Tips for Long term joint health

I get a lot of questions about nagging injuries that we all suffer from after years and years of hardcore training. When you push your body to
the limits over and over, you’re bound to develop aches and pains, and sometimes even acute injuries. Obviously we want to avoid these problems as much as possible to extend our training longevity and consistency. That’s how long-term gains are made. Here
are a few things to consider: 

Stop always using BIG exercises as weight-focused movements

I see this all the time. The standard chest workout starts with bench press, the standard quads workout starts with squats, and deadlifts are
king on back day. Most bodybuilders focus on getting stronger on those
movements, always pushing to lift heavier and heavier. Some are even doing singles and doubles. Then they use the rest of the workout to pump the muscle full of blood and train in the 8- to 12-rep range, or whatever other variety they incorporate. However, over the long term, this can create wear patterns in the joint from constantly doing the same “heavy” movements all the time, especially in the lower rep ranges. I’m not going to start telling people how to train, but I do think it’s a way better idea to use these big movements in a different way as well. Try squatting last in your leg workout, or benching at the very end with higher reps or deadlifting with a full back pump.

It changes the way the exercise feels, and also drops the weight significantly, reducing stress on the joints. You learn a lot about a movement when you do it with a completely different focus, already pumped to the max. Focus on the feel. You can take some of what you learn and apply it to that exercise next time you start with it fresh.

Rest the aches and pains. If it hurts your elbow a lot to do preacher curls, but it doesn’t hurt to do other biceps movements, then don’t do preacher curls. Even if there’s only one thing you can do for a body part that is pain-free, then just do all your sets on that exercise. Vary your foot/hand positions to give some variety if possible, but just train pain-free until you can add those other movements back in. Also, don’t be afraid to do high reps if that’s all you can do. I had forearm pain that severely restricted my triceps work for over a year. All I could do was rope press-downs and overhead rope extensions, so I hit all my triceps workouts with those two movements. I did some sets in the 8-rep range, others for 20 to 30 reps. Some sets, I used one arm; on others, I used both. Supersets, drop sets, and rest/pause were all used to hammer my triceps. I did all I could to train pain-free. Once I finally figured out my forearm issue (which was actually an ergonomic problem related to how I was sitting at my computer), the pain dissipated about 80 percent. I still can’t do skullcrushers, but I can do at least a dozen triceps exercises that I like, so I think I’ll be fine. I know everyone wants to avoid any kind of injury, so keep these things in mind so that you can stay healthy and recover from aches and pains as fast as possible. Train like hell!!