Doug Szolek
09-25-2003, 05:19 PM
It seems only fitting that I break-in this forum with a story of my own lessons in humility :oops: . I'm sure some of you viewed the subject line of this post and wondered why it isn't in the Combatives forum, well you see, it's because I wasn't absorbing the blow of a fist to my face (that's not half as scary as this), I was absorbing a falling 90lbs. dumbbell.
I had just finished my rest/recovery day run, and I felt like beefing up with some heavy incline-dumbbell presses. I grabbed the 'bells and laid back on the bench and right away I felt strong. I was fully expecting to get a set of 10 out based on how well those first three went. However on the fourth rep as I turned the dumbbells in at the top to really squeeze my pecs, the range of motion in my left arm deviated up over my head rather than staying safe and controlled over my chest. This happened right as I was ending the pause at the top of the movement so there was just enough flexion in my left elbow for gravity to grab that dumbbell and tug. My triceps were fairly useless from yesterdays intense Swipe and Mill practice; so with my arm teetering on the brink of disaster, out of place for my pecs or deltoids to do much good in controlling it, 90 pounds of cast iron came crashing down on my giant mellon :shock: . And was quickly followed by the other lowering in a slightly more controlled fashion to my chest/stomach.
Had it not been for my applied knowledge of Shock Absorbtion it's very likely that my jaw and perhaps several teeth would have been broken. As it happened a corner of one heads of the dumbbell (hex variety) made first contact with the left side of my jaw about 2" from the center of my chin and I did my best to collapse and pivot around this point of impact with my head still pinned to the bench pad. What I got was forced into the beginnings of a cervical hour glass motion from my Warrior Wellness routine; the only problem being that the weight forced me beyond my current plasticity so now I'm working to heal an uncomfortable neck strain. Not a bad price to pay all things considered.
My spotter this morning, who shall remain nameless, is not at fault because we were both expecting me to get at least 8 reps before his assistance would be needed. After clearing my head :roll: and making sure that nothing was broken we got some ice for the jaw and continued to the next set. Weights can't buck you like a horse but they can try to smash you, when they do I feel it's important to pick 'em right back up and show them who made them. Had I ended my workout after discovering that I was uninjured, I am quite positive that my strength in that lift would have been severly compromised in my next session due to the probable build up of Fear Reactivity.
So I think the moral of this story is that no matter how much control I appear to have, I must not overlook form.
Hoping that this doesn't swell too much,
doug
I had just finished my rest/recovery day run, and I felt like beefing up with some heavy incline-dumbbell presses. I grabbed the 'bells and laid back on the bench and right away I felt strong. I was fully expecting to get a set of 10 out based on how well those first three went. However on the fourth rep as I turned the dumbbells in at the top to really squeeze my pecs, the range of motion in my left arm deviated up over my head rather than staying safe and controlled over my chest. This happened right as I was ending the pause at the top of the movement so there was just enough flexion in my left elbow for gravity to grab that dumbbell and tug. My triceps were fairly useless from yesterdays intense Swipe and Mill practice; so with my arm teetering on the brink of disaster, out of place for my pecs or deltoids to do much good in controlling it, 90 pounds of cast iron came crashing down on my giant mellon :shock: . And was quickly followed by the other lowering in a slightly more controlled fashion to my chest/stomach.
Had it not been for my applied knowledge of Shock Absorbtion it's very likely that my jaw and perhaps several teeth would have been broken. As it happened a corner of one heads of the dumbbell (hex variety) made first contact with the left side of my jaw about 2" from the center of my chin and I did my best to collapse and pivot around this point of impact with my head still pinned to the bench pad. What I got was forced into the beginnings of a cervical hour glass motion from my Warrior Wellness routine; the only problem being that the weight forced me beyond my current plasticity so now I'm working to heal an uncomfortable neck strain. Not a bad price to pay all things considered.
My spotter this morning, who shall remain nameless, is not at fault because we were both expecting me to get at least 8 reps before his assistance would be needed. After clearing my head :roll: and making sure that nothing was broken we got some ice for the jaw and continued to the next set. Weights can't buck you like a horse but they can try to smash you, when they do I feel it's important to pick 'em right back up and show them who made them. Had I ended my workout after discovering that I was uninjured, I am quite positive that my strength in that lift would have been severly compromised in my next session due to the probable build up of Fear Reactivity.
So I think the moral of this story is that no matter how much control I appear to have, I must not overlook form.
Hoping that this doesn't swell too much,
doug