#005 – Armor Up

Let’s armor up with prevention—without the adamantium skeleton.

Everyone feels invincible until they don’t. For example, do you remember the last time you were sick? Or maybe the last time you stubbed your toe? You know, where it damages the nail bed and you can feel it with every slight pressure change? Now think about how great you felt up until that point. Then how many times while in the recovery stage did you silently pray that you would be back to 100%—I’ll bet more than a few times. So let’s change how we think about injury prevention. Taking a little extra time to ensure we don’t “stub our toe.”

Every athlete wants to train longer, move faster, hit harder. As cliche as it is, the best offense is having a great defense. That’s why in this issue it’s all about armoring up — not the kind forged in steel, but in reps, mobility, and intentional planning. In this issue, we’re not chasing PRs. We’re reinforcing the joints, focusing on the weak links, and making sure your machine can take the pressure and the punishment of your everyday lifestyle.

Let’s build the kind of durability that keeps you moving forward. We’re not talking about building or strengthening muscles. We’re highlighting the reinforcement training of joints, tendons, and connective tissue.

TIP: 

Before we begin, I want to clarify something. You do NOT need any high tech or expensive tools, endless time in saunas or cold therapy, or even supplements that can [insert claim or benefit]. If you enjoy any of the above, by all means, do it. Especially if it helps you relax and decrease stress. However, it’s more of less a waste of time if you’re not implementing the basics of sleep, hydration, nutrition, stress/rest management, and movement (in exercise and mobility).

SECTION Ⅰ - Armor Zones:

🦾 Shoulder Zone: Shield the Rotator

Common threats: overhead/bench pressing, striking, incorrect pulling

• Shoulders – Focus on controlled full ranges of motion.

  With implementation of warm-up drills that require you to use the majority of your shoulder movement, i.e., pulling to the body, pulling out-wide, pulling from the ground, over-head reaching, and rotating from front to back and vise-versa.

🦿 Knee Zone: Fortify the Joint

Common threats: jumping/landing, running, irregular squats

• Knees – Your glutes and quads should be working together 

  continuously throughout the movements that require knee flexion. Putting the load and force production on the muscles with the aid of tendons/joint(s). Your knees will thank you and operate more efficiently—with the outcome of better muscle growth & strength.

🧰 Hip/Back Zone: Reinforce the Core/Spine

Common threats: rotation, impact, heavy axial loading, and improper lifting techniques

• Hips – Power center.

  If they’re tight, stiff, or inhibiting movement, you’re most likely losing out on proper function and/or form overall. Power, movement, and mobility all need hips that are well maintained. Unfortunately, neglecting them can also cause many back, leg, and neck pains/stiffness. Move your hips. Use your hips.

• Spine/Core – Control center.

  Train it to resist movement, not just create it. Meaning: you want to train in different motions and rotations, as well as being able to control (pausing/stopping) motions and rotations without injury.

  Your spine and core are essential for your movement and control over those movements. So it would be ideal to train through their various ranges in stretching (range movement and work), mobility work (movement/bands), and under load (weight training).

SECTION ⅠⅠ - Build Your Armor:

Shoulder Armor Circuit (banded)

1. Banded Pull-Aparts – 4x8

2. Shoulder Dislocates – 2x10

3. Wall Slides – 2x12

4. Prone Y/T/I Raises – 2x10 each

5. Scapula Push-ups – 2x15

Hip & Knee Armor (bodyweight + band)

1. Monster Walks (lateral + 45°) or Walking Sweeps – 3x10 steps

2. Single-Leg Glute Bridge – 3x8/side

3. Step-Downs or Reverse Lunge to Knee Tap – 3x6/leg

4. Terminal Knee Extensions (TKEs) – 3x15

5. Deep Body Weight Squats w/ 1sec stall at bottom – 3x8

Spine/Core Armor (mix of ranges)

1. Banded RDLs – 3x8

2. Bird Dogs (slow and controlled) – 3x6/side

3. Half-Kneeling Pallof Press – 3x10/side

4. RKC Plank – 3x20 sec (build up)

5. Side Plank Reach-Throughs – 2x10/side

Time-efficient. Purpose-built. Personalize it with bands, tempo, or reps to increase/decrease difficulty.

I’ll put this all on an easy to download pdf template, that you can find below👇🏼

_{Quick note: There are so many different stretches, movements, and focuses you can do. Main goal is to just do something.}

SECTION ⅠⅠⅠ - When to Armor Up:

You don’t need to train like you’re injured. You train to stay uninjured.
Here’s a couple ways to structure all of this:

As part of warm-up: pick 2–3 movements focused on the joint you’ll stress that day.

Off-day mini session: rotate full circuits, 2–3x/week.

Post-lift “finisher”: low-load, high-control = blood flow and durability.

NOTES FROM THE GYM FLOOR - Whichever Type of Athlete You Are:

• Fighters: Build this in between technical drills to restore positioning.

• Lifters: Add at the end of squat/deadlift days for connective tissue support.

• Gen Pop: Great for weekend warriors and desk jockeys. This is training longevity.

Bonus- Perform dead hangs 3-7x weekly for 4 sets of 30 seconds (or as long as you can, working up to 30 sec+)

THE TAKEAWAY

Neglecting the pieces that keep you moving will show up eventually—aches, pains, limited movement, kinks, and so on…

Mind your system as a whole—not just the muscle. This is where longevity is determined.

Stay strong. Stay mobile. Stay resilient.

 See You in Issue #006!

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If you’ve made it this far, I’m guessing you’re finding some value in this week’s newsletter — and that’s exactly my goal, so I’m glad to hear it.

If it’s not too much to ask, could you share it with a friend or someone you think would appreciate it too?

It would mean a lot. Thank you!

Thank you,

Stephen Holmes Founder, Linking Performance