“Do you… Take Fish for a Nights Dinner or Learn how to Fish for a Lifetime of Dinners?

This week, I am going to follow up with last weeks issue, injuries and what to do to avoid or deal with them.
We all have imbalances, weaknesses or “issues” with our body. Maybe you have tight shoulders, hips, knees, low back issues, weak abs, tight ankles or wrists. The only way to avoid or address overuse injuries in any of these areas is to find the issue/s causing them and fix it. To determine your individual imbalance or weakness you have to ask yourself what is tight on your body and what movements you have a hard time with?

Can you squat to proper depth or do you have poor hip flexibility/weak hips?
Do you have a hard time with a front squat, overhead squat or pressing an object overhead, or hanging from the pull up rack (tight shoulders)?
Do your heels lift off the ground when you squat (tight calves)?
Does your back arch when you press an object or barbell overhead (weak abs/core)

If one or all of these describes you, keep reading!
If you do nothing to improve the flexibility and function of your “weak-link???, then injury is bound to happen! Take the time to learn what you need to work on, and look “upstream and downstream??? from your injury for the answer.
For example, if your knee is tight/injured, do you have poor calf flexibility (downstream), or are your hips really tight (upstream). Once you can pinpoint what’s going on upstream and downstream, chances are you will find the solution, and then be proactive! This means, if your FitCamp instructor helps you find what is tight, and tells you how to fix it…….do what they say, and more! If we say “you have tight shoulders??? get to class early, warm them up, stretch them out, work on the movements that give you difficulty, and make it part of your daily routine (weather you are at the studio or not!).
Become an expert on what your weakness is, and how to fix it (your trainer, then Google are a great place to start). Until you take the time to learn how to solve your injury, and educate yourself on your weakness, you will never achieve the fitness in which you seek, and will be plagued by injury and disappointment until you have that “ah-ha??? moment! That moment is when YOU do the homework you are supposed to, YOU put in the work you are supposed to, and YOU solve the problem you are having. All of the FitCamp trainers are here to coach you and guide you towards finding and addressing the issue at hand, and then give you direction on how to fix it, but we can only take you so far. We are only with you 5 hours hours a week max, the other 163 hours of the week (thanks Tiff!), you are in the drivers seat and have complete control of your direction and destination.
My best example of this is when I injured my shoulder playing baseball. I was in high school at the time, and was really bummed I had to miss playing baseball part of that year. So what did I do to solve the shoulder injury, and make sure that it has not happened since, and will most likely never happen again? I became an expert on the shoulder joint. I listened to my physical therapist, researched baseball injuries and why they happen, and did even more research on what I needed to do to get stronger and safer than I was before. To this day, I am very aware of my shoulder, what I need to do to keep it safe and strong, and will know exactly what to do if I was to ever get another injury at the shoulder. I want to remind you that I was not a “personal trainer??? at the time, had no background in exercise physiology, and was a chubby kid in high school. This means no excuse, with or without a background in exercise science, become an expert. But, I did my homework, even more than the physical therapist told me to do, and my shoulders are healthy today because I took that extra step.
My point of the story above is this: Take the above information not as me “giving you a fish and feeding you for a day???. Take this information as Me “Teaching you how to fish and you will be eating for a lifetime???
This goes along with everything else we do/show you at the studio, where do you stand with the title of today’s post, in regards to nutrition, weight loss, or sporting/recreational goals?
Getting you fit for a lifetime,
Coach Nick

THURSDAY 12.2.10
Front Squat 3RM x 5
DB Squat Clean Thruster Burpee (45/30)
Farmers Walk (1 lap, then add 1 additional lap each round)
21, 1, 15, 2, 9, 3
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