Beyond-Brawn-2nd-Edition

BEYOND BRAWN
therapy who is familiar with weight training, or at least sympathetic to it.
e last thing you need is someone who throws his hands up in horror at
the thought of you lifting big weights. Get acquainted with an expert professional
before you get injured, so you are never in a quandary about where to
go if you do get injured.
16.97 I have an unusual degree of congenital scoliosis (lateral curvature of the
spine akin to the shape of an elongated letter “s”). I only found out about it
after I injured my back in the summer of 1992. Had I found out about the
scoliosis years ago, and been advised by a dark age orthopedic, osteopath,
chiropractor or other therapist, I would have been urged to forget heavy lifting
and may never have deadlifted 200 pounds for a single rep, let alone 400
for 20 rest-pause reps.
16.98 is scoliosis, together with my left leg being shorter than my right, influence
my squatting and deadlifting form. ere is no way I can avoid some
lateral movement as I ascend. e vertebrae on the outside arcs of the lateral
curvatures of my spine are less stable than are the other vertebrae. An asymmetrical
push in the bench press or overhead press exposes me to much
greater risk of malpositioning a vertebra (on the upper arc) than if my spine
was of a regular formation. But knowing these faults, I modify my training
accordingly to reduce injury risk, e.g., I never overhead press without being
seated with my back supported by a steeply inclined bench.
16.99 If I was not aware of my in-built structural flaws, I would now be a wreck
of one injury after another. As it happened, I only learned through pain and
injury. I should have studied my body years ago, and learned the training
modifications needed to reduce my chances of injury. Learn from my mistakes.
B 62
e misinterpretation of muscle soreness has produced exercise
distortions that have become part of the folklore of bodybuilding,
and which are at the root of much pain and injury. Some of
the resulting exercises have been harmful for many people, e.g.,
hack machine and Smith machine squats, and many exercises with
exaggerated grips, stances and ranges of motion.
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