I Want To Pump You Up! - Part 2

By: Michael Omar

It seems we tend to do heavy lifts because Arnold made them famous, and we all want a body like Arnold right? What we don’t seem to realize is that pumping heavy iron is ultimately bad for our joints in the long run.

If for some reason you have to follow the norm while at the gym, try lowering the weight and raising the amount of reps and the speed your doing the motion at. It’s time for us to evolve and focus on making your body more athletic instead of just looking “good”. Don’t get me wrong, your body will look great by making it more athletic. It will also be safer, and will hold up against gravity a lot longer. Who has the healthiest bodies? In my opinion, mixed martial artist, and boxers have the healthiest bodies. Some people might think football players do, but the average life of an NFL athlete is three years due to injury. If you research the greats and hall of famers of the NFL that had long careers, each player had their own unique training that did not involve heavy squats or bench press. For example, Walter Payton would run muddy hills for hours to increase his leg power. When the Bears trainers actually tested his one rep squat max, he lifted well over 600 pounds!... But remember, to get to that weight, he did not do heavy squats or leg curls. He just worked out.