Not a matter of IF, but WHEN...
It is amazing the risks some people will choose to take even in the face of good advice. I ws training the other day, and I see a friend of mine, who is a pretty strong guy about to do a max effort bench press on the Smith Machine. Now, normally I don’t advise people on their training when I’m a the gym for my own training, but concerned for my friends safty, I offer up some sound advice. He was lifting into the 400′s, and I gave him a brief rundown on the dangers of max effort lifting in the Smith Machine. I told him when doing max effort lifting, mechanics is king, and allowing your joints to follow their natual movement patterns unobstructed is the key to minimizing injury risks, and insuring maximum performance. He responded with “thanks, I like the isolation though”.
Hmmm. Let’s try again.
Then I told him that the bench press isn’t an “isolation” exercise. That it is a compound exercise, using more than one set of joints to move the weight, and that if he keeps training like he is, an injury WILL happen. His training partner got it, and was moving towards the regular banch to switch to a freeweight barbell bench press, but not my man. Nope, even with the advice I was giving him from my experience as a trainer, competitive powerlifter, and bodybuilder, his response was “I’m good”.
Really? And then he asked me to spot him on a set of negative reps with weight he’d never even attempted…oy.
See, it’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt. The first and foremost thing that should be considered in any training program is risk vs payoff. If you aren’t a competitive athlete of some sort, why risk life and limb when there is clearly a better way? That’s like me offering you a clean fuel burning car that gets 50 miles per gallon, and you keep driving your same old Camry because it what you’re used to. Makes no sense. I’m done ranting. Please train smart, before you train hard. And take good advice when you get it. Even if it’s not from me, lol.
Chad Smith is a Hagerstown Personal Trainer, and Co-owner of Home Team Fitness, LLC. For more information on his life changing programs, visit www.hometeamfitness.net.
