent on them, and consequently wouldn't be hurt now.
I'm not trashing warmups. I do them for certain exercises. However, its important to know why you do them, so you can decide if they are appropriate for the lift or not.
-lockout: I've seen a few guys on occation say that they don't lockout weight on the bench or certain exercises because they want to "save their joints". I really think this practice is misguided, and again...that they are just conditioning their bodies to be more vulnerable to injury. Mechanical advantage is maximized at lockout, so you are at your safest in this possition. Don't fear the lockout...please.
Now...I know what you guys are thinking..."well, shit, I do all that stuff, now what the fuck can I do to prevent injury?"
Here ya go:
-Small changes: Injuries never result from one stupid mistake, but many simultanious stupid mistakes. I make stupid mistakes all the time, but I've never torn a muscle, connective tissue, or blown a joint. Sure, I've had my share of minor strains and pulls, but its never gotten past the microtrauma stage. Lets face it, if you don't pull or strain something on occation you're probably not trying hard enough.
The reason why it never gets past the microtrauma stage is because I only usually make one dumb mistake at a time. What one needs to do to ensure they only make the occational error is this: Pick a quality routine that you can commit to for at least half a year, if not a full year. I don't care which, but something good; 5x5, HST, AnimalMass's DF program, Hogg's 2x split, Grizzy's program, the Super Squats program, one of Ramstein's 3x a week programs, etc.
Stick with the program, and only make one or two minor changes after each training cycle. Do not change anything during the training cycle if possible. In reality, there isn't much that needs changing with those programs, so stick to it and only change whats been causing you some nagging pain or stiffness. This way, when you do something stupid, or just make an innocent mistake, you'll only get a minor injury, instead of a terrible one.
-AAS: Don't start a new cycle at the same time you're starting a new training program. This one should just be common sense. You have no idea what the training cycle will do to you, and you have no idea what your strength will be like on this particular AAS cycle. If you're going to go on an AAS cycle, make sure you're already doing a program that you know your body responds well to, because you've done a few training cycles with it. If you have never done a good program in the past, this is ALL THE MORE REASON to get on one before you start AAS. Put off the juice for another 2 months while you do a real program instead of a Muscle and Fitness whack-off-fest. Your body will thank you, you impatient fuck.
-Balance: Ok, keep your muscles balanced. This seems like common sense, and a lot of people think they're doing this, but they frequently aren't. And I'm not talking about making sure your legs are proportioned with your upper body.
In years past weight trainers and bodybuilders were still incorporating a lot of Olympic Weightlifting variations in their training, but few people do this today besides Olympic Lifters. Olympic Lifters are the best overhead pressers pound-for-pound in the world. I mean they have 150 pound guys pressing 400-500 pounds overhead. Unbelieveable right? So where are all their shoulder problems? Well, they don't get them very frequently because external rotation work is inherent in their training. Everytime they clean a barbell (which is many times per week) they train this movement, and as a consequence they have healthy shoulders.
If you're not doing some kind of clean, upright row, or a comparable variation, you're probably not training your external rotation. So, at the very least you need to do this through isolation movements. This article isn't the best on the subject, and maybe later I'll tell you what I would do instead, but its a good start: http://www.t-mag.com/html/body_145shldr.html
HOWEVER, its better to just stop being lazy, and start doing some kind of clean or upright row. Also, don't let this substitute heavy shoulder pressing, you need to keep that up as well.
The second most common imbalance is with your grip. We train our closing hand muscles all the time, but never the muscles that open the hand. Go to www.ironmind.com and order an Outer Limit Loop attachment, I think its the best training implement for this at the moment. If you're broke, get a bucket of rice or sand, and open your fingers against the resistance of the sand. Good and cheap alternative. Or hell, do both.
-Train the core: I know a lot of you guys don't like training your core muscles. Well, you're really opening yourself up for injury if you don't. I know, I know, big core muscles throw off your proportions and make you unaesthetic. Fuck that, how many of you are REALLY going to step up on a bodybuilding stage? Yeah, thats what I thought. You guys just do it to look good, so shut the fuck up and start getting in shape. I noticed some of you guys calling side bends "gay" in another thread...well, you better put on your wingtip shoes and capri pants cuz you need to start doing them 2x a week. Heavy ab work as well. Some kind of weighted situp is best, preferably with straight legs. And you had BETTER be doing some kind of heavy pull from the floor, be it a deadlift variation, or a clean variation. This same retired powerlifter was telling me about his hernia operations...come to find out he never did any ab or oblique work. Go figure.
A lot of these ideas belong to guys like JS, Louie Simmons, and other fantastic strength coaches. A few of the ideas I ganked from guys like Gavin and AnimalMass...and a few of the ideas are my own. But they're all good.
These are a good start. Work on this stuff and you will be better protected from injury. Nothing is full proof, and I'm sure I've horribly jinxed myself...I'll let you guys know tomorrow when I tear both pecs, blow out my back, and drop a deadlift on my foot.
Oh yeah, and keep a detailed training diary. I can't stress that enough. Its impossible to prevent injury without knowing whats worked in the past and what hasn't.
