Gym fitness injury

Excluding uncontrollable accidents such as equipment failure and collisions with others, more than 90% of training-related injuries can be avoided in advance. The core principle is never to buy the most expensive personal training classes and wear the thickest protective gear, but to put "action adaptability" before weight, training capacity, and check-in frequency.

Last week, I met Xiao Zhou, a young post-00s guy at the gym. He saw the deadlift instruction of an Internet celebrity, "Build a Tough Man's Waist in 7 Days." He added four 20kg barbell plates to the empty bar. He squatted down until halfway through the pull, his face turned pale, and he sat on the ground holding his waist for half an hour. He was sent to the hospital for an MRI scan, which revealed a lumbar disc bulge. The doctor asked him to stop training for three months.

What’s interesting is that Xiao Zhou posted a video of his movements to a fitness group, and there was a quarrel: the veteran who played in fitness said that his core was not tightened, and when he held his breath when he pulled, he would not bend his waist at all, and it was not a problem to compensate for his movements.； The bodybuilding coach in turn scolded the veteran for misleading his disciples. He said that when the lumbar arch exceeds 15 degrees during the deadlift, he is seeking death. He would rather reduce the weight by half than compensate. ； There was also a sports rehabilitation specialist who followed the argument, saying that what both sides said was too absolute - everyone's femoral length, hip mobility, and core foundation are different. The deadlift stance suitable for a 180cm strong man is easy to collapse on a 160cm man with limited hip flexion. How can there be any standard movement that is universally applicable?

I have been through this trap myself before. The year before last, in order to achieve PR (personal maximum weight) in the shoulder press, I had to push a 25kg barbell behind the neck. The pain lasted for three months, and it was difficult to lift my arms and put on clothes. After going to rehabilitation, I found out that I was born with a narrow acromion. The behind the neck press is easy to cause subacromial impact. So I switched to a combination of front push and light weight dumbbell lateral raises. The training capacity was not reduced, and my shoulder never hurt again.

When many people get injured, they blame themselves for being too impatient with the weight. In fact, many injuries are caused by not paying attention to the details. For example, if you are in a hurry to go to work, go to the gym after get off work, run for five minutes, and then directly put on weights to do chest exercises. The rotator cuff is not activated, and you will unconsciously use your shoulders to compensate when you push. After three or four exercises, your shoulders will start to hurt. ； There are also people who like to look at themselves in the mirror to see if they are squatting properly when squatting, and their necks are tilted up unconsciously. After practicing, their necks will hurt for several days. If this kind of small compensation accumulates too much, it will lead to injuries. Don’t underestimate the difference between delayed-onset soreness and strain. The former is uniform soreness over a large area, while the latter is a stinging pain at a certain point. If it hurts so much, try to use force. Don’t hold on, stop training quickly and investigate the cause. Holding on hard will only turn a small injury into a chronic inflammation.

The debate about protective gear has never stopped: some people say that waist protectors, knee protectors, and wrist protectors are life-saving artifacts, and they must be worn when lifting weights, otherwise they are prone to injury.； Some veterans who have been practicing for more than ten years say that protective gear is like a crutch. If worn for a long time, the stability of the core and joints will deteriorate, and there is no need to wear it for normal training. My own experience is that protective gear is meant for heavy weight lifting. If you do a 10kg dumbbell curl with a wrist protector, or if you do a 20kg squat with a waist protector, you will never be able to build up the strength of your core and wrist joints, making you more likely to get injured.

There was an outrageous injury in the gym two days ago. When an older brother finished bench pressing and put the dumbbell back down, he failed to hold it firmly and hit the foot of the guy who was doing deadlift next to him, breaking his toe. This kind of uncontrollable accident can only be said to look around you more during peak training and don't just stare at your own movements.

Yesterday I met Xiao Zhou in the gym who was back for retraining. Now every time he does deadlifts, he uses elastic bands to do 15 hip hinge activations. He waits for half an hour to feel the force on the empty bar before he dares to slowly increase the weight. Now he has no problem at all when pulling 40kg waist. To be honest, fitness is a matter of talking to your body. If you have to compare weight and clock speed with others, then the gym is not the upstream supplier of orthopedics and rehabilitation.