Dooley Noted: 1/23/14
I like to lift heavy things. So do my friends.
We like to lift heavy things so much that most of us avoid the small weights, as if they don’t serve purpose anymore.
This must change.
This week, I had the honor of helping a friend and someone who has taught me about body weight strength. His name is Joe Gonzalez, SFG, NKT.
Joe had some discomfort on his handstand. We assessed him with SFMA, ortho tests, and NKT to find a glitch.
I put him in half-kneeling and gave him a 6 kilo bell. He looked slightly offended, but he trusted me.
He couldn’t believe the trouble he had doing a bottoms-up rack hold in half kneeling.
Joe can lift very heavy things, and he also does a one-arm, one-leg push-up as if its child’s play.
But he still has room for improvement, and he humbly and consistently breaks down these barriers with corrective exercise.
The small weights can really help you see compensations. They can also serve as effective tools to retrain motor control.
He emailed me afterwards, baffled by the change one tiny correction made in his bodyweight skill work.
Lift heavy things, please. Get strong. But use the light things to knock out compensations so you can lift even heavier things safely.
As always, it’s your call.
– Dr. Kathy Dooley
