This is this water-filled tube I was trying to lift over my head while fatigued. It is tricky because the water doesn’t entirely fill the tube, so it sloshes around a lot and the tube therefore has no center of gravity. Tricky.
the conchThis is this water-filled tube I was trying to lift over my head while fatigued. It is tricky because the water doesn’t entirely fill the tube, so it sloshes around a lot and the tube therefore has no center of gravity. Tricky. 6 comments to the conchLeave a Reply |
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The human body is not well designed to pick weight up over one’s head. Tough on the shoulders, not great for the back, and if you really get fatigued and drop it, then very bad for the head. So I predict a crossfit injury down the road. But I guess until then, it seems to be getting you in very good shape.
Where do you find support for the contention that humans are not well designed to lift weight overhead? It seems that is a natural movement and if it weren’t, then humans wouldn’t universally have built dwellings that have ceilings more than an arms length over our heads. Handstands and cartwheels are practiced by children all over the world often without any formal training. They are very natural and fun movements. The fact is that gymnasts and olympic weightlifters can lift and support weights up to three times their bodyweight. Pressing weights overhead correctly is the only way to safely lift objects overhead and therefore should be trained. You simply cannot safely do dumbbell flies or any other such movement strongly or safely, so why the negativity towards the press?
“Not great for the back” what does that mean? If you have a weak back, that’s not the shoulder press’ fault. You need to learn how to strengthen your back. If you do the shoulder press properly it won’t adversely effect your back in the slightest.
Dropping the weight on your head just means you don’t know what you’re doing or are being too greedy when you are lifting. If you know how to lift properly, then you know how to avoid dropping weights on your head. If you are trying to lift more than you can safely control, then you have nothing to worry about dropping weights on your head because there is no danger of injuring anything of value.
Well I don’t have a cite to this knowledge and I tried to find one on the web, but after about two minutes of looking I only found this quote:
“The worst exercise for the shoulder is any movement requiring you to lift weight over your head. It will eventually cause major shoulder problems. Any knowledgable PT, doctor or trainer will tell you to stay away from the military and shoulder press because it will cause impingement syndrome sooner or later.”
Hardly definitive as it was just in a fitness chat blog. The reason I say that the human body was not designed to lift weights above our head is that it really isn’t something that is ever necessary in real life. Yes, we have to run fast, carry stuff long distance, push and pull things. But holding stuff above your head for a long period of time is really tough and seems like a bad idea. Think about the times in your life where you have had to hold something heavy up there (outside of the gym). You were probably quickly trying to find an alternative position. I like to think about it as the shoulder is a speed area (hence 100 mile per hour fastballs), but not an area that we want too much weight put on it. But that is just how I look at it.
A lot of people don’t know they have a weak back until that one injury when they find out. Then they have a weak back for the rest of their life and it is hard to do stuff about it. You should be careful with back exercises and incorporate core body workouts. But I suppose at the cross fit there is a lot of core body stuff.
As for dropping the weight meaning you don’t know what you are doing. Well trained weightlifters get hurt all the time. It comes when they push themselves to exhaustion. And if you aren’t pushing yourself to that point, then you probably aren’t going to get a good workout. That the problem with exercises involving lifting weight above your head like that. You are always balancing trying to get to exhaustion versus good safe form. One of those is going to win out and you are going to suffer one way or the other.
Here is a list of stats showing the number of injuries in each of these activities per 100 hours.
Soccer- 6.2
Rugby-1.9
Basketball-1.1
Track and Field- .6
x-country-.4
P.E. -.18
Gymnastics-.04
Wt. training -.0008
Weightlifting-.0006
Vollelyball-.0004
Note that the sports where weight is supported overhead (weightlifting and gymnastics) have some of the lowest injuries in sport.
The study below done on olympic weightlifters who do nothing but lift heavy weight (up to 3x bodyweight) over their heads at high speed shows that the type of injuries they sustain are from repetitive stress. Not the type of trauma that you are implying.
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1322916
Your idea of the shoulder as “a speed area” is an argument for strength for one cannot generate speed without strength. If you want to throw a 100mph fastball you’d better have really strong shoulders. The strong connective tissues and muscles that keep your arm in the shoulder socket while trying to generate enough force to throw a fastball can only be developed through strength training. The strongest lifts for the shoulders are the overhead press.
As for not knowing whether your back is weak. That’s easy. If you don’t deadlift or squat, your back is weak. Period.
Another flaw in your logic is that you look around at your easy and convenient life and don’t see any need for lifting heavy objects off the ground and putting them overhead and assume that it is not a natural movement and therefore unnecessary. What you fail to realize is that our species developed because our ancestors used to do those movements all the time in order to survive (think of building a shelter). Thus the normal condition of our species is to have backs and shoulders that are strong from hard labor. The modern couchpotato is not normal without heavy exercise that returns them to this strong state. True in modern society we don’t have as many day to day encounters with heavy lifting, but it is for that very reason we must seek out the gym to get a dose of the strong medicine that only a heavy barbell can provide.
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