What Injuries Can Teach Us.

Well if you hang around the Iron Game long enough you will pull, tweak, or otherwise screw something up on your body. It's not a matter of if. It's a matter of when. About a week ago I tweaked my back pretty bad. Which isn't a huge deal except I am 2 weeks out from IPL World's with my plane tickets and hotel room already paid for. A few days after it happened I was wondering if I should still even go, and if I went maybe I should just do bench only or just squat and pull like 100 lbs. I was pretty down. It sucks to be working toward something for a year and have the rug pulled out from you so close to the realization of a goal. There is a silver lining to this whole situation though. I have learned so much about recovery and prioritizing your life to achieve said goals. I even learned how to take a second and breath in the world around me.

No. 1: Figure out what's going to help you achieve your goal and prioritize your life accordingly. This is true in everything not just lifting. For the last 3 months I have been burning the candle at both ends pretty hard. It wasn't leaving a lot of time to eat properly or sleep much. That was probably the biggest cause of the injury. Rushed for time I just went to the gym to get in and get out. Which is fine except when in that rush you compromise form.

No. 2: Sleep enough and eat enough. No excuses. If you want to perform in a physical competition this is a no brainer but It will also help you in your career and other life goals. If you are short on sleep it's hard to focus. You need to have focus to do a job well regardless of what it is.

No. 3: Warm Up/Prehab work needs to be done. If I took some time to get the blood flowing and the hips warmed up maybe I would have had an easier time getting into a good position for that deadlift. It's a "maybe" but it wouldn't have hurt to try to get things moving a bit more before hitting my working sets. It's not fun but most of the guys who have survived the Iron Game for decades tend to warm up and take care of their soft tissue.

No. 4: live in the world around you a bit. Come up for air. Hang out with your kids an extra day. Go watch a movie. Take your time off due to injury to work on something unrelated for a second. The barbell, Work, or whatever else you have been obsessing over will always be there when you return.

Here's what changes I made. I quit my part time job as a bouncer and hung out with my kids an extra day this week. I ate more. I slept more. I did planks and other core stuff to try to rebuild some stability, started taking Epsom Salt baths again, and I even warmed up today when I lifted.

So my first workout in a week to test things out after taking the above steps: Bench was still on point as was expected but the squat and deadlifts went way better than I thought they would. I hit 405 very easy on both. It was a great mental boost and I definitely needed that head win. So goals for Worlds are tentatively on point. Squat over 600 bench 470+ and pull over 700lbs. I'll report back on results when they come.

My biggest take away from this injury is to dial back my life a bit. Take a second to look at the world around you. And in the words of the great Ferris Beuller, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while you could miss it."

Talk soon,

Dan is a top 10 ranked amateur

strongman competitor in the 242lb and 275lb classes and a pro powerlifter in the RPS 275lb class. He is also an Elite level lifter in the USPA/IPA. He holds instructor level ranks in Taekwondo, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He has been training people for strength and martial arts since 2004.

You can follow Dan on Instagram @RoninStr
For training and nutrition advice and tips email roninstr@gmail.com