I have been fortunate to not have any serious injuries over the years. I have had a few minor injuries that I plan to talk about in part 2 of this post. Today I am going to give you a few tips on how to not mess yourself up…….
The first rule of coaching is…….”First do no harm!” The majority of you come to me to look better and feel better. Lets make sure we prioritize feeling better so that we can stay in the game long enough to look better. Nothing kills progress like getting injured! Remember the common sense health stuff like flossing your teeth, wearing a seat belt, not smoking, and limiting your time walking or driving on ice.
Things I have seen others screw up==>
“I will fight through it!” mentality– You will. You will then end up worse. Think about the end goal. If your end goal is to look better and feel better we have quite a few ways to reach this goal while not getting hurt! We have our red light/green light system In place for a reason! We do the free success session for a reason! We talk with you before placing you in a program for a reason!!
Terrible technique– If it’s terrible and you have no one looking over this you will get hurt. The end.
Thinking they have recovered, when they have not- Just because you feel better for a session or 2 does not mean the injury is not still there. I also see a ton of people take meds to mask the pain and then “fight through it”
Not addressing the real issue!- That low back pain you have might be because your hip mobility is terrible. That shoulder issue might be because your posture/upper back strength is terrible. That knee issue you have might be because your ankle mobility is terrible. Get a professional to give you an assessment!
Viewing a sport as a general fitness activity – An exercise prescription should be just that, a prescription. It should be different for each person. When a so called professional just has everyone run or whatever without modifications it’s not a good program. Make sure they take the time to listen to YOUR NEEDS!
Going from 0 to 100, real quick – I have to say this in January! Going from sitting on the couch for the last 7 months to “all in” 7 days a week 3 hour workouts will cause you to get hurt! The chance of you staying on your plan long term is slim to none also. The magic is always in being consistent over time.
Not recovering from your sessions- If you don’t recover from the session then its the equivalent of you doing nothing. Get a professional to lay out the program over weeks and months.
Range of motion and body weight before adding weight! – You should not be adding weight to an exercise you can’t even do right without weight. Work on mobility, flexibility, and improve soft tissue quality before trying lift a million pounds.
Not enough variety or too much variety– I have seen some programs that have so much variety people never get good at anything! I see these people doing combo moves that don’t know how to do one of those exercises the right way! When I see these group sessions that look like the video “Thriller” It’s no wonder 90% of the members are frustrated and/or injured.
On the other end of the spectrum is when you do the same exact thing every time. You end up with overuse injuries. You have to find that sweet spot in the middle.
Jumps -Just because some people can do them does not mean you should! If you are overweight or have any injuries to your lower body then stay away from it. It’s not worth the risk when there are 90 million other things we can do. This goes for any form of jumping.
Stop comparing yourself to others!! Stop it!! — I might be able to do box jumps. A few of my athletes might be doing box jumps(after I teach them to land first). I don’t have any of my fat loss transformation members doing box jumps. It’s too risky with little reward for them. This is an extreme example but after an assessment I am able to tell you…”that is not a great idea for YOU!” After I meet with you an alert goes out to all the trainers that says ….”don’t let — do lunges or even think about jumping because its a recipe for disaster with those knees!” We don’t have to become experts in Olympic weight lifting just to lose a few pounds and move better!
Not doing strength training– Some of you on this list might still be doing just cardio. Not a great idea when we have seen the injury prevention benefits of strength training. That and it helps with body composition more than “just cardio” Get someone to show you how to do it the right way.
pre workout energy supplements – this one might seem weird to be on this list but let me explain. When you come to gym hyped up on caffeine there is a very good chance you will overreach for that session. Do it long enough, session to session, and you will then end up over trained. When adrenaline is through the roof on these supplements it can also mask the pain.
Listen to your body! Your body will give you warning signs. Listen to it!!
Get an assessment or free success session FIRST!- The fitness industry is so messed up with all these open up a gym overnight places. They have systems for marketing and sales but then none to actually help the people that need it! We end up in a situation where the people that will make progress anywhere (might) get results and the others are still left struggling. If you enter into a relationship where the other party is not willing to talk about YOUR NEEDS it wont end up well.
So what we represent==> https://
Hit Reply if you need help and we can talk about YOUR NEEDS! I will listen instead of just bragging about how great we are like the other places. I like to keep it simple…you tell me what the problem is. I say we can solve the problem with this program. Give you the cost without locking you into a long term contract or recommending a bunch of stuff you don’t need. Then we get to business and get it done.
Detric Smith, CSCS, ACSM EP-C
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P.S. Still a week left to take advantage of our 28 day jump start program (69.99) or the 6 week transformation program https://