My Biggest Training Mistake #3

My 5 Biggest Training Mistakes continued…

3️⃣  Being Strong is Cool on IG BUT… 

Strength is an important quality to have, but too much of anything can be bad. When pushing large poundages on the bench press, squat and deadlift and other compound exercises, your body develops compensations. It compensates  in a way that allows you to create larger amounts of force and internal pressures so that you can move heavier and heavier weights. Cool right? Kind of. 

With these new magical strength powers comes losses in range of motion. Think shoulders & hips, both of which are designed to move in multiple planes of direction. When our shoulders and hips aren’t able to move in the ranges they were designed for, other tissues end up taking the slack. In many cases, pain, decreased blood flow and injury ensue. 

Now if you’re cool with working around these potential issues, that’s completely fine. Just understand that having high levels of strength has its downsides. You can ameliorate some of these issues with proper programming and exercise selection, yet some level of compensation is inevitable if your main goals are strength and hypertrophy. 

Earlier in my training career, I wasn’t aware of some of the negative consequences that come with getting big and strong. I looked up to people that preached, “strength is never a weakness” while they ironically sold products designed to help work around common pain points and injuries. 

There are many genetically gifted individuals that don’t experience these issues (hence why they continue to get stronger and stronger) but in my experience they are rare. If your goal is to maximize strength and hypertrophy, be aware of the potential downsides and determine whether or not that’s something that you are able to accept. Maybe you still want to play sports, climb mountains or go for runs which may be something that’s not possible at heavier body weights or levels of strength. 

Personally I deal with pain on a day to day basis but it’s something that I’m willing to accept in pursuit of a temporary goal. I implement various strategies to negate some of these effects but things will never be 100%.

In summary, don’t be fooled into thinking that being strong will cure every ailment that you have, because it won’t. Unfortunately the body doesn’t work like that. Strength and muscle mass are important qualities to have, but as my dad always says, “everything in moderation”.