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Old Forum Tough questions

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I write a weekly column in our local paper all things iron game and fitness.  I haven't sent this one in; the audience is professionals in our industry of fitness culture.

http://www.r2hp.com/tough-questions-1.html

What are your thoughts?

 

R2

 
 
Thanks for the read, I enjoyed it immensely.  While I have nothing to add on the article (assuming this is one of many, if not the start of a series), I'm intrigued by Vall Valley--sounds like a place I need to check out next time I'm passing through that part of the world, if only to see for myself that such places of physical culture *do* exist in the free world.
 
Good article.

It's the same in Jackson Hole - fit cripples.

If I had to pick a number, I'd say 2 x bodyweight is a good enough deadlift for a male outdoor athlete.
 
Many of us beat ourselves up training and playing our sports. We think we're tough. Maybe we are but we are also stupid. Mobility and joint exercises will help but if the knees can't handle squatting or the back is bothered by heavy deadlifts there are other options and they should be pursued. I would rather be in the hot tub because my friends and I just finished  a day on the ski slopes not because my knees are creaky and my back is tight.
 
Thought-provoking read, thanks. I think there is definitely a point not only of diminishing returns, but as you explain, a point where things begin turning around completely. I think it is mostly ego that drives us beyond these points, overriding rational contemplation of the situation. A guy might have the goal of benchpressing 100kg, but when he gets there he won't sit back and think about the practical or bodily implications of setting a new goal of 120 - it's just automatic to make a new goal at a higher number, on and on. At some point we have to sit back, contemplate achievements and be satisfied. Wanting more constantly can only result in dissatisfaction, and later (inevitably?) injury.

Great quote at the end btw!
 
Thanks for all the great feedback!

Another contreversial angle that is thought provoking is the dichotemy between methodologies that leave me, a coach, even confused. Example; there are world class pt's and orthopedic doctors here in vail that are strongly opposed to strength training as we on this forum adhere to. Not they are wrong per se; but does there distinct opinion make us wrong? I don't think so, but I am rather suggesting that I need to reflect and stop insisting that THEY are wrong.  What can I/we learn from other methodologies that are quite different from our values? How do we apply those principles to the Strongfirst philosophy?

 

 
 
When you understand the StrongFirst principles, you try to apply them deliberately and with forethought.  Not everyone should be strength training, e.g., some in-season athletes in some sports, people whose focus is rehabilitation, and there are others.  People who are against strength training in principle just don't understand it or, worse, have been victims of bad coaching.

-S-
 
Great Article and commentary from all involved.

I'd offer the following suggestion: after posing the difficult questions why not then provide the answer?  Yes one can do ....... provided one has the movement capacity, followed by strength, then whatever skill in question.  Then go into HOW one trains properly, honoring the feedback their body provides rather than regularly engaging in activities beyond their capacity to try and prove something to themselves or others.

Once people begin honoring the principles of movement and StrongFirst strength principles it becomes very apparent what they are and are not capable of currently doing.  The choice then becomes whether to be patient and continue appropriately down the correct training path OR, be impatient, entitled, etc. and choose to push oneself beyond current limits which always eventually results in injury.

 
 
Nice article. I have nothing to add, other than to ask that you let us know when it's published as I'd really like to share it :)
 
Well I for one am curious what the aforementioned PTs and orthopedic doctors have against strength training. I can understand if they’re not happy about bodybuilding-gymrat style training but they must understand there are different strategies and approaches to strength? How do they recommend a person strengthens themself otherwise?
 
Strongo-

I don't know what they have against it either.  One of my clients is a professional mountain biker; her PT didn't approve of our program of pull-ups, push-ups, and bb deadlifts.  He claimed that the spine doesn't tolerate shear forces very well (which we know) and that she (my client) was asking for trouble.  Regardless of the fact that her force production has doubled, and she feels great!  It seems that often PT's for example, don't understand that a proper hinge loads the hams, glutes, and lats so much that the locked, extended lumbar spine is "spared" as McGill might say.  This is one of several examples.

Another PT I met with claimed that squats in a traditional sense of deep hip and knee flexion causes the spine to rotate in the wrong direction causing problems.  She couldn't articulate what she meant by this.

Again, what lessons can be learned from the conventional wisdom of clinicians combined with our knowledge of proper strength training in the simplest forms of resistance (bb's, kb's, calisthenics)?

BTW, I don't believe that movement theories between camps need to be mutually exclusive.  I feel that there needs to be a seismic shift from an "us vs. them" banter.

R2
 
If one has a running injury go to a pt or doctor that runs. The same goes for weight training, skiing, mountain biking, etc. I ended up in the E.R. after a 34 mile race in 90F+ weather and the nurse and two doctors who treated me asked me if I had trained for it. What do you think? Just because they went to medical school does not mean they know everything. It should not be hard to find qualified pt/dr's in Vail. Call a local college coach or any professional or masters athletes and ask for a recommendation.
 
Resurrected,

Good articles!  Mountain towns have a peculiar mix of money, outdoor sports, and not-too-bright training.

Great personal history too, btw.

http://www.vaildaily.com/news/10140458-113/spine-pain-stability-exercises
 
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