Progressive overload is not the end-all and be-all of the training experience.
Don’t misunderstand me, I don’t think any program for strength or hypertrophy is truly complete without regarding the importance of methodically using increasingly heavier weights.
Plenty of content and advice in the fitness world — especially the online fitness world — caters to people who are working out while healthy and able-bodied. It’s always a rare gem to find an article that deals with training around injuries. But there’s another caveat.
Here’s an unpopular truth: We, as lifters, do way too much work in the sagittal plane (or the anatomical boundary that separates the left and right portions of the body).
From someone who’s got first-hand experience, believe it: There’s very little that’s more debilitating in the gym than trying to train around a bad, aching, injured lower back. It’s only when you’re hurt that you realize how instrumental every piece of a working body really becomes to affect full functionality.
Odds are you’ve read dozens of bodyweight exercise articles, and most of them seem to just recycle the same tips. Some push-ups, a couple of pull-ups, and maybe a one-legged squat here and there but nothing on how to take your bodyweight routine to the next level, toward an intermediate regimen. The fact is there’s only so much you can do with just your body before it all gets repetitive.
Gyms may still be closed due to quarantine orders from COVID-19, but that still leaves training outside at your disposal (just be sure to social distance and cover your mouth and nose).
Naturally, many may see this as a fitting option compared to being cooped up in a poorly equipped home gym (if you have a home gym that is).
There’s no excuse for pushing through pain and force-feeding movement patterns that don’t agree with your body type. Even so, relegating an exercise to pasture should only come through a fair share of trial and error.
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