Every Thursday I will be sending out a post containing 3 things to check out, 2 personal thoughts, and 1 challenge, all on the topics of health, wellness, and fitness.
3 Things to Check Out
Iâm generally of the opinion that you should reinforce and train strange âbeyond the limitsâ sort of movements in order to prevent injury in life. Phrased another way: itâs moving in unexpected ways that produce injury, not expected ways where youâre strong.
So letâs start with the knees. Take a look at the sissy squat, a movement that has been used for decades before a more modern study suggested that knees moving beyond the toes can cause knee pain. I personally find the opposite to be the case - not only does this movement produce strength in unexpected positions, but it also has removed almost all of the pain Iâd get in my right knee from squatting too heavy.
Hanging is the second of the injury proofing trifecta Iâd like to bring up today. In particular what the linked post calls a âpassive hangâ. That is, letting your shoulders relax and applying traction to the joint. This helps strengthen the tendons and rotator cuff as well as the elbow joint. And if hanging with two hands is easy for you, try it with just one.
There are folks in the world predisposed to shoulder dislocations. Youâll know if youâre one of these people. But if you are, a true passive hang might be out of the question. You can still hang though - just keep your shoulder active enough to keep the arm in the socket.
My final odd movement for injury proofing is the most controversial - the jefferson curl. This is a movement I would recommend you use with caution, only if it can be done without pain, only with very light weight, and only if youâre read the linked article. Plenty of back experts will tell you that moving your spine in this way is injury prone.
In my experience, doing this movement unweighted or with very light loads, for higher repetitions, can be beneficial for back pain and hamstring flexibility. This article does a better job of explaining this, I think, if youâre willing to try this movement.
2 Personal Thoughts
Injuries are insidious. They stick with you for a long time. Preventing injuries and working to heal them is probably in the top 3 most important things training can do for you. The less injured you are, the better you feel, and the better you feel, the more active you are.
Odd object lifting takes the idea of âtraining the unexpectedâ to the next level. When you lift a sandbag or a weirdly shaped rock or a wheelbarrow full of sand, itâs never the same. Itâs never stable. It wobbles, it rocks, sending you this way and that to keep it steady. These are things you donât get with weight machines, or even a barbell.
Odd object lifting is probably by favorite form of training.
1 Challenge
Take a look at how you train and compare it with any aches, pains, or injuries you may have. Then consider what you might add to your regular training to not only heal that pain, but to also prevent future pain and injury.