Tell Mr. Injury to Go Fuck Himself

Every fucking day I seem to have one of these guys approach me. You know the type, the guy who wants to sit there and bitch about everything he can't do because he is injured. It's like all he wants is a shoulder to cry on and you to understand. No, I really don't understand. I bet I have more injuries than he does, but I'm not sitting there harping on them.

Right now as I type, I'm dealing with ischial tuberosis in my left hamstring, quadricep muscle trauma from hitting my leg with a 140 lb dumbbell while doing a rest pause set, and reoccurring A/C joint pain in my delts. But I don't go to the gym bitching and crying about it, I'll heal. My mind says I'll heal so I'm going to heal. People who cry about their injuries are downers, stay clear of them.

This other guy in my gym, very nice guy and I have a ton of respect for him because he is an older guy in great shape, but he is constantly telling me, “Make sure you don't hurt yourself lifting that.” Nobody needs to hear that fucking garbage right when they are about to perform a set. I finally told him the other day, “Damnit Jim, if I thought I was going to get fucking hurt every time I walked in here I'd have shitty workouts all the time. Quit worrying about me and just know that I'm hitting this shit 15 reps, so I don't think it's too heavy.”

Injuries happen, period. You stay in the gym long enough you're going to have them. As you get stronger and stronger, you're going to get them. There comes a point where building your body larger and stronger makes you more vulnerable to injury, not protected. The joints and tendons don't grow with the muscle, your approach has to become different as you progress.

I use the sauna from time to time, I even take the occasional yoga class. I don't care what it looks like, or who thinks it's gay. When it comes to your physique don't worry about how it looks doing something, and anyone who thinks it's gay probably has a half-assed body anyway.

Be all business in the gym

Stay focused on your workout. Steer clear of little bitches who want to talk about all of their problems. Sitting there jaw japping is why they don't look like bodybuilders to begin with. It's not social hour for me, it's war.

Now, with all of this being said, you can still be nice about it. You don't have to come off like an asshole, and here is how. “Hey listen man, I need to rush this one tonight, let me come hit you up in a little bit.” Then after you're finished go talk to the guy for a couple minutes, ask him how his family is and how his life is going outside of the gym. Then tell him it was nice to see him, shake his hand and leave. He'll have respect for that, and after a couple times he'll know you're all business when you lift. Those little pansy ass convos about injuries will end. Yeah, I stay injured. Who gives a fuck?

Show no weakness when you march into battle… train hard!

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:

19 thoughts on “Tell Mr. Injury to Go Fuck Himself”

    • thanks brother, I went against my own rule tonight for a second, but I was asking a guy who works in physical therapy who worked on my arm before. So it doesnt count!!

      Reply
  1. Sup John Doe,

    Some men are ridiculously afraid of bending their arms more than 90 degrees during bench pressing due to fear of fucking up their shoulders.

    What are your thoughts?

    Good article. Good job letting Jim know what is up. Nobody wants to hear that shit before a set! That would throw my concentration way off.

    Reply
    • Aaron, I frequently do this myself. It’s not so much for fear of messing up my shoulders, but it’s to keep constant tension on my chest. It’s actually harder to stop the bar 3/4 the way up than all the way up, because you eliminate resting points. I could sit there all day holding my arms straight out with the bar, but not in 3/4 of the rep range. Yes, also the shoulders begin to take over the movement from the 3/4 rep range to the lockout position, and the heavier you train the more stress that gets put on your joints. Genetically my chest was a weaker area, doing the 3/4 rep ranges are actually what bought it up to start growing more. Same goes for training my shoulders, I stop at my nose with the bar, then 3/4 of the way up. So my shoulders are constantly under tension but I’m avoiding those injuries. Now, during my lighter sets or warmups, I WILL work the full range of motion, just so there is no part of the muscle or movement that is neglected, also to fully warm up the entire area to further prevent a possible injury. But once I get to using heavier weights I do this 3/4 motion alot actually. Good question you had!!

      Reply
  2. Dear John Doe
    Very great post and fantastic site and information. Visited here a few times and this is my first time posting.

    Quick question for you, I messed up my rotator cuff a while back. I can’t remember from what exactly.

    Anyway, I still lift but its a pain in the as when lifting and daily routines. I feel a crack most of the time. Wanted to know your thoughts.

    Thanks much and keep at it man. Great stuff. Especially like the post about ridding your body of toxins.

    -Jake

    Reply
    • This sounds like an A/C joint impingement, it’s a cumulative injury that can get worse over time. You say “daily activities, does it hurt when you sleep and wake up in the morning? An impingement is when the joint no longer has the same amount of cushion to move freely. Does it feel like something is limiting the range of motion in your shoulder? If so, my guess is an impingement. I’ve been there myself, the orthopedic Dr. suggested getting surgery. The surgery is a shoulder scope where they go in and clean out the joint, it’s an outpatient procedure that will only put you down for a few weeks, but it will take some time to build back the strength in that shoulder. I opted against the surgery and I’m glad that I did. If it’s not too bad I would not get the surgery. When it gets bad you’ll know it. Its going to hurt to hold a cup of coffee or zip up your pants. My advice is to schedule an appointment with an orthopedic Doc, specifically one who deals in sports injury. Get an x-ray done, if its an impingement then your going to see sort of ratty looking frayed/cracks where the bones come together to make up the joint. If you dont see that to much of a degree then your dealing with a muscle/soft tissue issue. Where is the pain located? Is it near where the collar bone meets your shoulder, or is in the back of the shoulder? If its near the collar bone/shoulder joint I’d put money on it it’s an A/C issue. If its more towards the side or rear delt, possible labrum injury or tear.

      What I did for recovery was hit the glucosamine w/ chondroitin pretty hard, and I limited myself to just machines for about the next 3-4 months. Hammer strength or nautilus machines work great. Do your reps in a pumping fashion with partial range of motion. Bring the stack down and stop about 2-3 inches before bottom, and then stop about 3 inches before lockout. Keep your elbows in closer to your ribs to take shoulders out of the movement. DO NOT PERFORM SHOULDER PRESSES DURING THIS TIME FRAME. You wont be doing those for awhile, just do some LIGHT, LIGHT lateral raises if you can. The shoulder press is the culprit when it comes to these types of injuries because its the move that causes the joint to come closest together when executing it (at the top of the rep)

      But like I said, this is my best guess based on what you’ve told me. Go to a Dr. and get the low down. Good luck with it and keep me informed, Doe

      Reply
      • Actually, I do have some pain in the morning. It’s not so bad. I do believe that it is some sort of issue with the muscle tissue. I have a full range of motion. I feel most of the pain in the back just right above my arm pit. I don’t know if this is a normal area to feel it or not. I don’t think that I will have to have surgery.
        Some of the exercises that I do that actually help are things like hammer curls and military push ups to just name a few. When I am lifting for hammer curls, it actually feels therapeutic for that area. But when going down, I have to do it EXTREMELY slow, otherwise that area cracks when I’m lowering the weights. Also for military push ups, when going down, that helps that area and the closer my arms are to my sides helps relieve some of the pain. But when coming back up is when I feel the crack. It doesn’t necessarily hinder my work outs but it’s not something I want to keep feeling and doing while going through my work outs.
        Thank you for the tips with the work outs and glucosamine. So I should do all those work outs with the glucosamine for about 3-4 months? Or at least whenever things start to get back to normal?

        Reply
        • Get to an orthopedic Dr. as soon as you can. Everything you just described to me points to a labrum tear, and they often affect the biceps as well, which is why you have to go slow on the way down. Do not chalk this up as bullshit that will heal soon enough, I’ve known guys who have lifted through Labrum tears forever before they ever knew they once tore it. An X-ray will not show this, your going to need a CT scan and sometimes they will use contrast dye to see specifically how much tissue has been damaged. Do not put this off my friend, if you enjoy lifting weights I’d suggest going to the Doc. I’m not trying to scare you, but everything you just said points to this

          Reply
  3. Hello Mr.Doe,
    I have lower back pain and problems from a ham injury. I seen Physio and doctors and stuff, but was wondering your thoughts on the issue.
    The pain is located on the spinal electors and each erector is very right specifically the right one. Bending over and standing up hurts and sometimes it feels right if I flex my abs.
    Thanks
    Connor
    P.s. I am 16 years old.

    Reply
    • This sounds to me like an SI injury, which is almost on the top of your butt/lower back region. Usually when it persists long enough a sport therapist will “reset” the pelvis by putting you through some movements to adjust it. I recently had a similar issue and it bothered me for a couple weeks. One thing I did that I felt healed it faster was I got on hyperextensions for my back. (The thing where your legs are locked in and you raise your upper body to work your lower back, often seen with people holding a plate across their chest.) STart with just a few inches of movement on the lower half of the exercise and just do short rep ranges at the bottom few inches of the movement. If your mobility allows you to, gradually go up higher, then maybe try working just the top few inches of the movement and doing a bunch of reps with just a few inches of movement at the top half. When you feel comfortable enough, begin working the full range of motion, but always start off with bottom reps, then top, then full range. I felt like doing this sort of reset my pelvis and the pain disappeared quickly. If you go back to the physio ask for ultrasound on the area and that may help loosen it up as well.

      Reply
  4. Thanks John!

    I fucked up my back doing deadlifts. Probably a combination of the weight being too heavy and bad form. My knee is also messed up from an injury that dates back 12 years but the pain still comes around.

    I’m afraid to do deadlifts or squats because I don’t want to injury myself again. I couldnt even tie my shoe last time. I’m going to invest in a back brace and knee brace because I know those two work outs are important for numerous reasons.

    would you happen to have any other tips?

    Reply
    • most deadlift injuries come from weak hamstrings actually. I would work the hamstrings more and leave squats alone. You dont NEED TO DO SQUATS to get big legs, and before attempting deadlifts again I’d focus on hyperextensions with just bodyweight, and work the hell out of your hamstrings

      Reply

Leave a Comment

Item added to cart.
0 items - $0.00