Injury Prevention with David Berman

Here's a quick fitness quiz for you:

1. How many push-ups can you do with excellent form?
2. How many chin-ups can you do with excellent form?
3. How many bodyweight full squats can you do with excellent form?

Now have a look at your answers. If you aren't able to do

Bodybuilding and fitness are really incredible things to participate in.

And I'm not just talking about the health benefits (when it's done properly).

I'm talking about the idea that they literally allow you to become an artist and create a masterpiece with your own body.

Ok, so you've worked through Step One of setting your health and fitness goals – you've determined what your VISION is. Now it's time to move to Step Two of the process.

Step Two is taking an objective look at where you are right now. In order to make decisions about what you are going to do, you have to know where you are starting from.

In a recent blog post, I talked about setting goals. One Tribe Member (Mehdi) asked if I would write a post on setting realistic and attainable goals. Here goes...

To begin with, let's define what a goal is. In my view, a goal is a target. In some cases, it can be an intermediate target on the way to a bigger target. This would differentiate a short term goal from a longer term goal. In order to get to the longer term goal, you have to pass and fulfill the short term goal.

Starting your fitness planning with goals can be a big mistake. Yes, you read that sentence correctly - I said starting with goals can be a mistake.

I hope you will give me a chance to explain myself...

Pain sucks. Okay, now that we've got that out of the way, what is this post really about?

The real reason I'm writing this is to show you that pain is a terrible warning system. As a matter of fact, it's not a warning system at all.

The fact is, pain is the last thing to show up, and the first thing to go away. Injured tissue happens before pain rears its head, and the damage sticks around after the pain is gone.

If you could look at an acute (just happened) injury in slow motion, you'd see:
(1) the inciting incident, like a fall
(2) tissue being stressed and challenged beyond it's ability to tolerate the stresses
(3) which leads to tissue being torn
(4) which results in a cascade of chemical responses
(5) and finally pain hits us

Notice how pain is last on the list. By the time pain shows up, it's too late.

I'd like you to think about your current workout routine. Think about the exercises you're doing. Think about the set and rep scheme. Think about how many days per week you are hitting the gym. Think about all of it.

Now answer this question, in light of what you are currently doing - Why are you doing it?

I don't mean this in a rhetorical sense. I actually want you to answer the question. Why are you doing what you are doing?

Picking the "right weight" to work out with isn't always easy.

On the one hand, you don't want to pick a weight that's too light. If you do, then you won't be getting the adaptive response you're looking for (i.e. stronger, hypertrophy, etc.).

On the other hand, you don't want to pick a weight that's too heavy. If you do, then you are very likely to cheat, to use bad form, risk injury, and you also won't be getting the results you are looking for.

As a generalization (sorry for generalizing!) I see more people erring on the side of too heavy.

I just finished reading Malcolm Gladwell's newest book titled "Outliers". Very highly recommended!

Here's a short summary of what he says:
1. Success (in anything) has a lot more to do with things like when you are born, where you are born, and your heritage (cultural and otherwise) than with "talent".
2. Success requires working very hard (Gladwell uses 10,000 hours as a guidepost).

So, what in the world does this have to do with health and fitness?? Here's what I think.