I've been working out for more than half of 35 years, starting at just 16 years old in my parent's basement, with a York Universal machine that I bought for $100 with the money I earned working 20 hours a week at the local garden center (making $3.10 per hour).
Amazingly, it had to take almost 20 years of training to figure out how NOT to hurt myself.
And I have Kenny Rogers, the country singer, to thank for it.
You see, this year I've been following his advice (sing it with me):
"You got to know when to hold 'em,
know when to fold 'em,
know when to walk away,
know when to run."
Following that advice, I now quit while I'm ahead.
I don't do that extra set.
I don't push to failure.
I train smart.
I stop after a great set.
For example, yesterday I was bench pressing, and the workout called for a set of 5 reps at 225.
The old me would have tried to grind out 2 more reps, but the new me, the guy who knows when to walk away, stopped at 5 strong reps.
Smarter training.
And I'm less injured than ever before.
Yep, thanks to Kenny Rogers, my shoulders and low-back are feeling as great as they have in years.
So take Kenny's advice, and know when to quit.
By the way if you're like me and you've ever suffered from back pain, check out this book from expert Jesse Cannone over at the Healthy Back Institute:
=> How to Lose the Back Pain <== free book
The book is free, you just have to pay a couple of bucks for shipping.
I keep that book in my library and have read it a couple of times now.
Jesse will show you what you need to do to beat your pain.
By the way, a lot of the info in their works for knees, hips, shoulders, etc.
Good advice for avoiding injury and getting rid of it - from all over your body.
No longer on the injury train bound for nowhere,
Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Turbulence Training
PS - Jesse has just added an online version here:
...so if you don't want to pay for shipping, you can get instant access to it on your computer.
2 comments:
I've just recently started training like this. Every time I have made progress in the past it has always been with good clean hard reps. Not grinding reps. Whether I was training frequently (Olympic lifts almost daily along with squats and such) or less frequently only training 2-4 times a week like most people. All progress was made in a state where the last rep of the last set was at worst was a little slower than the first rep of the first set but still with good power and technique. If I tried I could grind out 2 or more ugly reps but that has never got me anywhere.
It makes a lot of sense when I think about it at least. I mean, would you ever sprint until you collapsed too make yourself a better sprinter? Of course not! So why then should you lift until you have to drop the bar or even come close to where you almost have to drop the bar (or bail on the exercise regardless of what tool you are using).
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