Mobility and Injuries Prevention

I read the following post on one of the lifting forums and I think it's fucking awesome. As always Dan Green nails it:

Q: Champ, how do u manage aches, pains and injuries?

Dan Green: The biggest thing is proper technique to get results while minimizing the mileage you put on your body. Proper mechanics require certain body parts to be very strong and stable while others need to be very mobile. The body works such that every other joint should be mobile and has a neighboring joint that should be stable, but if one breaks that law then the neighbor joint can become badly abused. Starting at the feet, your ankles should be mobile and your knees stable. If your ankle is stiff your knees will overload when squatting. Your hips should be mobile and your lumbar spine should be stabilized. If your tight hamstrings restrict hip mobility then you overload your spine. Your upper spine should be very mobile, and if it isn't then your scaps--which work in sync with your upper spine and should also be highly mobile--will be restricted and cause your shoulder sockets to be hypermobile where they need lots of stability. Your elbows should be stable and wrists mobile... Any one of these being off will cause massive limitations.

If you address these things your problems will be very manageable. Even when you do hurt yourself, you'll still have the mechanics to lift properly so you can train through most injuries... It is simple and complicated at the same time... just like weight lifting!

Source: animalpak.com/forum with Dan Green posts