From Congruent Exercise: How to Make Weight Training Easier on Your Joints
Video, podcast, interviews, and Amazon links at
Preface
You
would think that with all the exercise options available today, it should go
without saying that what you do to get in shape actually had some relationship
with proper muscle and joint function.
You
would think that for all the avenues of exercise information—the websites,
magazines, certifications, academic departments, etc.-- that someone would
regularly compare a biomechanics textbook to what human joints and muscles are
subject to in exercise, and identify any questionable practices.
You
would think that for as many times as we see the words “functional” and
“biomechanically-correct” and “safe and
effective”, that there would never be any injuries or problems resulting from
exercise, and that everyone indulging in it would have a stronger, pain-free,
injury-free body as a result.
You
might think that, but it’s not true.
There have been several high-profile injuries to top athletes in the
weight room, all of which were easily preventable, and worse, easily
predictable, to anyone with even a passing familiarity with biomechanics. But it’s not just catastrophic events
happening to high level athletes, who might be willing to accept more risk in
hope of a substantial reward. Much of
what we find in commercial exercise subjects the joints and muscles to strains
that simply cannot be met, over time, by human anatomy; and no, it’s not a
question “working through” or “getting used to it”. Many of the joint movements and loading
patterns found in classic, free-weight bodybuilding, so-called “functional
training”, and machine designs are guilty of this.
And
while not as dramatic as the athletes’ injuries, over time, this strain can
contribute to a long list of chronic conditions, such as back and knee pain,
impingements, tendinitis, bursitis, ruptures, tears. Yes, people who don’t lift weights also get
these conditions, but the wear and tear of a lifetime that leads to those
conditions is already there. Why add to
it with poorly designed exercises?
Of
course, the long-term detriment will only be there if you stick with it. How many people drop out of exercise because
their results don’t measure up? How many
people get frustrated, because they don’t continue to improve as they’ve been
led to believe? So they read another
website and try another scheme, or they go the supplement and ergogenic aids
route, which can lead to all sorts of confusion and frustration and all that
entails.
Wow. Rereading the preceding paragraphs, it may be
hard to believe that I’m actually a huge advocate of weight training and
exercise. I’ve been using weights myself
for almost 40 years (I should be HUGE).
I started as a personal trainer in 1983, I’ve been certified by two of
the major organizations, and I train clients in my own studio. I’ve competed …well, maybe “participated” is
more accurate…I’ve participated in bodybuilding, triathlon, inline skating,
martial arts, softball, and the usual sports.
And
boy, have I inflicted some damage on myself.
Nothing particularly life-threatening, a back ache here, a ruptured
biceps there, a ruptured triceps also there, a chronic sore shoulder, but
enough to get my attention. So a few
years ago, I put aside my old muscle magazines and trade paperbacks and firmly
held beliefs, and dove into texts on biomechanics and anatomy and kinesiology
and simple machines. Most of those texts
aren’t written with working out in mind; they are more like reference
texts.
I
eventually settled on a pattern of starting with a basic conventional exercise,
looking at the relevant anatomy and movements, and then modifying the exercise
to match textbook muscle-and joint- function.
I tried the exercises on myself, and where appropriate, on clients,
until I arrived at the set of exercises illustrated here. I began to present the material, first in a
manual called Moment Arm Exercise,
then at in-services, conferences, and most recently on You Tube, hopefully
refining the presentation so that the concepts to follow are clear and accurate
enough for you to use in the gym tomorrow.
A few
disclaimers. First, I’m a trainer. I’m not a physiologist, or a doctor, or a
mechanical engineer, or a biomedical engineer, or a kinesiologist, or physical
therapist…you get the drift. I’m trying
to apply what appears to be proper muscle and joint function, as laid out in
those texts, to getting another human being to lift a heavy thing for health
purposes. So I may sacrifice the
precision of a reference text in labeling or describing, in order to relate
what to do in the gym now. Hopefully, we
gain in clarity what I give up in precision.
If you need the exact nomenclature, well, that’s what bibliographies are
for.
Second, I’m not the
Reality-Show-Trainer-Star-type. I’m not
afraid of, or opposed to, hard physical work as part of getting in shape, but I
do prefer to avoid unintended consequences.
I’ve heard people say that injuries are the price you pay to get in
great shape. That’s silly and
self-defeating. The price you pay is the
time you spend doing it, that you could be doing something else. Setting yourself up for a back or shoulder
injury (or worse), now or in the future, is a heavy price to pay, especially
when the information to avoid it is easily available now, and when the
connection between the risk and reward is speculative at best.
Finally,
to be clear on the context: Weight
training has undeniable benefits. It can
give shape and strength to our muscles, and make the physical parts of our day
easier. It can help prevent injury, and
keep us mobile and functional as we age.
It can help our mood and self-esteem, and dozens of other measures.
It can
also crush spines, throats, and jaws; tear rotator cuffs, rupture biceps,
quadriceps, and other muscles; and combined with everything else in life,
contribute to chronic joint problems.
And it can be frustrating and lead to a number of dead ends.
Both
the pros and cons are true; fortunately, it’s not an either/or situation. You can get all the benefits of weight
training, without the risk and frustration, by applying the appropriate joint
movements, postures, moment arms, i.e. biomechanics , to your exercises. And you’ll be able to apply this anywhere,
whether you are surrounded by the most current, high tech, selectorized
machines, or sewer plates on a rusty bar, or doing chin-ups on a tree, because
the one constant is your body and biomechanics.
Here’s
how.
Bill DeSimone
Many months in 2010 and 11
Introduction
Congruent Exercise offers a unique, biomechanics-based
approach to weight training. By putting
safe muscle and joint function first, and then designing the exercises to fit
that, the goal is to get all the benefits of weight training, without any
injuries or chronic conditions, over years of training.
Much of today’s exercise scene is
based on performance: competing with others in a group workout, setting a personal
record in a lift, finishing a machine circuit in a faster time. And you certainly can get in shape this way,
but frequently at a physical cost. This
might be a perfectly valid approach to a sports competition, for which you’ll
make some short-term sacrifice for the larger goal of winning the event. While there certainly is a value to peaking
for a specific event, by definition, it’s not training that can last.
I’m more interested in the long haul. You could use this material in a peaking
strategy; although in all honestly, if you look at the training programs of
champion athletes and fitness celebrities, they are far more extreme than what
you’ll find here. I’m looking at weight
training as a regular activity, every week, for a lifetime, to get whatever
benefits you can for as long as you can.
Aching shoulders, backs, and knees, not to mention more serious
injuries, tend to discourage that. And
since many of those aches, pains, and injuries come from the disconnect between
Biomechanics and Exercise, it’s a pretty direct fix.
You may be surprised that many of
the joint motions you’re used to seeing in conventional exercise, contradict
safe joint motions as described in biomechanics textbooks. Part of that comes from compromised sports, dance,
and martial arts movements working their way into exercise. Part of it comes from the visceral appeal of
exercise (“no pain, no gain”) and associating “feel” with benefit, even if what
you’re feeling is strain. While popular
exercise concerns itself with bigger biceps and ripped abdomens, academic
biomechanics are working on joint replacements and prosthetics. (Where ARE their priorities?) This leaves a huge gap, where basic biomechanics
could be applied to exercises, taking some of the material from academia and
dropping it into the gym where people might be able to use it earlier in
life. Congruent Exercise is intended to do just that.
I have presented much of the first 5 chapters previously in conferences,
in Orlando for Anthony Johnson’s 21 Convention in 2010, and in Minneapolis for
Luke Carlson’s HIT Resurgence in 2011.
Video is available on You Tube and as part of larger packages through
both Anthony and Luke. This manual
elaborates on that material, and adds 20 exercises demonstrating the appropriate
joint patterns, using both commercial equipment and dumbbells, bodyweight, and
light gear.
From Congruent Exercise: How to Make Weight Training Easier on Your Joints
Video, podcast, interviews, and Amazon links at
Congruent Exercise, copyright 2012 William DeSimone
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