Wednesday Notes – Obesity and Cancer – Shoulder Issues and Training Dogma

Obesity is linked to a whole host of health issues, from increased risk of heart attack to diabetes.

For some time there has been thought that obesity could also present an increased risk of cancer as well.

Now, a new study is out that suggests that obesity is associated with a higher risk of 13 different cancers.

These 13 cancers make up about 40% of all cancer cases in the U.S. every year.  They include…

• Throat cancer
• Breast cancer
• Colon cancer
• Cancer of the uterus
• Gallbladder cancer
• Stomach cancer
• Liver cancer
• Kidney cancer
• Ovarian cancer
• Pancreatic cancer
• Thyroid cancer
• Some brain cancer
• and Multiple myeloma

While medical definitions of obesity vary, it’s safe to say most people know whether or not they are carrying too much weight.

This new research hopefully provides more incentive to lose some weight.

My shoulder issue

A few years ago when I went to get coaching on the four main lifts, my coach recognized some tightness in my left shoulder as I got under the bar to squat.

Over time, the tightness turned into an ache when I slept at night, and now it has turned into an actual injury.

While I have not visited a doctor to determine the actual injury, I am confident that it is a SLAP tear of the labrum.

This worsened in June and has resulted in an inability to do much in the way of pressing exercises and most types of curling exercises.

The pain is at the front of the shoulder.  I have most of my range of motion, but when I move it in a certain way, I feel some pain and I can feel a sensation in the shoulder that is somewhat hard to describe.  It feels like a tendon or something is rubbing on the bone.

The other issue is that the injury is now disrupting my sleep.  Some nights are ok, others, not so much.

Anyhow, I am having to adjust my training as a result.

The only pressing exercise I can do right now is an incline bench press, and I can’t do a full range of motion.

I have to also be careful with most pulling exercises, and I am avoiding chin ups and barbell curls altogether.

This brings me to another point…

Training Dogma

One reason for the injury is that I stubbornly worked to perform low bar squats when I simply did not have the shoulder mobility to do them with a regular barbell.

As a result, as the weight on the bar increased, my shoulder would feel more crappy, and I would develop tendonitis in the elbows.

Finally, it was suggested I try a safety bar, and that is how I squat now.

My point is that I was somewhat blinded by the dogma in some parts of the fitness world, and I’ve since evolved.

I’ve stopped chasing the numbers on the bar, and now my goal is to get stronger and add more muscle at the schedule my body allows.

What I was doing before was setting timeline goals to achieve certain standards, and that just didn’t align with the goal of also losing body fat.

Also, my beat up body was just not going to allow progress that fast either.

Well, lesson learned.

My goals have now changed to a focus more on overall health and wellness rather than achieving certain strength standards.

To each his own.