I recently read a fantastic article written by Chris Ballard in Sports Illustrated titled, “How Long Can We Play?” The article is very well written and I recommend giving it a read as it highlights many areas that we cover here are Floch Fitness for ageless athletes. Ballard’s article focuses on various recovery pieces and their efficacy, how sporting organizations are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to combat injuries in sport, and how all of this eventually trickles down to the general public like you and I.
It did get me thinking though, “What advice would I give to myself in my earlier years to ensure that my later years were less painful and more fruitful athletically?” Here are the three tips I would give myself:
Form first, then intensity-Like many people, I thought that getting strong was an overnight process. I went way too heavy way too soon and this naivety ultimately capped my overall strength because my mechanics as I aged became my limiter. Don’t get me wrong, there were certain movements, specifically the bench press, that I excelled at. My senior year of college I bench pressed 275lbs. for 8 reps at 175lbs. bodyweight. That sounds awesome until you consider that I probably couldn’t back squat that weight for eight reps, especially if I need to go to a full depth squat. Instead of adding weight, I would work thousands of more reps focus on form, precision, and explosiveness so that the strength training would have better carry over onto the field.
Stretch my lats and pecs more-I did thousands of push-ups and pull-ups in my early career, and overtime this affected my upper body mechanics profoundly. My shoulders became tight and my lower back became more and more overextended to compensate. If I were to do it all over again, I would have spent more time letting go of lats and pecs and instead worked more core muscles like the obliques to ensure my posture was strong, and my overhead mobility didn’t diminish.
Work On Running Mechanics-Until I became a triathlete in my early 20s, I assumed you ran the way you ran because that’s how everyone does it. This strategy left my with debilitating shin splints throughout college and into the begging of my triathlon career. I would have to taken 2 or 3 Advil every morning just to get out of bed. Then I would mummy wrap my shins just so I could practice. In reality, my over-striding to go “faster” was causing my shins to take a beating during sprint work. It wasn’t until I studied Pose Method that I realized cadence, technique, and posture were integral to speed and injury free running.
There are many more lessons that I would have shared with my younger self, and I will continue to share these lessons with you over time. That is the benefit of working with an experienced coach and athlete. I have tried everything and found out what works and doesn’t work and save you from that pain! If you’d like to start personal training or a personalized exercise program, click the link below to get started today!