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

Cutting Weight for Meets

So if you are in a strength sport then you are going to be dealing with this issue quite a bit as you progress in your lifting career. I have been on all sides of the weight cutting game from MMA where I fought in as a middle, light heavy, heavy, and even super heavyweight. These days it's still a part of my process when approaching a competition in strength sports. There is a huge difference in how appropriate it is depending on your sporting activity. I would say when done properly in MMA or combat sports it is almost always to your advantage to cut weight. These sports have a huge skill/athleticism component to them primarily and the strength component though present is a secondary attribute.

 

Now if you are competing in a barbell sport I advise against cutting with a few exceptions. First if you are trying to qualify for a national or world meet or competition then yeah, you are at a level where you need to probably think about what weight you would be most competitive at in regards to that meet specifically. Second if you are trying to break records then absolutely cut to where you have to. We are talking about making history here. At least temporarily.

 

So why do I think cutting needs to happen at a higher frequency in combat sports but not the strength game? A key point here is the differences in the sports, not just from a strength vs skill standpoint. In MMA if you are a rookie amateur fighter weighing 175lbs fighting in the 171-185lb class you need to understand there is a guy that walks around at 195lbs who cut 10lbs to kick your 175lb ass. Ideally you were matched well and are at similar skill levels so really you are fighting you but a 20lb heavier version. Cutting weight is a survival skill. Also the goal is to win fights not to get as strong as possible. So you could conceivably stay a middleweight forever and continue to improve.

 

Alternatively, in powerlifting it is about building the physique that can withstand bigger and bigger weights. The focus is completely different. If you are a 6' 2" guy in a class under 200lbs it is in your best interest to keep growing and not cut to the 198s. This may mean you don't win a meet for a while but it will let you fill out your frame to ultimately kick some tail as a 275 or 308lber. That philosophy in combat sports will get your ass kicked an awful lot. Barbells don't punch you in the face. Further the fatigue from cutting weight will affect your strength much more than you movement patterns. This is minimized a bit if you get a 24 hour weigh in with USPA or NAS strongman. It'll hurt you big time in USAW or USAPL as you only get 2 hours to recoup. So in general, I think you should weigh what you weigh and don't stress about what class you are in unless you are qualifying. Enjoy the journey, hit some PRs, and only cut weight when you have to.

 

A final thought to bear in mind. We are participating in sports that are fringe and no one outside of these sports cares what our numbers are or how we placed at worlds. If you are world record holder in the squat that is awesome, but the Normies don't really comprehend what an 1100lb squat feels like and most of them don't even know what a kilo is. Heck last week a random guy came up to me in McDonald's and told me he has a buddy named Bruce who squats 1800lbs. I said that Bruce has the world record by like 600lbs and he goes "Yeah I know!" The guy may not have been dumb but the truth is most people have no concept of what weights are heavy. I don't care what the world record is for skipping 500m is but I am sure there are folks out there that do. Lifting is an awesome recreational activity. Treat it as such or don't, but realize most folks don't care either way so if you are cutting weight to win a local meet and say you are the Carmel, Indiana LA Fitness powerlifting champion of the world then you probably needed a mom who was nicer to you growing up. Powerlifting can't fix that bud.

Talk soon,

Dan is a nationally ranked amateur

strongman competitor in the 242lb

and 275lb classes and a powerlifter in the 275lb class. He holds instructor level ranks in Taekwondo, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He as been training people for strength and martial arts since 2004.

You can follow Dan on Instagram @RoninStr
For training and diet plans email roninstr@gmail.com