3 Commandments To Avoid Gym Injury
Training people with 'Body Baggage' is kind of my thing.
I've had the privilege of working with individuals who have had joint replacements, old and outdated surgical procedures, strains and sprains, and of course the "it only hurts when I do ____" folks.
Through hundreds of training sessions there have been 3 major commonalities. These traits have become the 7 commandments that have helped guide me through pain-free training sessions and hopefully after reading this article, will help you rethink and navigate your own training to alleviate your "body baggage".
1) Lateralization should be a key word in your vocabulary.
In the most simple definition, 'Lateralization' means you train the same muscle(s) in a different way. It can mean that you row with a dumbbell instead of a barbell. It can mean that you adjust your body position slightly. It can also mean that you do a completely different move that trains the target muscles in an 'easier' fashion.
Here's some examples:
If barbell bench press irritates your shoulder...you could use dumbbells...if that continues to irritate your shoulder, you could do a standing band press...if you still aren't having a good time, you could do an isometric hold with your elbows at 90 degrees.
That last point brings me to commandment number two...
2) When in doubt, isometrics.
Isometrics are when you hold a working muscle in the same position for a length of time.
I'll spare you the anatomy of it...
A common isometric that I use with my clients who get sore lower backs when they do squats or deadlifts is to hold an isometric lunge - either at bodyweight or holding dumbbells. Another common isometric for those with knee pain is this single leg isometric hamstring/ glute bridge.
Typically moving joints can lead to stability, mobility, and/or strength issues...finding and holding tension at a pain-free position is a great entry point to getting strong or maintaining strength, even when your body says "noooooooo!".
3) Train what you can, and work on what you can't.
This simply means that if you know of 3-5 movements you can train with regularity, train them, and train them often. If you have your heart desired on doing a specific movement and that movement irritates some body baggage, well, you need to address that with a professional (PT, Chrio, Personal Trainer- depending on what the issue is). One of the hardest conversations I have with clients is getting them away from what they want to do, and getting them to what they can do. When we boil it down, people want to train hard and train well (and without pain). Once that becomes the end outcome, everyone is happy.