Tip How to Lift with Angry Joints Search Skip to content Menu Menu follow us Store Articles Community Loyal-T Club Loyal-T Points Rewards Subscribe to Save Search Search The World s Trusted Source & Community for Elite Fitness Training Tip How to Lift with Angry Joints Try these workarounds to keep you in the gym when you' re feeling a little banged up by TJ Kuster September 13, 2019April 5, 2021 Tags It Hurts Fix It, Training Lift hard for long enough and you'll eventually have some joint pain. Whether it's the knee, shoulder, lower back, or wrist, something will probably flare up. Now, you could pop some pain killers and grind through it until your flare-up becomes a real injury... or you could do the smart thing and manage your injury. If you're ready to check your ego, use some of these strategies. Increase Your Volume and Decrease Weight Your muscles may be able to take heavy daily lifting, but that doesn't mean your joints can. Dropping the heavy lifting and increasing your reps will not only give your joints a break, it'll allow your nervous system to recover while you shift focus towards muscle growth. The amount of effort you put into your workouts doesn't need to change just because you're going lighter. Taking shorter rests and increasing your reps will create more metabolic stress which will lead to greater hypertrophy. Also, higher reps will get the heart pumping hard which provides extra blood flow and circulation to your cranky joints. Partial Reps Partial reps create more time under tension and emphasize the "pump" when lifting. Limiting your range of motion to the middle two-thirds of your lift and avoiding the lockout will relieve excess strain on your joints. As an example, here's the neutral, close-grip incline press: Use Bands as Upper-Body Assistance This can prevent excessive stress at the end range of motion on your pull-ups and push-ups. They're a great way to add both higher volume and partial reps while allowing your body to be in constant motion for your calisthenics exercises. Banded Partial Push-Up Banded Partial Pull-Up Even if you're capable of repping out 50 push-ups or 20 pull-ups, bands push your volume even higher and keep a smooth muscular contraction throughout your sets. Deload Your Spine for Lower-Body Work If you feel like you've shrunk a couple inches after compressing your spine with heavy squats, it may be time to deload. You can still work the squat movement without all the spinal compression. One of the best ways is with the belt squat. The belt squat takes the spine out of the equation because a belt is placed around the hips and the weight is applied from the waist down. No belt squat machine? Rig together your own variation. One way to do it is to use a couple straps, a hook, some boxes, a weight belt, and a heavy kettlebell or two. Kettlebell Belt Squat Ideally, keep your butt pushed against a wall. This will provide extra stability and allow you to use your glutes and hamstrings to a greater extent. Get The T Nation Newsletters Don' t Miss Out Expert Insights To Get Stronger, Gain Muscle Faster, And Take Your Lifting To The Next Level related posts Training What I Learned in 2009 Cressey's 2009 lessons-learned include the perfect sleep schedule, why shoes suck, and why you may want to stay away from hyper-mobile chicks. Motivation, Training Eric Cressey February 24 Training Brutal Complexes Get better at the Olympic lifts while whipping your sorry butt into shape with these three killer complexes. Bodybuilding, Metabolic Conditioning, Powerlifting & Strength, Training Wil Fleming September 5 Training Squat Right for Your Type Don't freak out, but not everyone is built for barbell back squats. Luckily, there are plenty of hardcore alternatives. Bodybuilding, Squat, Training Todd Bumgardner December 18 Training Tip Bring Back the Bench Minus The Shoulder Pain Instead of continuing to press through shoulder pain, avoid the chronic stress by fixing your position. Bench Press, Exercise Coaching, Shoulders, Tips Dr John Rusin July 10