Safety & Injury Prevention

Two loud opinions kept popping up across the fitness world. On one side, perfect form was treated like a software update that magically fixes everything. Across the room, another camp insisted volume was the real engine, and technique only needed to be “good enough.” Instead of arguing with imaginary people in my head, I decided […]

Rehab has a funny way of humbling people who usually feel confident in the gym. One day you’re training on autopilot. The next day you’re paying attention to every small detail, changing one thing at a time, and trying to figure out what actually helps instead of just guessing. That was me for four weeks.

For years, training to failure felt like the most honest way to lift. If the set didn’t end with that slow-motion, shaky last rep where the weight suddenly weighs as much as a small car, did it even count. That mindset is fun until recovery starts acting like a grumpy roommate who refuses to do

Two months ago I didn’t start this because I wanted to be “advanced.” I started because my tendons were sending those little warning emails nobody reads until the laptop catches fire. Not sharp pain. Not an injury. Just that weird, slightly cranky feeling around elbows and knees that shows up during bodyweight training and makes

Random tingling is one of those symptoms that feels both “probably nothing” and “what if it’s everything” at the same time. In my case it wasn’t dramatic pain. It was that annoying, unpredictable electric-lite buzzing that would show up in an arm/hand (and sometimes feel like it had a mind of its own), then disappear

Handstands look like a shoulder skill on Instagram. Real life feels more like a wrist negotiation with paperwork and a waiting room. After enough “my wrists hate me” sessions, a simple question got annoying in a useful way. Would a boring, consistent 21-day wrist prep block actually change anything, or would it just make me

Knee pain has a special talent. It can take a perfectly normal walk and turn it into a negotiation. For a while, I blamed my training. Squats, split squats, stairs, long days on my feet, even “just” walking. Everything started to feel suspicious. Then one day the pattern got too obvious to ignore. The same

Low-back discomfort has a special talent for showing up right when confidence is finally improving. Mine loved appearing after “pretty normal” things like picking up a laundry basket, leaning over a sink, or doing a deadlift warm-up that used to feel easy. Nothing extreme ever happened, which was almost worse, because there was no clear

For a while, my shoulder just doesn’t feel right. Nothing serious, but every time I raise my arm overhead or press, I feel a small pinch in the front of the shoulder. The pain isn’t constant. It only shows up in certain movements, which makes it even more confusing. Some days training feels almost normal.

I always treated warm-ups like the “Terms and Conditions” screen. Skim. Click accept. Pray nothing breaks. Then I got older, a little smarter, and way more annoyed by tiny aches that show up uninvited. So I ran an 8-week experiment on myself. Not a lab study. Not a “trust me bro” motivational montage. Just real