Dedicated to those that think adding more weight or performing an extra rep is dangerous.
A History Lesson
Not that long ago the medical profession (especially doctors), advised against weight lifting /strength training. Unsubstantiated claims based on conventional thinking and old beliefs would be used against those who performed strength training. These individuals would be scorned and ridiculed for such practices, and were looked down upon. Medical professionals use to believe that strength training would:
Strain your heart.
Injure muscles and joints
Make you bulky and inflexible
Stop the blood flow to your heart.
All of these claims had little or no scientific support behind them, and they were accepted as medical facts.
Over time exercising with weights (strength training), slowly gained a measure of respect and was thought beneficial for some specific objectives such as athletic conditioning. However, doctors and health specialists were quick to tell us that it really wasn’t necessary for average people who were simply looking to be healthy and fit. Aerobic exercise, they said, was much more important and the key to good health and true fitness.
Times have changed! We’ve almost come full circle. With recent improvements in scientific measurements we now have evidence on our side. Now doctors are not only giving strength training its long overdue recognition as an essential activity necessary for total fitness and good health, many are rightfully elevating it to a stature above aerobic activity. We now know that strength-training exercise is an absolute necessity for all adults.
Be careful though, there are a few old school MD’s still kicking around who have these rigid beliefs, and are not up to date on exercise science. It is surprising how little doctors know about exercise prescription.
Research performed over the past decade has demonstrated unequivocally that strength training can prevent and reverse muscle atrophy and its negative consequences. Most importantly, this research has proven that you are never too old to benefit from strength training. Studies performed on eighty to ninety year olds showed that significant increases in strength and muscle mass are possible even at an advanced age. Individuals who once depended upon canes, walkers, and wheel chairs to help them get up and out of chairs and/or move about no longer required these devices.
It’s not the weight it’s YOU (Inspired by Ryan Lee)
Ok lets a get a few things straight, first strength training DOES have inherent risks, and if performed improperly it can injure you. We should never perform strength training intensely if it’s our first time or even for the first few sessions. As well resistance should not be moved too forcefully, performed too often, or sustained in one position for too long.
Secondly, do not confuse effort and weight with higher levels of injury or pain. It’s not the weight its self that can cause the injury but rather the behaviour in which the weight has been used. Stop for a second and find your nearest wall, and push as hard you can against that wall, this is the heaviest weight you can use. And you can imagine if you tried to run at, or quickly try to slam your hand into the wall, that this would hurt and potentially be dangerous. However, instead of exploding at the wall, try and move the wall gradually and slowly, eventually applying a maximum push against the wall. As you can see, you’re much less likely to injure yourself compared to forcefully trying to heave it or run at. This again drives home the point that it’s not how heavy the weight is, but how you use the weight. This all goes back to the understanding of:
FORCE = MASS x ACCELERATION.
The FORCE that is transmitted through your bones, joints and muscle is increased if you move the MASS with a quick ACCELERATION (or a high rate of change in velocity). But if we move the MASS with little ACCLERATION the FORCE transmitted through our body is minimized. This is why we are always telling you to move slowly, not to speed up, and change your directions slow and smoothly. This is why we are here; this is one of the values of having supervised training. We know that as you get more fatigued you’re more likely to sacrifice form. But not only is this our job, but it’s your job to make sure you maintain good form.
As long as you’ve filled out our health and fitness questionnaire and disclosed all relevant health conditions, you are cleared to start lifting weights in a safe manner. Everybody can strength training, we just have to find the right way. Especially if you’ve been training with us for awhile, and we’ve found safe ranges to use, and you’ve informed us of any irritation or worry you have, we can safely add proper-weight lifting with high intensity-effort. As long as you’ve haven’t told us that a particular exercise made you worse, and you are not hiding an injury, then we will assume you are ready to work hard (within your limits). If you had an old back injury for example, but there has been nothing to suggest that our training is making you worse, we will not shy away from effort unless for some reason you tell us to. If we have been using the same exercise for some time, along with progressively-overloading you and injury has not been sparked, we have no reason not to gradually squeeze as much as we can out of you. Remember, the real risk of injury (as long as you’re not already injured) is related to how you use the weight, and not the effort behind the weight. Yes, it is more likely at the end of a set for you to abandon proper form, but if you focus intensely and hold form as an absolute priority, your risk of injury is minimal. So, if you are able to squeeze an extra repetition out, or add a few more seconds to your time under load safely, then you shouldn’t be worried about injury. There is no cause for concern, or an increased likelihood of re-injury. Asking a muscle to work a few seconds longer (under safe lifting parameters) does not mean your joints, muscles, or nervous system is more susceptible to injury, muscle guard, joint damage, bone fracture, or neuropathy. If anything it’s the exact opposite, we’ve turned our growth mechanisms ON, and taught our nervous system to tolerate more. Obviously it would not be wise after a tough session to take part in another exhausting recreational activity, where you need the protective mechanism of the muscles to support your joints and nervous system. The only time working hard is an issue is if you are experiencing pain during-after exercise and you’ve told us, but we pushed you anyways. If you are hiding the aggravation of an injury, that’s your fault! If you tell me you have an old injury, but are not telling me it’s irritated, I will not assume you are being injured each workout. Lastly, nobody is holding a gun to your head, at anytime if you feel you want to STOP, then do so, we may be encouraging you to keep going but no one is forcing you, IT’s YOUR DECISION. There will be times when you are not in the mood or right mind frame to EEK out all you’ve got, and that’s ok; not every day is perfect, consistency is more important. We may try to help you get more out of a set, for example we may use a set extender, but again it’s your choice, you don’t have to. We are only trying to help you receive the most benefits possible from your workout.
There rarely is a day that passes by that I don’t hear:
“OMG is the weight heavier?” ......Eye roll.
“How much did you add? It feels like a lot.”...........”2 or 5lbs”......”Really?!”
“Why do you make me do so many repetitions?”
“Can I stop yet?”
“I can’t do anymore?”
“How many more?”
All of these questions and statements illustrate a lack of understanding and/or a fear avoidance attitude towards hard work. And I totally understand this, and it’s our job as trainers or physiotherapists to educate you on the importance of hard work and heavy resistance within your limits. I understand especially if you’ve had an injury in, or you are not use to working so hard. I get it! Especially if this is you’re first few times pushing the envelope. What we are asking of you may seem extremely unreal and it’s something you’re not use to, and it’s our responsibility to gradually progress you and guide you within your limits to an affective level of fatigue. But please accept the reality that our goal with high intensity strength training, is trying to encourage the deepest level of muscular fatigue within the safest parameters possible. Anote must be made here that not all individuals need to, or are required to work as hard as they can, especially if you are a physiotherapy patient rehabbing an injury, or an individual suffering from pain. But if you’ve been training with us for awhile, have no pain, and are here for fitness benefits, you should understand by now the importance of hard work. If your goal is to use our strength training method for enhanced fitness and health, then high intensity-effort is the only way we can justify exercising so infrequently. If you have trouble working hard, we can guide you through it at your own pace, but if you have settled with the fact that you are not going to work hard or be pushed, then understand that the benefits gained can only be measured to what you put into each workout.
Perceived threat amplifies pain
If you are individual that is suffering from injury and pain, don’t shy away from movement or exercise. Instead, understand that there a few challenges you have to tackle (with the help of your health professional) and a few modifications will need to be made. But there always is a way to exercise and continue moving. When we are suffering from pain, acute or chronically, we have to realize that pain is amplified if we perceive something as a threat or a stress to our system. If we perceive exercise as a threat than this enhances the sensitivity of our nervous system and amplifies our pain perception of the challenge we are about to face.
We need to have a positive attitude; we need to be confident in our abilities and the individual supervising us. If you are individual training in the gym, then you are more than likely not suffering from an acutely damaged tissue (aggressive strength training is strongly contraindicated). Typically you are suffering from chronic pain, or pain without tissue damage, pain that is related to nervous system sensitivity. In these cases, strength training carefully performed, is one way to enhance tissue tolerance. But if you enter the gym worried or afraid to exercise then you are ramping up your nervous system to perceive this task as painful. Instead enter the gym with a refined attitude of positive expectancy, where you come to expect good things to happen. We all have a little voice of doubt lingering in our subconscious minds, telling us we can’t succeed and aren’t worthy of success, and threatening to derail our efforts. To silence this voice, we need to consciously reprogram ourselves for success through the use of positive affirmations and visualization. Affirmations are positive statements you make to yourself to create or reinforce positive situations in your life. Using affirmations means talking to yourself in a positive way about how you want your life to be, even if it isn’t necessarily that way right now. Some examples of affirmations that pertain to working out are:
“I can do it”. (This is the number one affirmation for any endeavor).
“I get better every workout”.
“I believe in myself”.
“I get stronger and leaner week by week”.
“I love being in shape”.
Repeating positive affirmations to yourself throughout the day effectively drowns out the little voice of doubt in your mind, repels negative thoughts, and creates a mental environment of positive expectancy. Learn to use the words “I can” and “I will” a lot more often, and you will find yourself using the words “I did” a lot more often, too.
Visualization means creating a mental picture of yourself achieving what you want in your mind’s eye. You see a picture of yourself doing it, and then you go out and do it that way in reality. Champion athletes practice this all the time. When you have a quiet moment to yourself during the day, close your eyes and visualize yourself: Having a great workout, putting in a maximum effort and writing down more reps or weight on your workout card. Looking in the mirror and seeing yourself the way you want to look. Meeting an old friend out somewhere who tells you that you look great and asks what you have been doing. As you visualize, re-create the feeling of exhilaration you will experience when you actually do these things.
Tip: Utilize affirmations and visualization to tell yourself how you want your life to be and see yourself doing things successfully. Using both together will create the positive mental environment that will be instrumental in helping you achieve the results you seek.
In the end always communicate with your instructor, let them know how your feeling, voice any questions or concerns you may have. If you are exercising and you are noticing more pain or irritation always tell us. Pain may occur with movement, resistance and effort, we just have explore and find a non-threatening non-painful way to exercise.
References:
Ryan, T. (2001). The Real Fountain of Youth.
Durell, D. (2009). The 7 deadly workout mistakes and how to avoid them.
