I know that I always seem to harp on injuries and it is true that I do.

I do this because injuries really can wipe out your training.

Not only can they wipe out your training, but they also, can zap your desire to train, after all you might think,

Why should I bother going to the gym, when I really cannot put in a good workout.

And then you know what happens, you start thinking, well if I cannot train why should I bother to eat clean.

Before you know it you’ve gained a ton of weight, and even when the injury is healed you just never seem to find your self back at the gym.

Sure you mean to, but something always seems to get in the way, school, work, you know there is ALWAYS something that prevents you from going to the gym.

You might be asking yourself,

What got into me today, talking about injuries and the like?

Well I was reading the new issue of Muscular Development Magazine (a great magazine if you haven’t yet picked up a copy you should) and in it Ron Harris does an interview with Seth Feroce.

In the interview, Seth says, that he slightly tore his pec.

And that little bit of info got me thinking about injuries—again.

Seth seems to have a bright future ahead of him in the sport, but who knows what could have happened.

He could have sustained a terrible tear and that could have ended his competitive career.

I realize that it does not have to be a pec tear, but those are the injuries that you most often read about.

And this is because people like to load up on the weights for bench presses and say that they have a huge bench.

A FEW COMMENTS

For all of you young bucks out there who have dreams of becoming pro bodybuilders, remember, your muscles do not care about how much you just lifted.

Nope they really don’t.

Yes, you must always challenge the muscles to do more, but only when you can lift more weight in good form.

You’d be much better off leaning to feel the muscle working and getting a good contraction and stretch in the muscle.

Not just about getting the weight, you are using, from point A to point B—by any means possible.

Remember bodybuilding is not power lifting.

Until Next Time

WORK HARD

Welcome to the first in what I hope will be a long series, If I Could Begin Again.

As I have blogged about before, we did some crazy workouts when we were young and if I am to be totally truthful, not so young.

And while we had fun, recovering from some of those workouts was not something we’d like to do again.

So this is going to be my first IF I COULD BEGIN AGAIN post.

Preventing injuries by not doing any crazy stuff in the gym.

I will go back to something I posted about before,

I got it in my head that I was going to do twenty-rep squats.

And for anyone who doesn’t know what a twenty rep squat routine is let me explain.

For twenty rep squats, at least as I understand it, you pick a weight that you can only do for ten reps and get twenty with it.

This is achieved by taking as many deep breaths as needed between reps.

So for example, when you get to rep say thirteen you would take a couple of deep breaths and do a rep, then take more deep breaths and do one more and continue on until you were finished with all twenty reps.

Naturally, by the time you are done you are wiped out.

However, the real beauty of twenty-rep squats is the indirect effect it has on your whole body, plus in my opinion the rib cage stretching effects of all the deep breathing.

Anyway, I got it into my head that I was going to do twenty-rep squats, but of course, I couldn’t do just one set of twenty I had to do three.

This resulted in a VERY bad thigh muscle pull and in truth I was lucky that I did not tear my thigh.

Or there was another time when I did something like three-hundred reps of up-right rows—non-stop.

Now, I did not know it at the time, but up-right rows really are not so good for your rotator cuffs, but that explains why my shoulders never felt that good for a while after.

SOME COMMENTS

As cool as it may be to show off for your friends at the gym or basement gym, trust me, you will be the one to pay for it.

Either by having an ache and pain that lasts for years or an injury and requires surgery and rehab, just to get back where you were.

So, one thing I would do differently if I could go back would be to avoid all of the stupid stuff I did.

It would have saved me a lot of time healing up from injuries.

Yes, it will be difficult, when all your buddies are egging you on, but trust me, when your workout is over, and you leave the gym healthy and raring to go, for your next workout…

You will be smiling and not worrying about your injury.

Until Next Time

TAKE CARE

Just recently, I was having a few issues—bodybuilding related stuff—and although I tried to work through it for a few days—it just was not getting any better.

So I did what I needed to do, and got some treatment for it.

It was nothing serious—but never-the-less—I know from pervious experience the longer you wait with things the worse they can become.

O.K.

You may be thinking, well big deal that is an obvious statement—yes it is.

But, and here is the kicker—most people KNOW this, but they don’t follow it.

And you know what happens, well first it was their back (lets say the lower back) and our imaginary person thinks—

Well, it will be alright, and then a week later, because they were babying it, their knee starting hurting, and then before long their foot starts bothering them.

And then, because they really CAN’T function anymore they end up seeing their doctor, Chiropractor or Physical Therapist.

And what could a been a minor problem, that was fixed up in no time, got worse and worse, and before our imaginary person knew it, he was out-of-commission for months instead of days.

SOME POINTS

Chances are, most aches and pains can be handled at home with some rest and icing.

But here is the thing, if deep down, you know something is wrong, and you can’t nurse your self back to health—get professional help.

CONCLUSION

A lot of people find it hard to go to the doctor; either because they simply don’t like doctors, or feel that it is a sign of weakness to admit that something is wrong.

But take it from me—the longer you wait, there is a really, really good chance that things will get worse before they get better.

Until Next Time

THINK COMMON SENSE