To become “invincible” you have to bulletproof your body as best as you can. What this means is taking care of the key areas in the body that matter most.

I knew I had to make some major changes. My doctor was correct in a way…I was done doing what I was doing. Instead of calling it quits, I looked at it a bit different. I was done being stupid. It was time to bulletproof my body and time to do it the right way.

First thing was to change what I was doing and how I was doing it. Pain is not fun, but it is an awesome motivator. More so, the fact that if I didn’t make a major change in my routine, I would not be able to train and that was not going to happen.

Since my shoulders were messed up (my fault) and my lower back was in constant pain (also, my fault) I had to start with the shoulder and hip complexes first.

Most upper body issues stem from shoulder complex. The shoulder complex is made up of the shoulder joint (ball and socket joint), the upper back and chest area. The hip complex is made up of the hip joint (also, ball and socket joint), and the surrounding muscles of the hip (i.e. glutes, lateral muscle groups, hip flexors.)

I made a plan, stuck to it, and the results were amazing.

Here is a brief summary of what I did:

Shoulders:

• Eliminated pushing movements until further notice. No benching or pressing. You cant keep hitting your thumb with the hammer and expect to feel no pain. So, I took away the hammer for now.
• Started doing a lot more pulling motions. More rows, chins, pull-ups, pull downs, etc… Most people do way too much pushing movements (as I was) and not enough pulling. I started with pulling motions, trying to stay away from anything that hurt.
• Started soft-tissue work. The first thing I did is get a massage…a deep tissue massage. I told the therapist to work exclusively on my upper back, chest, and hips. I felt 60% better immediately when she was finished. I used “at-home” soft-tissue work each day after and my pain diminished almost instantly.
• I worked my internal and external rotator cuff. Again, I the pain was much better just from doing those motions.

Hips:

• The hips are the key to a healthy low back. I knew that, so I started there. I added mobility work before each workout. Leg swings, walking hip huggers, walking quad stretches, etc…
• Added static stretching to my hip rotators, and hip flexors.
• Activated my glutes. The glutes are the biggest muscle groups in the body, and in most people they don’t work well if at all. Once I got these muscles “back in the game” the back pain went away almost completely.
• Soft-Tissue work! I got massages, used tennis balls and other means to work the knots and adhesions out of the glutes, lateral muscle groups and hip flexors. The pain was moving away fast.

In just two weeks time, I was almost completely pain free. I was able to start training again, but this time the right way. It was a small miracle based on my MRI and what the doc told me.

I knew at that moment that this stuff works and works well. My training has never been the same, and barring me being temporarily stupid here and there, I have remained pain and injury free since.

The take home message for everyone reading this is simple: Do the right things for your major joints and muscle groups first. Have a balanced program, and just don’t be stupid.

Since that time, I have benched, squatted, dead lifted, and everything else I wanted to do. I hit new PR’s, have gained strength like never before and I feel great.

I do whatever I want physically with not limitations. I lift a lot of heavy things in and out of the gym, with no pain or problems. I live my life the way I want…physically. I am almost bulletproof, in a sense. I am in better physical health then most people 20 years younger than me… and its all by design.

Sometimes you have to go through “STUPID, to get to INVINCIBLE.”

If you are looking towards becoming invincible, the first step is to follow my lead…in other words, if you have not been stupid, as I was, yet, take care of your shoulders and hips first. Start there.

I will add more on Becoming Invincible later. Until then, train smart.

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