Hurting Yourself On Purpose

Training Bodybuilding
41

Mr. Hawkson101, sir:

I suggest you do a little research with regards to your claims of ‘unnatural’. Just as one example of where you might start, read the book The New Rules of Lifting, by Lou Shuler and Alwyn Cosgrove (Mr. Cosgrove being a staff member of this site).

Heck… ya don’t even have to read the whole book. The inside-front of the dust jacket might suffice. Or, if you’re feeling really adventurous, the back cover of the dust jacket. Completely hog-wild: read the entire first 28 pages. Don’t tax yourself, though. We wouldn’t want you to injure your corpus callosum, as unnatural as that fancy book learnin’ is.

Count the number of times the phrase ‘natural movement’ is used before you hit page 29 (oops, hold up… counting past 10 isn’t harmful, is it? Oh, wait… I forgot about the toes… but then, unless you’re deformed (which would be somewhat unnatural – yikes!), 29 is still kinda out there. I dunno, maybe you should just forget I suggested this whole thing… it looks like a risky proposition.)

42 
 Yeah, we're designed to live a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, not sit on our asses for most of day, which even the most fit of us are forced to do to survive.  This alone causes many of the problems that BBs and others have, where certain muscles are overused and some are underused.  I think all lifting with proper form is natural.  What happens if a large prehistoric cat pounced on you?  Bench pressing 300lbs 5 inches could save your life by giving your hunting party time to skewer the beast.
 Also, almost everyone I know who runs many miles or lifts boxes all day eventually gets injured.  Why? They have no concept of designing a balanced workout.  I think one of the main goals of this site is promote structural balance.  Being a BB doesn't mean you have to ignore this principle.
43

IF you are injuring yourself lifting weights then STOP DOING IT.

Or at least, stop doing it the way you are doing it.

Why is it so farking hard for humans to understand that concept.

Works = continue
Not works = do something else

If someone lifts weights for the sole purpose of looking better because they want to look better and it has a detrimental effect on their health, then THAT IS FINE BY ME, if someone wants to do something then that is reason enough.

That is assuming that it does more damage to health than it benefits health, which is completely, and utterly wrong, unless people are doing it wrong.

You have absolutely no idea how much damage people do to their health simply by NOT doing weight bearing exercise. You have no idea how many billions of dollars it costs the community repairing the damage that comes from the simple case that most people over middle age / elderly are so weak / clumsy from not doing weight bearing exercise that they suffer falls and breaks and degeneration.

It makes me sick when you make some comment on people walking to school to study and how they don’t need strength.

If you do not lift weight, your body degenerates. Period.

If you don’t put stress on your body in the form of weight bearing or impact stress it slowly disintegrates.

Now if you want you can just get real fat and that will help hold you together.

I hope I don’t sound too confronting or angry in this post but this is a major misunderstanding in the community and a major problem for the healthcare budget so you’ve touched a pet peeve.

You have raised good points but people have answered them repeatedly and it seems you did not read the answers.

The people who should be lifting weights more are the elderly and especially women. And the young. In fact everyone. But nobody should be doing it wrong, or injuring themselves repeatedly, so you should look into whatever the heck is stuffing you up. And stop blaming the weights.

That Bavaria commerical was great.

44

Id imagine god (if one exists) gave us this body to lift heavy shit off the ground on a daily basis. Id imagine its used for walking, jogging, short bursts of speed Often. Id imagine this also involve picking something up and carrying it for distance. Just look at life for the majority of the last… forever…

I do partially agree though. There is a certain amount of wear and tear that training will give you. You might not have the best joints in the end but it will enrich your life.

Im not sure who said it, but you can live your life and see a cardiologist, or you can live your life and see a orthopedic surgeon. The choice is yours.
(ive probably fucked that quote up, i apologise if it was you)

Being intelligent about your choices will allow you to make safer progress.

45

[quote]jthomas wrote:
In my opinion, lifting with poor technique and form is the reason the majority of bodybuilders and powerlifters get hurt. You dont see many of the more expirienced people with injuries. Mainly its people who haven’t a clue about technique and form who are just trying to lift heavy weights like the pros.

jt[/quote]

experienced people generally don’t have injuries? you don’t know a lot of experienced lifters, then.

46

Here’s my take on “natural”. I was not born with wings, therfore, not intended to fly. I don’t climb up on to the roof, jump off, and flap my arms until hopefully one day, I will adapt and sprout wings. We don’t have gills, therefore, we shouldn’t try to breathe under water. Anything else that I can do with my arms, legs, and any other parts- is fair game.

We do have a built in tendency for physical symetry. Ignore this and you are gonna get hurt.

47

Hawkson-

It seems like you’ve had an unfortunate surplus of shitty injuries from whatever programs you’ve attempted in the past. I can see why it’s frustrating for you and how it could raise doubts about the nature of the sport/hobby/whatever. We’ve all had at least minor injuries in the weightroom, but most, if not all, are due to either inexperience and/or not listening to your body and what it can handle(which can be hard at a young age when the body is constantly changing and developing). I think by the 21st century though, it’s a pretty accepted, well-known fact that fitness and wellness are correlated. derrrrr

But, from the grander perspective which you seem interested in, the topic of evolution could be raised. Perhaps your genes were not meant to make it this far. Here’s why:

Reasons I lift-

  1. strength - helping to prevent INJURIES WHILE PERFORMING ‘NATURAL’ EVERYDAY ACTIVITIES

  2. aesthetics - helping to feel good about my appearance, which also impacts limitless aspects of life from social acceptance/development(proven to help with interviews) to getting the smartest and most beautiful woman with whom i can continue and strengthen my good gene pool

  3. if shit hits the fan, i can jack you up

  4. you probably want to call me a knucklehead or a meathead, but are striving for the three goals above not smart?

Yes, it’s worth risking an occasional injury. In any case, you should pose your questions and doubts on some new-age philosphical nancy pants website, not on a “building a better body” forum.

48

I think you have an interestng topic here that everyone seems to want to discount. Injuries are a way of life when being athletic. They are trying to compare your statements to being overweight and eating big macs, I find these two not even closely related.

I know I think about it. I have a few injuries from bad training, overuse, under eating. There is a learning curve. I did things in the beginning that caused injury. I don’t know anybody that gets everything right straight from the start.

For example I have had shoulder problems, I have problems that people who do not exercise do not have. It does make you ponder for a moment the concenquences of exercise. You are in better shape, but now you can’t reach over your head to get a glass out of a cupboard, are you better off? I think there is a balance, but anyone who does not at least ask the question is ignoring the risks of being athletic. Each body can only repair so much damage.

49

I see this 70 year old guy deadlifting 500 pounds at my gym every sunday with perfect form. I think that speaks for itself

50

[quote]Hawkson101 wrote:
hmmmm. BTW, I workout and lift heavy. But I can’t help fail to notice the constant injuries that occur(even with good form) on a constant basis.

Have you been injured because of weight lifting? Have you had a serious injury(knee/shoulder/back is considered serious)?

From my perspective G-D did not intend for you to lift 500 lbs 10 inches while lying on your back. Nor did he intend to curl a weight in 5 different positions 100 times a week for the rest of your life. I dont think your body is designed to do what you ask of it. Granted, the results are good, but at what cost.
[/quote]

If you’re hurting you’re pushing too hard. It should be really uncomfortable feeling not like “OOHHH GOD! I BROKE MY LEG!!!”

See the difference?

51

[quote]Sxio wrote:
Yes you could lift weights and hurt yourself, however you can do far more harm with every season of seinfeld DVDs, an ounce of weed and 20 cartons of cocoa pops.[/quote]

Shh, you’re revealing the milk chocolatey secrets of my post workout regime!