Is Lifting Weights Dangerous?

“Lifting weights is dangerous”. We hear this so often from unknowing parents and athletes when approached with the topic of strength and conditioning. The reality is that these people are right. Every physical activity has a risk of injury associated with it. However, equally as true is that lifting weights is exponentially far less dangerous than playing sports.

Think about it. Team sports consist of athletes throwing themselves at loose balls, colliding with each other at full speed, and putting their limbs in unpredictable positions. More or less, sports are uncontrolled environments where athletes aggressively do whatever it takes it to win even if this means putting their body in a dicey spot.

This is not a knock on team sports. I am a huge believer in playing sports and always will be but let’s not throw strength training under the bus because of safety concerns especially when strength training is one of the most effective ways to mitigate injuries in sports. As a strength and conditioning coach my goal is to use this discipline to help athletes, not make them feel worse.

The gym is a controlled environment. The barbell can be set down at any time, the load of the exercises can be infinitely scaled up or down, and safety precautions are systematically put in place. Additionally, when strength and conditioning is coached correctly, we can mitigate a lot of those chronic injuries that can occur with inexperienced or under educated trainees.

Any time an athlete comes to train with us we see it as a huge responsibility to be tasked with helping them achieve their athletic goals and keeping them healthy and safe. The awesome part is that usually smart, safe training facilitates the desired outcome for that athlete. Safe lifting = strong lifting and strong lifting = increased sports performance.

Best of luck with your training today!

With Thanks,