Subject: The DUMBEST thing I ever did in the gym... (it's bad)
This could have gone REALLY wrong...The mad, creative little voice in my head was apparently trying to kill me that time... :)
It was more than 20 years ago now, long before the time of phone-shot video so I don't have any video of it (wish I did). At the time, I had gotten big into handstand push-ups and was getting really strong at them...to the point where I was able to do sets of 20+ reps, no problem. I had even started doing handstand push-ups on top of dumbbell handles to get a greater range of motion. That in itself is not bad...in fact, doing that on STABLE handles and using them like parallettes is quite good...using a heavy hex dumbbbell that won't roll is perfect for that.
Here's where it gets bad...I thought to myself... "Hmm... I've done regular push-ups on the handles of round dumbbells, rolling them out to the sides at the bottom and bringing them together at the top to get a stronger contaction in the chest...that worked great. I wonder if that would work with HANDSTAND push-ups?" So I got a pair of round-plate dumbbells, set them up by the wall parallel to each so they could roll out to the sides, set my hands on the handles then kicked up into a handstand (feet contacting the wall). I let the handles roll out a few inches as I came down to the bottom, then pushed up to the top, bringing them back in. It felt good on the delts. So my mad scientist brain went hmm....
And here's where it gets WORSE...I took those same dumbbells (60 lb dumbbells, which were not tightly bolted and very jiggly, just to add that into the mix) and I set my hands on the PLATES of the dumbbell, thinking in my infinite wisdom that this would increase the instability (for greater muscle activation...insert facepalm here) and give me greater range of motion as I rolled the dumbbells out to the sides. And before I could think the better of it, I set my hands on the plates, kicked up into the handstand... And did 2 reps. The dumbbells were shifting and shaking and rattling the entire time.
And after those 2 reps, I dropped my feet back down to the ground, looked at the dumbbells and thought to myself... "I am SO lucky I didn't drop myself on my head and break my neck... I am NEVER doing anything like that again." That was a big learning moment for me. Sometimes you CAN push things too far...into the realm of stupid.
Now, I can't say that I've been a saint ever since... ;) You've seen my videos.But after that one set, I've been a lot more cognizant of risk/reward on the stuff that I do. I know it may not look like it sometimes... I'll give you that... For example, take this exercise... the Feet Elevated Pike Handstand Push-Up...
This is actually my favorite variation of the Handstand Push-Up. It gives you FULL range of motion, it allows you to take up some of your bodyweight, it doesn't require any acrobatic balance at all, and it works GREAT for developing the shoulders. You DO want to make sure you're strong enough to perform it correctly and you definitely want to make sure your hands aren't sweaty so that they don't slide while you're doing it. You can grip your hands onto the bench and lock yourself into the movement very effectively. It's a risk/reward situation where you can manage the risk down to a very minimal level, and to me, the reward of the exercise makes it worth doing. That may not be the case for you. In which case, you can do something like this... A "Perfect" Power-Building Shoulder Press Setup
This is clearly a more conventional exercise...the setup is different than the "normal" setup, but from my experience, it sets you up for MUCH greater results in building a strong shoulder press. But it's still not 100% safe. No exercise is.
The lesson I learned many years ago is that you have to determine what YOUR level of risk/reward is.And definitely learn from MY mistakes! If you'd like me to share more of my training experiences like this or if you've had similar learning experiences like this yourself, definitely hit reply and let me know. But yeah, while this was the dumbest thing I've ever done in the gym, it was certainly not the ONLY dumb thing I've ever done in the gym... ;) Nick Nilsson P.S. You are receiving this email because you signed up for emails at Fitstep.com, MadScientistofMuscle.com or you purchased one of my products. If you no longer wish to receive fitness and training info like this, you can instantly unsubscribe by clicking here.
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