Is STRENGTH TRAINING Safe for You?
Athletes resting after a workout from thewodlife.com.au
Is Strength Training Safe?
In 2015 CrossFit was touted by 60 Minutes as the largest gym chain in history on a Sunday evening.¹ By Monday morning the internet was flooded with claims that any strength training was unsafe for beginners, or even dangerous for working out. Depending on the news you read you may or may not have heard the controversy surrounding the strength training phenomenon: Is strength training really dangerous?
Is Strength Training healthy for your body?
In our estimation strength training is not dangerous if the exercises are performed correctly. Any exercise is good exercise. With America’s obesity problem it is always a good thing when people adopt an exercise routine. Strength training is very positive in that it welcomes all people and body types and actually embraces them as part of the tribe. This is one reason why strength training is so popular: people actually make friends there and have fun. Most gyms simply cannot do that because people don’t really talk at big-box gyms. But many people have complained of being injured from overuse injuries at a strength training gym. The claims stem from the heavy-load type of workout and they claim they were taught incorrect technique. Whether or not that is true is unknown. What is known is that if you are going to lift weights it is imperative to practice proper form for safety. Part of any strength training program is responsible recovery, which addresses delayed onset muscle soreness.
Is Strength Training bad for your joints?
Joint pain and inflammation is the primary cause of serious injury for weightlifters. Inflammation around joints occurs when microtraumas—or microscopic tears in the muscle fibers—are healing.² Cryotherapy speeds up the healing process by oxygenating the bloodstream and arming it with healing enzymes. Overuse injuries occur when the microtraumas are not given enough time to heal and the muscle fibers are pushed to their limits without a proper rest period. This can be a problem for strength training because of the daily workout mentality. The workout sometimes becomes a badge of honor for each member, and each member is pushed to compete against each other and the clock. The social aspect of showing up to the gym, seeing friends, and hitting your workout goals can become such a part of a person’s life that they may feel driven to workout when their body really needs to rest.
Can I do Cryo and Strength Training?
Yes! Cryotherapy is beneficial both before or after your workout. Athletes can benefit from pre-workout cryo by energizing their bodies and enriching their bloodstream. Post-workout recovery is enhanced over the entire body and can help prevent overuse injuries by increasing the amount of inflammation healing enzymes in the muscle tissues and areas surrounding the joints most in danger by strength training. NFL, NBA, and MMA athletes all use whole body cryotherapy to protect their bodies and help recover from the extreme aspects of their sport.
Founded on facts: for peer-reviewed articles, scholarly journals, and articles cited above please see the below sources.
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/king-of-crossfit/
The Effect of Muscle Loading on Skeletal Muscle Regenerative Potential: An Update of Current Research Findings Relating to Aging and Neuromuscular Pathology. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22341015