Weight Goals vs Joint Health

[Andy Pand]

What are your opinions on creating / achieving lifting goals vs looking after your joint health? I experience alot of people at the gym that persivere with their training regime yet complain of joint soreness / stiffness. Sore knees / back the day after leg routines is a classic (with correct technique). Although having the ability to lift heavy weight is deemed cool among friends / gym circles there must be a physical limit before it becomes unbeneficial? I see alot of the younger guys that come through willing to sacrifice their wellbeing for the 'Zyzz' image.

[Addsomemass]

Personally I always put my joints first because if you do serious damage to your joints it'll end your lifting regime completely, so if was benching a certain weight and began to get sore shoulders I'd either give the bench a week or two off or decrease the weight until it goes away I'd rather avoid injury than look like a beast throwing 120kgs around lol

[I Declare War]

If you lift with good form and become very in tune with your body, then it need not be an exercise in perseverence. The trick is learning to listen to your body and adjusting wheen things are wrong.

Learn to move the weights with your muscles rather than shunting them with your ego, that helps a lot.

[Danomyte]

What are your opinions on creating / achieving lifting goals vs looking after your joint health? I experience alot of people at the gym that persivere with their training regime yet complain of joint soreness / stiffness. Sore knees / back the day after leg routines is a classic (with correct technique). Although having the ability to lift heavy weight is deemed cool among friends / gym circles there must be a physical limit before it becomes unbeneficial? I see alot of the younger guys that come through willing to sacrifice their wellbeing for the 'Zyzz' image.

My opinion - joint health is over rated - if you are worried about a bit of pain, soreness and stiffness - get over it

I know I will be in a world of hurt and discomfort when I retire due to the sacrifices I put my body through now - but to be honest - it's all been worth it :nod:

Pain is temporary. Glory is forever.

[nate225]

What are your opinions on creating / achieving lifting goals vs looking after your joint health? I experience alot of people at the gym that persivere with their training regime yet complain of joint soreness / stiffness. Sore knees / back the day after leg routines is a classic (with correct technique). Although having the ability to lift heavy weight is deemed cool among friends / gym circles there must be a physical limit before it becomes unbeneficial? I see alot of the younger guys that come through willing to sacrifice their wellbeing for the 'Zyzz' image.

My opinion - joint health is over rated - if you are worried about a bit of pain, soreness and stiffness - get over it

I know I will be in a world of hurt and discomfort when I retire due to the sacrifices I put my body through now - but to be honest - it's all been worth it :nod:

Pain is temporary. Glory is forever.

But a world with your Commonwealth medals aye bro! :nod:

[Pseudonym]

Good question, Andy! (And welcome, BTW)

Personally, I think you can get massive and still keep your healthy joints.

- As a bodybuilder, the goal is to load the muscle, not the joints. (Powerlifters are different, of course.) As you get stronger, change your strategies not the weights. For example, Mike Kingsnorth convinced me of the benefits of pre-fatiguing with leg extensions because it meant you could go lighter on squats and leg press. Another example: I've recently been doing ultra-slow reps of 3 secs up, 3 secs down. That's recommended by my physio for tendon rehab, and damn it's hard!

- The other thing is, how many of us actually do regular joint health exercises? Very few people actually stick to the rehab programme physios give. Even fewer do it voluntarily as a preventative measure!

Disclaimer: I'm far from massive, and I've got several niggling joints. I'm not sure whether this lends experience to my argument, or blows it out of the water!

[tomleegolf]

Personally I always put my joints first because if you do serious damage to your joints it'll end your lifting regime completely, so if was benching a certain weight and began to get sore shoulders I'd either give the bench a week or two off or decrease the weight until it goes away I'd rather avoid injury than look like a beast throwing 120kgs around lol

Yeah 120kg bench is pretty beast bro!

[ohjoshua]

Personally I always put my joints first because if you do serious damage to your joints it'll end your lifting regime completely, so if was benching a certain weight and began to get sore shoulders I'd either give the bench a week or two off or decrease the weight until it goes away I'd rather avoid injury than look like a beast throwing 120kgs around lol

Yeah 120kg bench is pretty beast bro!

in most gyms if your going 120 for sets and reps raw thats pretty beast. imo

[severe]

Personally I always put my joints first because if you do serious damage to your joints it'll end your lifting regime completely, so if was benching a certain weight and began to get sore shoulders I'd either give the bench a week or two off or decrease the weight until it goes away I'd rather avoid injury than look like a beast throwing 120kgs around lol

Yeah 120kg bench is pretty beast bro!

in most gyms if your going 120 for sets and reps raw thats pretty beast. imo

With full ROM. Plenty doing it for 1/4 ROM, and with all the knowledge out about it, I can't believe people still look proud doing shit reps.

But yeah, 120 for sets and reps is beast.

[hhhh1]

not sure if srs

[Gym rat]

What are your opinions on creating / achieving lifting goals vs looking after your joint health? I experience alot of people at the gym that persivere with their training regime yet complain of joint soreness / stiffness. Sore knees / back the day after leg routines is a classic (with correct technique). Although having the ability to lift heavy weight is deemed cool among friends / gym circles there must be a physical limit before it becomes unbeneficial? I see alot of the younger guys that come through willing to sacrifice their wellbeing for the 'Zyzz' image.

For me personaly when my joints start to feel sore I take a month off of heavy training change to high reps for each muscle group that I train each with the rep range ranging from 25 to 30 rep.After a month of doing high reps I ease back into heavy training with the rep range ranging from eight to ten reps

[greemah]

For me personaly when my joints start to feel sore I take a month off of heavy training change to high reps for each muscle group that I train each with the rep range ranging from 25 to 30 rep.After a month of doing high reps I ease back into heavy training with the rep range ranging from eight to ten reps

Gym rat do you find your joints feel better after this? Also when you go back to heavy lifting, how long does it take you to get back to the strength you were at?