Why aren’t more people strength training?
Why do we (the general population, athletes, healthcare professionals, and coaches) shy away from strength training when there’s an injury? Read more to find out my top 4 reasons why:
1. It’s what we’ve been taught
In physical therapy school, a lot of the treatments I learned focused on decreasing pain and other symptoms. We also focused a lot on improving range of motion by stretching the tight tissues. We learned that if a movement was painful, stop doing it. I think this is a common thought coaches and athletes have as well. It goes against what we’ve learned or been told, to now think about using that painful area, strengthening it and loading it with weight.
I tore my ACL while playing tennis in high school and had to have knee surgery. I didn’t know this at the time, but if I would have been lifting weights and been stronger, my risk of injury would have decreased. Even through my rehab process, I don’t remember ever doing any exercises with weights. Today, even years after that injury, I’m sure many people would tell me that I shouldn’t be squatting with heavy weight because that’s what they were taught.
A few years ago, I had an annular tear and disc herniation in my low back and was told by another physical therapist that I needed to stop lifting weights. Luckily, at that time I had enough experience lifting, studying the current research, and working as a physical therapist and a CrossFit coach, that I knew the answer was NOT to stop lifting. In fact, progressive strength training and loading of my spine is what I did to fix my back and what I continue to do to keep my knees strong and pain-free while also preventing other injuries.
2. We got injured because we were “too tight” or “not flexible enough”
Many of the clients I see believe this is why they got injured and have either been told by a professional or the Internet that they need to be more flexible and stretch more.
I too have been told that I need to stretch more and that I have “tight” hip flexors and lats. However, I have a lot of flexibility and actually feel worse when I stretch or do yoga. I don’t have enough strength to control all the motion I have in my joints. I have a hard time finding tension and staying stable when lifting weights. However, all of these things have improved over time by LOADING my body with heavy weights, not by avoiding strength training.
My back injury was life changing for me because shortly after that, I left my job in a “traditional” physical therapy clinic and started working more as a strength and performance coach in sports physical therapy clinic, where we focused specifically on strength training with our clients. I continue to specialize in working with functional fitness athletes, crossfitters and weightlifters, as well as clients with shoulder pain, low back pain and hip impingement. Most of the clients I see have pain or injuries related to a lack of strength and stability. More often than not, they have been receiving passive treatments or have only been focused on stretching and avoiding the things that cause pain when they actually need to be strengthening those things.
My philosophy is to get my clients deadlifting, squatting, pressing weight overhead, carrying heavy objects or lifting weights in some capacity as soon as possible. Many of them (myself included) were initially injured because they don’t know how to create stability and tension within their bodies. It is a common thought that we all need to be more flexible. This may be true in some cases, but most of the time we need more strength and stability.
3. We don’t understand that loading tissues is preventative
Current research has shown that stressing tissues (muscles, tendons, ligaments) is what makes them stronger and more resilient. So, if a tissue is injured, we actually want to stress it and load it but this needs to be done in a progressive way that will usually require guidance from a professional (like me!). If we avoid doing the painful movement, that tissue will get only get weaker over time and be even more prone to pain or further injury.
4. We’ve had a bad experience with a personal trainer or a physical therapist
I’ve seen many clients who were injured while lifting weights and naturally they are scared to try lifting again. But if our clients are scared to workout, scared of injury and scared of pain, we as healthcare providers and fitness professionals cannot also be nervous. We cannot be scared to give exercises to clients or give them weights to lift. We cannot tell them to avoid squats or deadlifts.
Physical therapists and other healthcare providers need to work in tandem with personal trainers and coaches. Often, we think about the fitness and healthcare industries as separate. However, it is imperative for us, in the healthcare and fitness world, to work together to get information out there on the importance of strength training and to quit creating fear for people around movement and lifting weights.
We are all after the same goal - to help people live their best lives, have less pain, avoid injuries, gain more strength and be active through the lifespan.
Have you been nervous about lifting weights or going back to the gym?
Have you been told that you shouldn’t squat anymore?
Have you had a bad experience with a personal trainer or physical therapist?
I am here to tell you that you don’t have to be afraid to strength train!!
Originally posted on The Performance Syndicate blog, Feb 2021
