Blame the exercise....

It is like a golfer blaming his/her clubs for a bad shot - people blame an exercise for a negative result. I was just catching up with Tom Furman's blog where he had some comments by Frank Zane on the squat and this attitude of "blame the exercise" came to mind.

Dan John has said - "Squats don't hurt your knees - The way you squat hurts you knees."

Zane says - to paraphrase - we worked up to 405 for sets of ten and my knees and back hurt after that. Well - you had no business cranking out sets of 10 at that weight and your form was probably questionable. (If Mr. Zane reads this I apologize in advance but would say this to anyone)

Don't blame the exercise - Yes I understand "risk" in certain exercises and we all have a "limit" to what we can accomplish in a certain exercise/load - BUT - good form combined with good sense is a great preventative strategy.

Rule #1 - If it hurts - don't do it.
Rule #2 - If it hurts afterward you didn't do it right or you have an asymmetry or restriction that needs addressed.
Rule #3 - Any answer other than No - is a yes (Thank you Mike Boyle for that one).
Rule #4 - When in doubt STOP what you are doing and go back through Rules 1-3 very carefully.

This also highlights the danger of the reps becoming the goal. In Starting Strength by Rippetoe and Kilgor there is an EMG readout showing degredation of form and stability beyond 5 reps.
Add bad form to degrading neurological control and it is a receipe for disaster.

Blaming the saw for a bad cut of wood, a golf club for a bad shot, and squats for bad knees are all examples of throwing the blame away from where it belongs.
Remember when you point your finger - three are pointing back at you.