There’s always that voice in the back of your mind that whispers, “Maybe I should skip dead lifting today to save my knees” or “I read somewhere that running wrecks your ankles so I’m going to skip the cardio today” and so on. But if we eliminate these “risky” workouts then what does that leave us with? Yoga? Okay, yoga is great. It really is. But you have to throw something else in there! These “risky” workouts are imperative to overall fitness improvement.
A fear of injury is a perfectly valid fear when it comes to resistance training, probably
even a healthy fear. Injury is so common! It happens all the time! One wrong move could lead to a lifetime of agonizing pain. So this is something that we should talk about, because getting injured could be fatal and prevent you from being able to exercise for the rest of your life. Why do we even risk it?
What if I told you there were basic, fool proof ways to easily avoid this fatality? I promise the risk is so worth it. So why don’t we just go through these simple steps to avoid the injury before it happens?
NEUTRAL SPINE
I can’t tell you how important this step is. Maintaining neutral spine is essential to maintaining back and spine health of any kind. Keep a nice arch to your back at ALL TIMES. Only a little curvature or over arching could lead to vertebrae or disk injury, especially with a heavy load. Keep that back nice and straight.
WARM UP
Your muscles aren’t ready to exercise when they’re cold. It’s 100% worth the extra five minutes to run a couple laps real quick, head over to the elliptical, Pound out some jumping jacks, or honestly any form of light cardio that gets you moving. The warm up should never be omitted.
GET A SPOTTER
I know it looks so much lamer benching your max all alone as opposed to with some punk standing behind you helping you with the weight. But let me tell you, it looks a thousand times lamer when you drop your max on your chest and are pinned to the bench like a fool. Not to mention a nice trip to the ER. Always get a spotter when your lifting heavy, don’t let your ego cause you a lifelong injury.
STRETCH
Your muscles are rubber bands. If they aren’t constantly being stretched out, then one 
small over-expansion could cause it to burst. Also there is a famous phrase that says ‘Those that are flexible don’t get bent out of shape.’ Now I don’t think this was meant to be about about weightlifting, but it couldn’t be more accurate for the case. Take that last five minutes at the end of every workout to touch your toes real fast, swing your arms back and forth, or even just roll out sore muscles. You will thank yourself later.
Injury can be devastating, or even life threatening. However, the steps to prevent are so easy and take at most five minutes out of your busy day. Don’t be the fool that loses the ability to workout for the rest of their life due to one wrong move. But most importantly, don’t be the fool that lets the fear of injury penetrate their ability to workout at all. The antidote to this lifelong fatality is so simple, so why don’t we take it?
![IMG_7985[6458]](https://healthprojectfitness.files.wordpress.com/2018/11/img_79856458.jpg?w=300&h=205)
played no part in her health success. My family has a complicated history of high blood pressure, cholesterol, heart disease, osteoporosis, you name it we’ve probably had it. Her body was -110% “built” for weightlifting. Heck, she is this cute little 5’4 lady who wasn’t even introduced to exercise of any kind until she was a young adult. Yet she still owns the entire gym the moment she steps foot in the facility.
of the Grand Tetons or even the glittering horizon of your own hometown at night. Don’t let your bum knee keep you from scaling colorful cliffs rock climbing. Don’t let your extreme anxiety of heights keep you from sitting back and admiring that staircase of a trail you just escalated. Don’t let genetics rob you of the experience of a lifetime!
search for. You are the only thing between your current state and your goals; it isn’t your shin splints or your high blood pressure. Telling yourself this is hijacking yourself from living the bounteous healthy life that you dream of. Grasp your goals with white knuckles and live out the fitness goals that you fabricate for yourself.
Wait… i thought we were trying to be healthy?
week, make sure and grab some kind of vegetable that you know you will eat and can be easily incorporated into any meal. A few of my favorites are carrots and zucchini. Both are very versatile and can be used for several different kinds of meals.
any dinner. My personal favorite is peanut butter, I swear I could smother that heaven sent substance on pretty much anything. Or just have a few spoonfuls all by itself? Really it’s just dependent on the mood. Beans are also a fantastic source of protein, as well as nuts, milk, yogurt, the possibilities are endless really. Just make sure and throw at least a few in your cart so you can incorporate some protein into your diet for
them, because diets actually can be really good. In fact, I would say that overall diets can do more help than harm; if used properly.
one of these aspects. Before experimenting with a diet, make sure it includes ALL of these conditions, and check out the link below for a guideline of how to maintain proper nutrition.
on diet, gains weight right back. This is the reason diets do not work. When most people begin diets they don’t plan on staying on the diet for the entirety their lifetime. Conversely, their end fitness goal will not stick for the entirety of their lifetime. The rewards of diets only last as long as the diet continues, so that is the reason for most diet result in failure.
starbursts, eat those pink star bursts like its your job on the days that you allow yourself to. Cheat days are a vital addition to any healthy, long-lived diet. Discarding any major component from ones diet cold turkey only leads to splurging on a large scale in a moment of weakness. So make a change YOU can commit to and stick to it.
GO HEAVY OR GO HOME
Protein is necessary for muscle gain of any kind, but there is much more to muscle gain than just protein. In fact, it is proven that eating more than 30 grams a meal does not aid to muscle gain. Instead focus on getting a balance of fats, carbs, and protein in order to hit maximal hypertrophy, and enough of each. I don’t think that I can stress enough the importance of just eating enough in general when you’re trying to gain muscle mass. Focus on improving overall nutrition before pouring your protein powder in anything edible. Below is a link that includes a simple calculation you can do really quick to determine the protein that you should be eating.
CARDIO IS THE ENEMY
