One lesson for injured lifters, every Monday
Short, direct writing on pain, load and getting back to heavy lifting. Read every issue here, or get the next one in your inbox.
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Quinn deadlifted 585 pounds last week. He’s got a powerlifting competition next weekend. His first meet since last February — the day he deadlifted 600 and tore his bicep clean…
Most lifters use two rules during recovery: Pain = stop No pain = go It feels logical. It’s also why progress stalls. Because rebuilding tolerance does not happen at zero…
There’s a moment every injured lifter reaches: When rest has failed. When rehab hasn’t delivered. When fear hangs heavier than the barbell. And the question becomes: Do I accept a…
Latest issues
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Victim of Medical Imaging Technology
There’s an acronym clinicians use behind closed doors. VOMIT. Victim Of Medical Imaging Technology. The fact that rehab professionals needed a name for this should tell you…
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The Sunk Cost of Getting Better
You know the line. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Einstein never said it. And it’s wrong anyway. Insanity has nothing to do with…
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Check Your Ego
What I’m about to say, I say as someone who exclusively trains for a 1RM snatch and clean & jerk. I am only training for the ability to lift the absolute heaviest…
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Dimmer (Not A Switch)
I’ve been toying with this idea recently. I call it “Dimmer not a switch”. Most of the time, we view situations as dichotomous relationships — i.e. It’s either A or B. In…
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The Margin Gets Smaller
When you start lifting, almost everything works. Mediocre sleep. Guesswork programming. Too much volume one week, not enough the next. You progress anyway. The beginner gets a…
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The Repair Isn’t The Recovery
The body adapts to what you ask of it. That’s how you get stronger. It’s also how you come back from injury. Most rehab plans only believe the first half. Quinn Tore…
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The Session Model Is Why You’re Not Getting Better
Most physios can’t get you back to heavy lifting. That’s not a character flaw on their part. Most of them are smart, caring people who went into healthcare for the right reasons….
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Are You A Victim Of The Back Tax?
I spoke to a lifter last week who’d spent YEARS with a McGill-trained practitioner. He made real progress out of his acute back pain. But he found himself stuck. It’s not that…
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There is no magic exercise
Open Instagram and someone is telling you the one stretch that fixes your back. Open YouTube and a chiropractor is demoing the one drill that unlocks your hips. Open TikTok and a…
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The Plinko Board of Injury Recovery — Why Some Lifters Recover and Others Don’t
Think about a Plinko board. You drop the chip at the top. It hits peg after peg — bouncing left, bouncing right — and eventually lands somewhere at the bottom. Recovery works…
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You Didn’t Wait Too Long. You Just Waited.
I’ve had a version of the same conversation dozens of times. Someone reaches out. They’ve been dealing with something for months — a hip that flares every time they get under the…
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The 5 Pillars (And Why Most Rehab Fails Without Them)
Quinn deadlifted 585 pounds last week. He’s got a powerlifting competition next weekend. His first meet since last February — the day he deadlifted 600 and tore his bicep clean…
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