Why do people think exercises are dangerous?

Are exercises dangerous?

There's a trend online at the moment for trainers talking in absolutes.

We have those saying certain exercises are dangerous

And those arguing exercises have a lower injury rate than most sports so are safe.

Is there such a thing as a dangerous exercise?

The truth is, as always more nuanced that social media allows

Which is why the absolutists have more followers than I do!

I have trained world champion athletes beside cancer survivors

Full Contact, competitive martial artists beside pregnant ladies

Mountain biking champions beside middle aged desk jockeys

So a range of different folks.

Here's my take on what's dangerous.

If I train an Athlete and they get hurt in training, they are now less effective as an Athlete. We may have just scuppered their chance of winning. We're certainly now having to adapt and may not peak as planned.

If I train a fitness enthusiast and they get hurt in training, they are inconvenienced but can continue with an adjusted training plan with a concurrent rehab plan and there is little to lose.

If I train anyone and they get hurt in training, is it because I gave them an exercise they weren't ready for?

Was I not paying attention?

Did they go too heavy or too fast?

What did I miss?

All exercises carry some risk. Some more than others.

The risk I'd often more about the individual than the exercise.

I couldn't back squat for years, it aggravated my injuries.

It was a dangerous exercise for me. Front squats were safer.

Does that means front squats are safer for everyone?

No.

Sometimes it the inverse

Sometimes there's no difference at all.

It depends on the individual

Are deadlifts dangerous?

Yes.

For some.

Can we prepare an individual so they can deadlift safely?

Probably.

Not in every case, but more often than not.

Does everyone need to deadlift?

Absolutely not.

So is it the exercise that is dangerous or is it the individual that is doing the exercise?

I'd say it's the individual.

Coaching is about fitting exercises to the individual

And as the individual changes and develops, so does the risk:reward benefits of various exercises.

It's simple

Not easy

Now, this newsletter is for you, so hit reply and send in your questions to be answered in future editions

Chat soon

Regards

Dave Hedges

www.davehedges.net

Pain is a problem, but is it the real problem?

“My friend got back pain from doing this exercise. His back also hurts if he does that exercise and he doesn't do squats because they hurt his back”

This is a paraphrased version of a real conversation earlier today.

Now, let me ask you a question

Do you think the back pain is the problem or a symptom of a problem elsewhere?

I know I haven't specified the exercises, but they're all hip dominant movements.

Is the back the problem?

I don't think so.

Very often pain will present in an area that is being over stressed.

And it's over stressed because that work should be spread out over a wider area, but something somewhere isn't pulling its weight.

Kind of like having a team but only one or two members are grafting, the rest are cruising and one or two just didn't turn up!

We've all been there….

This is why I spend so much time looking closely at how people stand and move when they come into me with pain.

It's also why I ask so many questions about your history

What sports and training you have done.

What your Job entails, including stress levels

And a run down of old injuries as far back as you can remember

The more information I have, the better we can price together the action problem and come up with a plan rather than simply treating symptoms or avoiding them all together.

So many people have come to me with issues that have seemingly crept up on them out of nowhere.

Back pain being the most common.

But on investigation we find old head injuries, sprained ankles, a broken collar bone from 10 years ago, a family history of pain in the same area.

All of which suggests the pain isn't the problem

The back [or region of pain] is actually a victim.

Yea, of course sometimes the problem is actually the problem.

Especially if there is an acute injury there.

But many times we find putting movement through that old collar bone break, or that old ankle takes pressure away from the current pain site and the pain starts to lessen.

Then we teach you to put movement through the body in ways that keep the pain away.

It's simple, not easy.

But it can be done.

So often a breathing drill to manage acute stress, a reach to open the shoulder, a knee bend to challenge the ankle is all it takes

And other times it takes a training plan and a period of gradually building the body back to strength and fluid movement.

But what never changes is that it is your body, and the only person who can make a real difference is you.

All I can do is guide you

Regards

Dave Hedges

www.davehedges.net

Did Will reveal the secret to good rehab?

“I have 2 minutes all the time” - Will Garnsworthy

This is such a great line, I suggested Will puts up on the wall of his training centre.

He already has combined 2 of my quotes, “Attitude is everything” and “everything is trainable” into a piece on his wall, “2 minutes all the time” belongs beside it.

What does he mean?

We were discussing his knee rehab.

We’re in the later stages of the rehab and looking to add in some more intense exercises into the training, so moving some of the Anatomy in Motion based rehab protocols out of the training and filtering them into the day.

This works really well as we’re often trying to get the nervous system to accept the movements / loading patterns, it’s not just about tendons, ligaments and muscles.

And to get into the nervous system, we’re better off thinking along the lines of skill training, and skills require high frequency, with minimal fatigue to learn.

And this where Will dropped his magic line.

I said can fit it in through the day and he flippantly responded “Oh yeah, I have 2 minutes all the time” meaning as busy as he is running his own training centre and being a dad, there are frequent moments where he is between tasks.

So why not utilise them to get in a few reps.

5 reps here, 3 reps there, another 5 reps a bit later, then 8 reps then whatever and whatever more

Without actually adding much time and effort to the day, you could easily add 30+ reps of high quality work into a day.

That then is less work needed in your warm ups, so more time and energy to put into the training.

The goal is to be ready and able to do anything you choose to do.

Needing extended warm ups to manage injuries is contrary to this goal

So lets take a leaf out of Will’s book and find those 2 minutes that we all have an abundance of through our days.

Just like my little Meg, the 4 legged start of many of my social media posts this last while.

Meg will rest and when she is ready to get up and play, she will stretch forward and backward (up and down dog, or the Pump movement)

This is a natural and instinctual behaviour that us “smart” humans seem to have forgotten.

Take frequent moments to stretch and “pandiculate” through the day, if you are rehabbing and injury, these movements can be your rehab drills.

It really is simple, and surprisingly easy.

If you are looking for help with injury and rehab, I am still running movement assessment sessions for free in my Dungannon clinic until the end of January.

If you want to take advantage of this, book in through www.davehedges.net or hit reply

Regards

Dave Hedges

www.davehedges.net