The Nanny State is targeting the US military’s toxic masculinity with more than high heels:
“Weightlifting Injuries Common for Deployed U.S. Troops”
TUESDAY, April 3, 2018 (HealthDay News) — An “alarming” number of weightlifting injuries occur among U.S. military personnel in combat zones, according to a new study.
Intense weightlifting workouts help the armed forces stay in peak condition during deployment. But surgeons reported that during four months in a forward field hospital, they treated nine active duty male members for pectoralis major tears that occurred during bench press weight training.
This is a serious type of chest muscle injury that’s relatively rare among civilians. For example, a shoulder-and-elbow surgeon may see an average of less than one pectoralis tear a year, the researchers said.
The male patients, ages 23 to 52, required surgery to repair the injury and then six months to recover. Four were in the Army, and five in the Air Force. Three were officers and six were enlisted men.
At the time of injury, the men bench-pressed anywhere from 135 pounds to 415 pounds, with an average of 258 pounds.
Deployed active duty personnel “likely represent a high-risk population for this injury,” wrote study lead author Dr. Dane Salazar and colleagues.
Salazar is a former Air Force orthopedic surgeon and currently an orthopedic surgeon at Loyola University Health System in Maywood, Ill. …
To reduce the risk of pectoralis injuries, the military should ban maximum-weight bench press competitions. Also, service members should lift lighter weights with more repetitions, the surgeons suggested.
Men are naturally competitive. In an environment like the military, that competitive streak can easily make the difference between life and death; nobody wants to be “second best” on the battlefield. The participation ribbon is a body bag. This goes doubly so when a soldier is deployed. Why would he not spend every waking moment preparing to be the winner at “kill or be killed”? Is there something else to do at a Shittistan FOB?
Of course training accidents are going to happen at a much higher rate than if “good enough” was the gold standard. How can a former Air Force surgeon not understand this concept? Will Special Forces not be allowed to practice rappelling out of helicopters? (“You’re already certified. Why do you want to keep trying?”) God save us from leadership that is more worried about training accidents than deaths “downrange”.