Don’t PUSH Through The Pain—Find Your Away AROUND it.

Stressing our muscles makes them stronger; stressing our joints destroys them.

A commenter on one of my YouTube Videos remarked that he was happy to see I had good leg development, as most senior bodybuilders do not. Well, I think the main reason for that is ruined KNEES and those gullible people who actually believe others’ ridiculous lecturing them that they need to work through—push past—the pain. They lecture "when you feel pain, keep going." NO. Pain is our body screaming at us to “STOP!” So stop.

In my early 30s when I first began to notice knee discomfort, my logical conclusion was that I was performing the exercise in a way that was causing this discomfort, and therefore, I needed to change my way of performing the exercise. So because I’m not stupid, I did change my way. I tried many different variations of the same exercise until I found a way to perform it without causing pain. I became hyper-aware of at which point it began to hurt, and worked on resolving that. The mistake I was making, and that MOST people make, was misusing my joints, that is, utilizing the elbow, knee, ankle, hip, and shoulder joints to do work they were never designed, or intended, to do.

I have written about this before and I will write again because all around me at the gym, as well as in everyday situations such as watching people getting up off the couch or climbing stairs, I see people using their knees to bear weight and/or propel themselves rather than giving these tasks over to those things created for this actual job—their MUSCLES.

Our joints are not muscles. Applying stress to our muscles makes them grow and get stronger; contrarily, applying stress to our joints causes them to degrade, to wear down, and finally, completely wear out.

So, in my 70th year I still do squats and heavy leg presses. My first two sets are performed with light weight and devoted to getting myself into gear, fine tuning the movement so as not to cause any pain. I don’t minimize pain; I eliminate pain. Can’t go deep without pain? Then don’t go deep. Can’t do a full extension without pain? Then don’t do a full extension. Put the brakes on before you reach that point.

Protect, soothe, ice and REST the injury or painful area so that it can heal. Don’t exacerbate it by continuing to do those things that cause pain. Correct bad habits such as sitting with your feet tucked under the chair, which keeps knees in a locked and compressed position. Never lock your knees or keep them flexed. NEVER. Be aware of what is exacerbating your discomfort, then STOP doing that.

Logical, right?