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Get and Stay Strong Safely

By Shirley Palumbo

The other day I went to visit my hairstylist and she proudly informed me that she and her daughter, Jenny, had started a training program. She believed her daughter was grossly out of shape because, she said, "her daughter started vomiting after her first session." "She started what?!," I said. As my hairstylist gave me a full detail of the account I realized that, yes, her daughter was hugely unconditioned to perform the exercise workouts that have been programmed for her to do. However, as she spoke, it became clear it was the TRAINER, her coach, who had imposed such an improper exercise program on Jenny. Jenny was doing burpees, pop squats and jumping across a high raised step bench. Jenny is 24 year old, overweight, not obese, and has not done basic squatting exercises neither in her teens nor in her adult life. She is new to exercise. Burpees, pop squats and high jumps are clearly not the best exercise option for her.

Here's another real life anecdote: a young lady, no doctor's clearance. She just "feels" healthy enough to do this: She wants to be motivated to lose weight by doing a self impose 100 burpee challenge. The burpee is a great exercise for building upper body strength. But yu need to have proper stabilization and strength of the core muscles to keep your body in the ideal position to prevent injury. By the way this young lady spoke, she had no idea of the level of impact she is receiving on the lower back, the shoulders and the knees. Such a repetitious, arduous, unnecessary demand on the body will lead to injury as she cannot hold proper form or press up her body weight. If she has knee problems, both the vertical and horizontal jumping in the burpee could also pose a problem. Mind you, it is a great exercise. But it would probably be best to perfect the push-up before you attempt a burpee.

IN this particular case I was appalled by the 100 burpee challenge because 10 minutes before this person had not been able to perform a standard 3 minute ab workout and 20 push ups. In fact she had not finish the routine of the day because her body was fatigued. Many of us dive into our exercise, eager to get going. But few of us take the TIME to become familiar with exercise safety. Whether you choose to participate in a mud run, a marathon or just take a brisk walk around Hollywood Beach, fitness safety is of the utmost importance.

How about this one? This lady has been developing proper endurance training. She has been Spinning for approximately a year. She wakes up one day and decides to go on a 13 mile marathon run in a 2 week notice to her buddies' and her body. Without regards to her joints or muscle, and the fact that she had not been training for the hard, repetitious and strenuous imposition on the body; she decided to do the marathon only because, in her words, "I feel good, strong and I have the endurance to do it." She came back from the marathon with a meniscus injury! Last example: the lad that came to me after he had a tear in his squat as a result of pop squats at a famous bootcamp/crossfit place.

What is wrong with these pictures? There is an increasing false belief, being imposed by the media, that we can all be Ironmans, ironclads, strong Olympians; or at least strive to be one by the end of a season if we follow their method of Olympic success. What is so sad in my eyes, is seeing the client, or worst, a personal trainer with little or no experience, and applying these Ironman methods without proper assessment of their bodies as individuals. I can only guess they are taking these ideas from the internet, magazines or any other improper form of professional information. You will cause serious damage to your body if you don't do it right. In fact I have read in the Fitness Journals I receive that more than a million injuries every year are the result of poor fitness SAFETY.

Jenny, the daughter that heaved and gagged after the workout, was probably utilizing a maximum effort of 170%. Do you understand what this means? This means she was beyond her capacity to sustain the workout for over 40 seconds, causing her to potentially pass out! By the way it went, a little more and Jenny would have actually passed out. My Savvy Ryders, this is NOT proper training and no, that is not what an individual should be feeling when they workout. Training your body is about overloading your body little by little and having fun while you're at it. And guys, it takes a while to train your body to Ironman capacity.

Instructors and trainers have access to a fantastic array of equipment for group strength classes, bootcamps and personal training. In addition to dumbbells, barbells and tubing, instructors can choose from kettle bells, CorePole®, Gravity Training System (GTS)®, weighted vests and gloves, medicine balls and stability balls; even a car tire, to name just a few. But with all this variety comes a huge responsibility to offer safe and effective classes. YOU have to become aware of common injuries that occur in group strength classes. Be smart and decline improper and unsafe training.

You can pull your hamstring muscles and injure your lower back if you overestimate your hamstring flexibility while executing a deadlift. It may not be serious at first, but your range of motion will be hindered and this, of itself, hinders subsequent training sessions.

We can all have a beautiful mid section and tight butts, strong chest and stay healthy or get healthy while on this quest without the need to incur injuries; without the need to engage your body on pop squats or walking lunges. If you do not have the strength in your leg to conduct a regular walking lunge with the potential to hurt your knees, a standing lunge with heavier resistance will do. You don't have to injure your body in order to intensify the workout. You don't have to do 100 burpees to increase your metabolism or increase your power. You need to be properly conditioned to do these. And this simply requires time and discipline. Learn the right technique, warm up, cooldown, GET THE RIGHT GEAR, stay hydrated.

Overall, be mindful of the moves you are introducing to your body. Let your body adapt to the workout before progressing to the next. You don't want to live longer and be crippled. You want to live longer and be strong. Right now, if you are beating up your body this way, you are only increasing your medical bills.

As always, you should talk with your doctor before beginning any exercise program, more so if you suffer from diabetes, high blood pressure or dizziness; You definitely need proper education, coaching and accountability if you have had a stroke; have a heart, lung, liver or kidney condition; or if you have recently been hospitalized. And, most definitely, if you are more than 40 pounds overweight, you should not work out at a high intensity level without proper supervision.

About the Author:

Learn more from Shirley at her Website!