Strength training is your best defence against injury

Injury happens when our body is subjected to stress beyond the level it's capable of handling.

You could have the world's best technique, but if you're doing something beyond your body's level of tolerance, you can get injured.

I explain it to clients this way as someone that's dealt with a serious lower back injury and comparing it to what I can do now.

If I can deadlift 500lbs completely pain-free (which I can now), what are the chances I'll hurt myself lifting something that's 50lbs?

The total strength of my body has adapted over time to be able to handle the stress of lifting 500lbs. The tolerance and capacity of my lower back have adapted similarly.

This means that chances are, in my average day to day life where I'm not lifting nearly as much weight, my risk of lower back injury is atomically small.

And more often than not, when I'm recruited to help with some physical task by friends or family (like moving a couch), my back feels great while everyone else is reaching for the Tylenol.

This is the power of what strength training can do.

You don't need to take it to the extreme that I have, I just like Powerlifting, but building up the capacity of the different joints and tissues of your body is your best defence against injury (especially if you have an area that consistently gets injured).

Targeted, progressive strength training is your method to do this.

Find a relatively pain-free place to start, and slowly build your way up from there. Using my lower back example, you could do something like bodyweight deadlifts, or glute bridges, or back extensions and slowly increase your load and range of motion.

Build up your tolerance, and you'll be well on your way to making your body bulletproof.

To your good health,

Coach Stephen