Don't be a training dumbass

Over the years I have seen alot of dumbasses in the gym. There are those guys who flex more in the mirror than train. There are also those guys who spend more time checking out girls and doing biceps curls than squatting and deadlifting. My personal favorite are the guys that workout in muscle shirts. Personally, I can never trust anyone that cuts off their sleeves. I just can't. Some may argue that these guys aren't dumbasses...but more douchebags. A valid argument because a true dumbass is someone who does something they know they shouldn't do.

In that respect I have to confess folks. I am guilty of being a training dumbass and not only a dumbass but the worst kind of dumbass. The kind of dumbass that trains through injury.

Let's rewind back about a month. I had been experiencing some shoulder pain and most people will agree that I know better than to hurt myself while training. However, this time my mind must have been elsewhere because I got under the bench press (3rd straight day of bench pressing) without properly warming up and attempted to unrack a paltry 135lbs. As soon as i racked it i felt a "pop"! Here is where the extreme dumb-assage comes into the picture...

I love the bench but the bench doesn't love me

Not only did I continue to bench but I put more weight on. By the end of the workout my shoulder was throbbing! I massaged it a little and could feel that there was some definite inflammation going on. I went to see my best friend Travis who is also my massage therapist. He diagnosed the problem and gave me a detailed plan. I started to follow the program and my shoulder actually started feeling great! I was finally not feeling like such a dumbass. But wait, not so fast! 2 days after my shoulder started feeling better I made a max bench press attempt. Powerlifting meet season was fast approaching and I couldn't afford to stop benching. To make a long story short...my shoulder is hurting while I'm typing this article.

I know Kobe...I know

Truth be told, the real reason I'm writing this article is to remind myself not to make bad decisions and train smart like I know I should! So what do we do when we are faced with an injury? Follow my advise and you will continue lifting for many years to come (and so will I)

1) Stop doing what hurts! This is the simplest advice I can give you but if I was dumb enough to ignore it, maybe you will be as well. Pain is a signal from your body to your brain telling you that something is wrong. Listen to your brain and not to your balls. If that means stopping a lift halfway through then so be it. Pushing through pain is what turns a simple issue into a major injury.

2) Seek out a professional to assess and address your injury. I have had alot of big time injuries in my life including full ACL tears and pinched nerves in my back. Over time i have realized a few things. Personally, I don't believe in physiotherapy or chiropractic care. It may have worked for you in the past but it did absolutely nothing for me. The only thing I believe in is massage work (deep tissue, ART, etc). I may be biased on this topic because my very good friend is also a Registered Massage Therapist (RMT) and possibly the smartest guy i know but that still doesn't take away from the fact that deep tissue work has helped me to avoid alot of injuries. Seek out a good RMT and stick with them. They will make you into a new person!

My massage therapist (no seriously...)

3) Rehab, rehab and more rehab. Do not attempt to get ahead of yourself. Spend the time rehabbing and more importantly, understanding your injury. Why did it happen? What did you do to make it happen? How are you going to fix it? Once you understand all these different aspects of your injury, you can then move forward and slowly start back into your regular training. Moving forward too quickly will only lead to bigger problems.

4) Finally, do NOT get discouraged. If you are truly training hard and pushing yourself, you WILL get injured. That is just the name of the game. Injuries happen when you train hard. It doesn't mean you did anything particularly wrong, it just means to found your limit. The real test happens after your injury. Are you just going to get frustrated and give up? Are you going to waste your time working around your injury?? Of course not! It just means you need to put your focus on your injury for a short period and then walk into the gym at 100% and with the mentality of a raging bull!

Just remember that you only have one body. Treat is well and it will show you things you wouldn't believe. Treat it poorly? well then you really are a dumbass.