Do Not Risk Injury In The Weight Room!

-February 27th, 2012-

Last week it was reported in Sports Illustrated that San Francisco Giants pitcher Ryan Vogelsong would be out 10 days after injuring himself lifting weights.

The #1 Rule I have as a Strength Coach (that I adopted from top Strength Coach Mike Boyle) is Do No Harm.

Nothing I do or program should cause injury.

In fact, my #1 goal is to reduce the likelihood of my players being injured while playing.

If you are injured, you are not helping your team. So it’s my job to keep my players healthy.

Is there risk of injury when lifting weights? Yes, but only if you are doing it wrong or stupidly.

Which brings me back to Vogelsong. He hurt himself “squatting on a balance ball with 70-pound dumbbells.”

RIDICULOUS!

I can’t believe a Pro athlete would be squatting on a ball!

I can’t believe a trainer would make anyone, let alone a guy with literally millions of dollars to lose, squat with weights on an unstable surface. It just isn’t safe!

Does this not look like an injury waiting to happen?

While balance is important, weight training on an unstable surface is not smart. You’re either trying to increase strength or improve balance. Don’t try to do both at the same time!

World renowned Strength Coach Eric Cressey created a great resource on Unstable Surface Training and when you should or shouldn’t include it.

Squatting on a ball may look cool, but the only value to it is as a party trick. It will not do anything to help make you a better lacrosse player.

So if you want to work on balance, work on your balance.

But if you want to improve strength, work on strength training.

Tags: balance, injuries, smart lacrosse training, stability ball, stupid training