Hell Raiser Training Injury Prevention and Stretching

[ragingmuscle]

This thread will be dedicated to all things Injury Prevention and Stretching. Two extremely important parts of Hell Raiser Training. I will outline here, my recommendations.

You're breaking down your muscles, pounding your joints. But what's the point if you're not rebuilding bigger muscles, or, worse, if you're zoned on the couch because you hurt yourself?

With Hellraiser Training, you're going to spend hours pounding it in the gym. Recovery becomes critical to adding mass. Do this right, and you're actually going to be making progress 24/7.

Do it wrong, and all the hard training can turn into a nightmare. You don't want Hellraiser-style nightmares. Trust me, you don't want this mug in your grill after hours, pinhead.

Obviously it's important to be eating right and taking proper supplementation, but there are a couple other key steps to make sure we're doing everything it takes to build mass.

let's cover sleep, cardio, stretching and deep tissue massage.

1. Sleep



Sleep is critical for ensuring you're physically and mentally ready to hit the gym.

Sleep is also a key time for growth hormone and testosterone release. Elevated levels of both hormones help with both recovery and building muscle.

Sleep at least 7-9 hours of sleep every night. Squeeze in a 15-20 minute nap when you can.

Mental alertness is extremely important for HRT. If you're not paying attention, you're going to get hurt.

2. Cardio



HRT is mostly an off-season, mass-building routine. Generally, people who are focused on building mass avoid cardio like the plague. But in this case it offers some really solid benefits, like improved cardiovascular health. It also helps flush toxins out of the body.

Do 15-20 minutes of low-intensity cardio. Keep the beats/minute at 110-120.

Do cardio only on your three off days.

3. Stretching



HRT is all about maximizing the pump. Between your training, your nutrition and your proper supplementation, you're going to have a tremendous amount of nutrient-rich blood reaching the muscles, filling them up like a balloon and pushing against the fascia.

The best time to stretch is within 5 minutes after training a muscle group.

When you stretch, apply a moderate amount of pressure. Your muscles are already vulnerable from being torn up from the training, so you don't want to injury yourself.

Types of HRT Stretches

1st Shoulder Stretch: Set the Olympic bar at squat height. Reach both hands out behind you and put the bar in the crooks of your elbows. Slowly bend your knees just enough to create the stretch while helping out slightly.

2nd Shoulder Stretch: Pull your arm across your chest, while pushing that arm against your chest with the other arm. Then alternate.

Biceps/Forearms Stretch: Set an Olympic bar at the height of a barbell shrug. Place your fingers toward you on the bar. Slowly lean forward and down while pushing your elbows forward.

Quads Stretch: Take one large step forward with one leg, kneel on one knee and then lean back while pushing your hip forward. Lean back with your upper body and keep the back leg up on its toes. Then alternate.

Hamstring Stretch: Set a safety bar on a power rack at about mid-thigh height. Place one foot up on the support bar and lean into the stretch, focusing on your hamstring.

Chest Stretch: Extend both hands straight out while inside of a power rack with your arms touching the vertical supports. Slowly move and lean forward to stretch out the pecs.

Triceps Stretch: Grab a medium weight dumbbell, sit on a chair, raise the dumbbell up and over your head, keep your elbows tight, and lower the weight into the stretch.

1st Back Stretch: Strap onto a pullup bar and hang.

2nd Back Stretch: Lie on an incline bench and have your partner hand you a barbell. Let your shoulders rollout into the stretch.

3rd Back Stretch: Slowly bend over with your knees slightly bent, interlock your hands behind your knees, and slowly pull to stretch your lower back.

Traps Stretch: Grab a medium weight dumbbell in each hand. Allow them to hang by your side into the stretch. Slowly lean your head to one side for 30 seconds, then to the other side for 30 seconds.

1st Calf Stretch: Load a medium amount of weight on a seated or standing calf machine and allow the weight to slowly descend into a stretch.

2nd Calf Stretch: Lean against the wall, placing your opposite foot that's being stretched behind your ankle. Then alternate.

4. Deep Tissue Massage



It's important to get a full body deep tissue massage a couple times per month. This helps reduce soreness by increasing circulation. It can also help break up knots and scar tissue that may result in injury, as well as allowing the muscle to be more flexible.

[mrdead]

Niiice...!!! Covering all the bases...

[wtwlly99]

Awesome! doing it all!

[gemgemkid]

Just to be 100% clear, we are stretching after each muscle group not after each exercise? Correct!?

[ragingmuscle]

Just to be 100% clear, we are stretching after each muscle group not after each exercise? Correct!?

Correct.

[rbowman91]

Hey Tom, not sure if you guys are watching this thread but I had a quick question.

I get a mild knee pain in my right knee after legs day, and sometimes followed throughout the week. It runs in my family, and its never been anything major with anyone, but I want to keep it that way. I didn't do my second set of hack squats last wheels day because I wanted to see what you thought. I've tried many different stances. Maybe the Flex will help, but do you have any suggestions? I can't neglect doing legs, as we all know. What do you think?

[RIOSHOWTIME2]

Hey Tom, not sure if you guys are watching this thread but I had a quick question.

I get a mild knee pain in my right knee after legs day, and sometimes followed throughout the week. It runs in my family, and its never been anything major with anyone, but I want to keep it that way. I didn't do my second set of hack squats last wheels day because I wanted to see what you thought. I've tried many different stances. Maybe the Flex will help, but do you have any suggestions? I can't neglect doing legs, as we all know. What do you think?

We got something in common. I have grumpy knees lol sometime they hurt sometime they don't. Hopefully the animal flex helps out!!

[ragingmuscle]

Hey Tom, not sure if you guys are watching this thread but I had a quick question.

I get a mild knee pain in my right knee after legs day, and sometimes followed throughout the week. It runs in my family, and its never been anything major with anyone, but I want to keep it that way. I didn't do my second set of hack squats last wheels day because I wanted to see what you thought. I've tried many different stances. Maybe the Flex will help, but do you have any suggestions? I can't neglect doing legs, as we all know. What do you think?

We got something in common. I have grumpy knees lol sometime they hurt sometime they don't. Hopefully the animal flex helps out!!

Where at on your knees are you guys feeling this? Lots of things can come into play with something like this. Foot stance, toe position, etc can contribute to the way your knee is tracking. Wearing wraps, no wraps, what kind? How deep? atg, parallel?

[rbowman91]

Where at on your knees are you guys feeling this? Lots of things can come into play with something like this. Foot stance, toe position, etc can contribute to the way your knee is tracking. Wearing wraps, no wraps, what kind? How deep? atg, parallel?

I feel it on the lower part of my knee. I used to do a straight stance and now i point my toes slightly out. I don't wear any wraps. Do you think I should be? I keep the weight low because of this which is why I never bought knee wraps.

[ragingmuscle]

I feel it on the lower part of my knee. I used to do a straight stance and now i point my toes slightly out. I don't wear any wraps. Do you think I should be? I keep the weight low because of this which is why I never bought knee wraps.

Could be something like patellar tendinitis or jumpers knee. You need to get it checked out. I say yes on the wraps, but make sure you know how to wrap them properly.

[neginfluence04]

Scheduled my first deep tissue message on thursday can't wait

[rbowman91]

Tom,

So would you recommend the knee wraps or knee sleeves? I will buy some tomorrow before Saturday's Wheels.