"Safe and Un-Safe Exercise"

"Safety is not a gadget but a state of mind".  ~Eleanor Everet

A track in a recent Les Mills Body Step released provoked some controversy:  This track involved a movement where we jumped over the step and landed (as displayed on the DVD!) in a perfect squat position.  Some gyms assessed some environmental risk factors in regard to this exercise (‘what if the air conditioner wasn’t working and the floor was slippery’… ‘what if someone accidentally caught their foot on their step’…).  The outcome of these assessments was that many instructors were forbidden to teach this track.  This is surprising considering Les Mills has there own Risk Management department that consider these very things!  However, being an organization that very much prides themselves on staying on the pulse of the fitness industry, with Crossfit at the height of industry trend, there is no wonder that there are some grey areas when it comes to safety considerations.

These events started me thinking about ‘safe’ and ‘unsafe’ exercise and how contradictive the world of fitness is.  Only a few years ago, with the dominance of such disciplines as Pilates, exercise was all about mastering technique… now with the Crossfit influence, it is all about exertion over form!  How does one become a fit and active individual when we bypass the ailments that continue to make us weak???  Do we start gently and work on our imperfections or do we hold the bigger picture in our sights and smash ourselves in the hope that our slower reactive aspects will catch up???

I have witnessed bad, inappropriate training from both perspectives; bad kettle-bell swings from cores not yet ready… slow, delicate training that has gone on for years without results… inappropriate intensities for varying fitness levels… surely there is a middle ground where these two notions can make peace…

Group Fitness is an interesting arena when considering the notions of safe and unsafe exercise.  Being in a group environment that doesn’t necessarily have the same control as a one on one session, sometimes extra caution must be taken:  Some ranges are reduced in Body Pump and some exercises such as Clean and Presses are modified to cater for the fact that instructors are teaching to the general public and individual joint flexibility can’t be taken into account in this situation.  It is safer to reduce the range than put someone at risk. 

A good Group Fitness coach will also keep this arena safe by correcting technique… I have learned over the years that that you can overdo this.  Some people love the fact that they have learned a new detail to help perfect their form… but no one wants to be continually pulled up and made aware of all the things they are doing wrong.  I have learned over the years that sometimes you have to let things go and fix little details at a time.  That way the information is valued and not equated with failure.

Controlled low intensity sessions don’t exactly excite people and get the adrenaline pumping either!  Although some people may shy away from high intensity exercise initially, when you build a base fitness and get a taste for it, it’s quite a rush!  The exertion felt inspires a feeling of achievement, it increases the amount of endorphins and becomes something that inspires enjoyment rather than dread.  Sometimes, the low intensity, controlled postural beneficial sessions, although, from a logical perspective we appreciate what they do, they don’t inspire this same feeling and their benefits take longer to register because the results aren’t as drastic.  We may appreciate over time that we are standing more upright or are feeling more balanced, but this doesn’t have the same amount of impact as seeing a drastic drop on the bathroom scales or going down a clothes size. 

Then there is the other extreme:  The advanced compound exercise given inappropriately.  Not everyone was meant for a kettle-bell swing and it is quite a painful thing to stand by and watch someone with minimal core strength try to perform this. Also, some people have a hard time mastering a plank with good core activation for 15-20sec, so to make someone hold it for 5 minutes or to add piles of weights to their back is just asking for trouble.  Particularly in the personal training arena, some trainers feel that they have done their client’s a disservice if they haven’t ‘smashed’ them into a bloody pulp.  This is often when the most damage is done. 

Sadly, it comes down to the thing I feel that trainers do the least best; trust your clients and the information they are giving you!  Ailments are often genuine, so respect them, work around them and strengthen them.  Know that any fear they have of an exercise has been manifested and so will present itself in some form; whether it be injury or bad, unfixable technique…  People and messages aren’t as complicated as we would like them to seem; they often present themselves in front of our very eyes or sound clearly within our ears.  It is up to us to accept and recognise the information as obvious and important data.

Presenting training intensity levels as too high or too low affects the client’s response to them too; if you say over and over again ‘this exercise is hard, ‘ this is dangerous’ or, ’what the hell is this supposed to do!’ this will influence how effective the exercise is for the client.  What you manifest, whether positive or negative will come into being.

I recently taught that ‘unsafe’ Body Step track at a club that had not ‘banned’ it.  It was funny, but that was the very first time that I hesitated and talked myself into the notion that it was unsafe.  It is funny how negative connotations such as “this could be dangerous!” or “this could lead to an incident” manifests itself into a belief… and then a fear…  I haven’t taught this track since my doubt and fear have been manifested.  Yet, before this I performed the jump with success and pride…  It is astounding how much the mind influences our physical activity; I have seen fearless dancers perform tricks deemed unfathomable, and athletes perform tasks and speeds not deemed humanly possible… yet we hold onto the idea that our body is limited… and it is!   Old injuries often conceal themselves for a time and then become that dancers ‘dickie knee’ or that runner’s ‘hip ailment’!   I guess this is the real choice we are making as active individuals; are we training for the moment (which is often wonderful and memorable?) or are we training for the longevity of it all?  I guess the final choice will decipher who we are.