Workout Injuries... Are we being stupid?
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vatblack
Posts: 221 Member
I am willing to admit that I am not very, very, very knowledgable about exercise and sports science. However, I am 40 years old and have been around the exercise block a few times. I have been to the gym and done the low weights many reps thing. I was part of the original aerobics craze in the 80s and 90s. I have swum oceans, rode countries full, yoga-ed more different styles than I care to know existed and even tried an exercise video or two (that I found yukky).
I saw the notion of "no pain - no gain" being heralded as the only way to workout to being shot down as kwakkery and that one should always listen to your body. Now I read in NROLFW that we should work harder and faster rather than slower (and without attention/focus on the part being worked that comes as an automatic result of working faster? - not sure if that was implied or if it is just what I read into it).
I see posts on the main board of people saying they did Insanity (or whatever other video) for x amount of time, then took time off to rest a rotator cuff injury. On here just two women who hurt their shoulders lifting heavy (not saying you are stupid as per my post title... I have no idea how you got injured... Your posts just got my mind going... ). In my own experience I hurt my achilles tendon just power walking 6 years ago. I have also hurt my shoulder in the last 5 years... I'm not sure if it was excessive swimming, that time I fell off the bike, if I have a spur on my shoulder blade or whether it is because my daughter (at 3 years old) still insists on sleeping on my left shoulder - and if I fall asleep too - we sleep like that the whole night.
Anyway, all that rambling to come to this: Have we gone back to no pain-no gain mentality. Is that cool again? And are we hurting ourselves too much.
Can someone who DOES know a bit more than I do to just give us some safety guidelines for lifting and also cardio exercise. I am done rehabbing from injuries. It simply throws my progress and I want to do it right without injuries.
I saw the notion of "no pain - no gain" being heralded as the only way to workout to being shot down as kwakkery and that one should always listen to your body. Now I read in NROLFW that we should work harder and faster rather than slower (and without attention/focus on the part being worked that comes as an automatic result of working faster? - not sure if that was implied or if it is just what I read into it).
I see posts on the main board of people saying they did Insanity (or whatever other video) for x amount of time, then took time off to rest a rotator cuff injury. On here just two women who hurt their shoulders lifting heavy (not saying you are stupid as per my post title... I have no idea how you got injured... Your posts just got my mind going... ). In my own experience I hurt my achilles tendon just power walking 6 years ago. I have also hurt my shoulder in the last 5 years... I'm not sure if it was excessive swimming, that time I fell off the bike, if I have a spur on my shoulder blade or whether it is because my daughter (at 3 years old) still insists on sleeping on my left shoulder - and if I fall asleep too - we sleep like that the whole night.
Anyway, all that rambling to come to this: Have we gone back to no pain-no gain mentality. Is that cool again? And are we hurting ourselves too much.
Can someone who DOES know a bit more than I do to just give us some safety guidelines for lifting and also cardio exercise. I am done rehabbing from injuries. It simply throws my progress and I want to do it right without injuries.
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I am not a doctor, but I myself am recovering from an injury from too hard, too much, too fast. My plan is to slow down and spend more time recovering.0
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Yes recovery is important. I sometimes cringe when, on the main forum someone asks if they can do Insanity at 300lbs and when I see the way they push people on The Biggest Loser. We all know that those are really not good ideas.
I am, however, wondering if we don't do the same a bit with pushing too fast with heavy weights? I'm still too chicken to try though, because I have had injuries and I'm afraid.
I know for a fact going to my doctor for a health check is just about as helpful as asking my big toe if I am allowed to work out. I am yet to meet a doctor that will ask me about my previous exercise and injury history before they just slightly glance over and say: Yes, you can do it. And I weigh 300lbs. One doctor even told me that yoga has no benefits and that I should run as hard as I can. Really? Really?
Anyway, good information to let me know how to pace, track and push myself without injury will be appreciated. Frankly, right now, I'm too darned scared to start lifting.0 -
I won't profess to be an expert, but the 3 things that will help with DOM are:
1. make sure you have a sufficient warm up to include dynamic stretching, the muscles need to be warm to prevent injury (pulled, strained, and sprains)
2. cool down 5-10 minutes, this is when you want to do static stretches, also use a a foam roller will help (prevents lactic acid build up of the muscle and make the muscle more supple).
3. protein with a small amount of glucose (protein drink) within 30-60 minutes post work out, helps to feed and replenish the muscle.
Good luck and happy lifting!0 -
I'm not an expert but here are some of the things I think about when it comes to my exercise:
1. I am not trying to look good. I'm trying to get healthy, fit and strong. This means my time frame for doing this is much longer. I take it slower because I'm not doing it to 'look good' (that's just an added bonus of being healthy, fit and strong).
2. I listen to my body and don't allow my brain to do guilt trips. If I'm exhausted, I don't workout. If I'm low on sleep I don't workout. If I've recently tweaked a muscle or my knee/ankle is bothering me during a run then I stop the workout and I take an extra day off. I don't try to show off to myself or anyone else when lifting--I lift what I can with 4-8 reps. I'm working out for the rest of my life so a few days off or doing it slower is not a big deal.
3. I give my body enough nutrition, enough sleep, and enough rest. I eat things that will help fuel the types of workouts I'm doing. I can't do low carb because I do cardio. I need fat and protein because I'm lifting. I know I need at least 7 hours of sleep a night so I don't compromise that. I take at least 1 day off per week, sometimes 2 days. I take an entire week off every 6-8 weeks.0 -
I am not an expert, but I just finished reading NROLFW, and I think while it did emphasize a different mindset toward working out for women, it also spoke very strongly to the need to listen to our bodies and take breaks when we need them.
Injuries happen in all types of athletic/workout settings. I don't think it's unusual that there are a few women on here who are doing NROLFW who are recovering from injuries.
My main takeaways from the book related to what you are talking about are:
Women don't need to buy into the idea that they can only lift using small weights and doing lots of repetitions. Our bodies are capable of working out the way men are taught to, and doing that is more in line with our natural physiology.
It's important to know the difference between pushing yourself and injuring yourself. If you are injuring yourself, you need to pull back and take it a little easier.
Rest times are important for your muscles to be able to recover. You really shouldn't be lifting every day -- every other day, tops.
Protein is important in helping rebuild muscles after lifting. Like someone mentioned before, getting a good amount of protein within an hour of lifting can be a big help, and so can eating a diet that is overall high in protein.0 -
I have trained with a personal trainer, in fact, I have had 3 different trainers. They all said the same thing, you need to learn correct technique when lifting. You need to lift to challenge but not cause pain and you need to rest between sets. They also encouraged me not to strength train the same sets of muscles on consecutive days, so if you do lower body on Monday, then rest at least one day before you repeat that workout, two days are better.
Women can certainly lift heavy but not right at the start, you need to start lower and work up in weight. If you feel a weight is causing pain or loss of technique then the weight is too heavy, you need to lower it.
This is just the advice I have been given. I have had a shoulder injury from work. I have never hurt it working out or lifting. I believe it is because I respect my limits.0 -
Those comments when i read NROLWstruck a cord with me too....i sprained one of my vertebrae facet joints last november from going too high in just pump class with not great form. I still have some niggling pain now....cant use the arms on the cross trainer...and cant do body combat (too fast the movements and they inflame my upper back) so for myself ive learnt to take it slow and not be pressured to perform at levels of people around me and not to go to hard too fast....i would never want that pain again! Because of this im a big fan of getting a trainer or knowledgable people around you so you have the support of getting knowledge on form etc.0
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I think where the issue lies is that we are (most of us) used to cardio-based workouts. There isn't the same type of learning curve as there is with lifting weights. So due to our experience, we assume (I did this too) that we will naturally progress through lifting weights by increasing weights with little to no problem or outside intervention or change to the program.
In cardio- you simply repeat until you can do the workout properly. Form is secondary to the 'burn'.
In weightlifting- you perfect form FIRST and then very slowly add weight. It's an upside down version of cardio training.
By having done cardio workouts for so long it took an injury for me to understand the difference between cardio and weight training. Cardio was 'get close enough' and weights it's much more 'be incredibly exact or else'. There's this huge gulf of precision required. Holding 150lbs above your head and squatting takes a lot more preparation than running on a treadmill for half an hour. One you can work up to rather quickly and the other (weights) can take six months till you're ready to lift more than 15lbs.
I know for me- I was expecting weight training to progress like cardio- a straight line upwards, like a perfect graph. Weight training is much more like the Steppes of Russia. Go up a level, stay there and perfect it, build the CNS up and THEN you can move to the next level.0 -
Thanks for all the responses. On this thread and the other one with the same theme, I got really good advice and you really put my mind at ease.
I have ordered New Rules for Life... (as was advised on the other tread). I was so grateful when my husband said there were credit card rewards on an old credit card we are closing down and it has to be used for something. It almost matched the price exactly... so I take that as a very good sign.
I am going to finish reading Lifting for Women and then read and work from that one instead.
Gemiwing - I love the explanation you have given. It reminds me of how I had to get used to yoga. With yoga it is form first and foremost. I'll use that mode of thinking when I do lifting.
The best thing that came from this: My husband was really against doing weights himself and then he saw the other book and decided that if it is for mid-lifers AND MEN he can do it too. (Even though I told him there is a book for men too.)0
