What's My Capacity?

Hopefully, following a smart, safe and intentional training program is keeping you out of pain and helping you avoid injury.

But most of us have suffered an injury somewhere along the way and had to go see the doctor.

I’m not here to bad mouth doctors, but let me know if this sounds familiar:

Doctor: “So what brings you here today?”

You: “Well, I threw my back out the other day and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better.”

Doctor: “How’d you do that?”

You: “I was at the gym, and I was doing great and feeling amazing in my workout … until I felt something pop on the very last rep!”

Doctor: “What exercise were you doing?”

You: “Deadlifts. They’re my favorite.”

Doctor: “How much weight were you lifting?”

You: “Oh, nothing too crazy. Like 185 for sets of 5.”

Doctor: “You were picking up 185 pounds five times?!?!?! Well, that’s our answer … no more deadlifts. Here’s a prescription for an anti-inflammatory that will help you feel better in a couple of days.”

Have you ever experienced this?

There’s so much wrong with it, on so many levels.

As I said, I’m not about to bad mouth this doctor or any other. They’ve sworn an oath to “do no harm,” and they’re just doing the job they were trained to do.

The doctor’s job is to get you out of pain, with no regard for the fact that you want to do deadlifts … you need to do deadlifts … because you enjoy them, they make you strong, and make you feel amazing.

A coach is not trained or qualified to diagnose illness or injury, or prescribe pain management protocols.

At the same time, a doctor is not trained or qualified to teach their patient how to do all the activities they love, and to do them safely and without pain.

That’s where coaches come in. 

Coaches who are educated, dedicated and ask the right questions of their clients can become the future of healthcare … and bridge the gap between fitness and medicine.

It’s why this is one of the most exciting times in the history of the world to be a coach :-)

A coach wouldn’t just ask about “the thing” that happened right before the injury.

He or she might ask you to place your feet comfortably under your hips, bend forward and reach down. “If you can’t get your fingertips to the floor without discomfort, we’ll need to elevate your deadlift setup next time …”

A coach would also ask about all the things that happened leading up to your workout. If you only slept 4 hours last night, spent two hours in a car commuting to and from work, sat at a desk for 10 hours, and had fast food for lunch because you didn’t have time to find a healthy option, it wasn’t the deadlift that hurt your back.

It was all the other stuff.

Just something to think about. Nothing that happens with your body -- good or bad -- happens in isolation.

And while doctors are amazing and necessary, sometimes we need a coach to dig a little deeper.