If you swoop up a child who’s about to get hit by oncoming traffic as he absent-mindedly crosses the street, you’re almost certain to be regarded as a hero, at least by family members of the child, passersby, or the whole internet if someone manages to catch it on video.
Crossing guards, however, may spend decades dutifully guiding absent-minded children across busy streets and managing traffic, never jumping out in front of cars to pull unaware youngsters away from harm (because they don’t need to jump out in front of cars), and they will never receive the praise of a hero.

The thing is, prevention really isn’t that glamorous or exciting. Crossing guards and crosswalk signs don’t make the nightly news for their heroism, despite the fact that they likely save hundreds of lives every year. Someone who notices the kid stepping into the street as an SUV comes roaring by and pulls him out of the way, however, is the talk of the town.

We see something similar in health and fitness. The doctor who’s able to help an injured athlete return to the field of play in record time is a medical hero, and the procedures used to repair an injury and speed up healing are medical miracles; the trainer, however, who is skillful in training for injury prevention and trains her athletes to be more resistant to injury, and the barbells, dumbbells, resistance bands, etc. used to preventatively train these athletes, are rarely regarded as heroic individuals or miraculous tools.

In part, this is understandable. We know exactly how many times the stranger on the street pulled a child away from being hit by a speeding car, and we know exactly how many times the skillful doctor repaired a grievous sports injury and returned the player to the field in record time, because we saw it happen. On the other hand, we don’t know how many children would have accidentally walked into harm’s way had the crossing guard not been there, and we don’t know how many injuries would have happened had the trainer not directed her energies towards understanding and implementing injury-prevention methods for her athletes. And honestly, we can’t know.

This, ultimately, is why prevention is a frequently overlooked tactic. By nature, it can’t really be seen for all that it is and does, and it is marred by uncertainty and drawn out timelines. But in the same way that we can safely say that it’s probably best to have the crossing guard there to prevent the risky situation from ever occurring, it’s in our best interest to put some stock in prevention. You may never know it for sure, but the preventative tactics you take now -- in nutrition, lifestyle, movement practice -- may be the things that save you.

- PS

8/1/17

• Back squat - 5,5,5

• 2 rounds for reps:

• 60s max pull-ups

• 60s rest

• 60s max push-ups

• 60s rest

• 60s max sit-ups

• 60s rest

• 60s max burpees

• 60s rest