Why You Need To Lift "Heavy" Weights
Why You need to lift “Heavy” Weights
Over the past 10 years, I’ve been asked hundreds of times, “Do I need to lift weights?”. In this article, I will address some specific reasons why it’s important for you, your kids, and your parents to lift weights, and quite possibly, create a valid argument concerning why you can’t afford NOT to lift weights.
First, let’s make some assumptions for this conversation to hold any value. “Heavy” isn’t universal, it’s specific to the individual, past training experience, genetics and current state of health. This is where the importance of a detailed and experienced coach comes into play. If you’re missing the help of a professional or haven’t spent time educating yourself on the topic of movement you will very likely make some major mistakes along the way, and therefore spiraling yourself into painful movement, confusion, and a distaste for most forms of exercise. If you’ve gone down this path you have most likely asked the question addressed at the beginning of this article, don’t fret, I’ll explain some key points below that will arm you with some necessary knowledge to have these types of conversations on your own.
Remember that great coaches realize lifting “heavy” weights is relative! Our job is to assess your capabilities and create a strategy that progresses you in a safe and effective manner. This is why HansenAthletics performs a full 1-on-1 assessment with everyone that walks into the door. If this step isn't taken seriously by yourself or your coach it’s very likely you will have diminishing returns, or even worse, have a poor experience and chalk it up to the assumption that you aren’t capable. This mindset of incapability will pass on to your kids, loved ones, and those you spend the most time with. To keep it straight forward, this a huge disservice to those you love most. In a roundabout way, my first point is you NEED a great coach or to educate yourself before diving in. So invest in this first. Too expensive? Skip the supplements, fast food, fad diets, and anything really that claims “quick” results and I promise you’ll make up the difference.
Next, foster correct movement patterning! Notice I didn’t say choose the right “movements”… that was intentional. For example, many of my clients come in with knee or back pain. While your mind immediately flashes to 45+ years of age I’m here to tell you this even plagues today's 12-year-olds. So what is it? Is it because of those evil movements, squat and deadlift? Did lifting “heavy” weights do this? Nope, poor movement patterning did. As we dive into our client's movement during our first sessions our coaches find reoccurring issues that arise through all planes of motion and primal movement patterns. So what’s the correct way to teach movement? The secrets in the small details… MOVEMENT needs to be specific to performance. Is the athlete training for a sport? What are the demands of that named sport? From there you can reinforce advantageous positioning for direct carryover to performance, all while relieving pain and mitigating risk of injury.
“Hey Darren, I am not training for a sport so why does it matter?” Hell, every day you swing that leg out of bed you’re moving like an athlete! Sure there are some nuances when it comes to the needs of athletes competing in sport, but at the end of the day, everyone is performing the same primal movement patterns. The job of your coach is to dive deeper into what your day looks like and the demands that present themselves on a frequent basis!
Finally, let’s get to the reason “heavyweights” are imperative to this process. By challenging, posture and position with load with are able to tap into what we call Accelerated Adaptation. We are able to progress and reinforce specific movement patterns in ways and time frames that are not obtainable without external challenge or load. By attacking limiting factors with through load we are able to spark the adaptations needed for your success and improvement. It’s important to note the necessity of external load to CHALLENGE posture, position, and patterning but keep in mind it should never CHANGE those aspects of your movement. If so, it’s too heavy!