Injury prevention and tips

[gungalunga]

Play golf instead........

 

[Trenson]

don't do 1 rep maxes

This x 100. Going from strength training to booboo body building has reduced my injuries to zero. I'm sure you'd get hurt going heavy there too but just overall saying lower weights = less injury. Avoiding riskier lifts and staying light.

 

[FK86]

There's conflicting opinion on higher reps. Some say it's safer and easier on the CNS and joints, others say the opposite. 20 rep deadlifts and squats to true failure will crush you more than 8 rep sets.

Lyle McDonald mentioned in a podcast once that people overlook the damage done to joints and connective tissue by taking sets to true failure. Even in an allegedly safer rep range like 12-16; doing those grinders puts incredible stress on them that could be avoided by leaving reps in the tank. It's worth pointing out that low reps and low reps to failure aren't the same thing. If you tried to do 5 sets of 8 with the same weight and 60 second rest periods, you'd probably have to select a load equivalent to a 10-12 rep max. Not training to failure and the cumulative fatigue of the sets would would spare the nervous system, maximize mechanical tension, and reduce the stress the joint receives by having lots of blood in the area and not subjecting it to those grinder reps.

I've also noticed a lot of people say they train to technical failure. To me that's another way of saying leaving one rep in the tank.