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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 17 of 17. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by alexandra_k on August 14, 2009, at 1:20:22
I've tried google but haven't managed to find anything...
I have screws / a plate in my leg kinda like this:
http://www.wheelessonline.com/image4/i1/synd31.jpg
Do you think it is okay for me to lift weights (meant to target quads) like this:
http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/weight-lifting-for-women-68.jpg
(Where you lift your ankles up so take a lot of the weight on your lower leg bones even though it is meant to target your quads)
?
I think it hurts a little... But I can't tell if I have imaginitus. You would think the weights would help the bone density (so be a good thing) - right???
Posted by alexandra_k on August 14, 2009, at 1:41:04
In reply to can you lift weights with plates in your bones?, posted by alexandra_k on August 14, 2009, at 1:20:22
It feels like a dull bone ache :-(
But then my other ankle has that a bit too...
Can't tell if I'm hurting or helping :-(
Posted by alexandra_k on August 14, 2009, at 1:52:16
In reply to Re: can you lift weights with plates in your bones, posted by alexandra_k on August 14, 2009, at 1:41:04
Leg presses don't hurt (and you think it would with my ankles but it doesn't). Just this particular one... Maybe because I moved the bar up higher so it wouldn't be pressuring my ankle so it pressured the lower leg bones instead. Oopsie...
Posted by Deneb on August 14, 2009, at 4:13:42
In reply to can you lift weights with plates in your bones?, posted by alexandra_k on August 14, 2009, at 1:20:22
I've read that that type of exercise isn't good for your legs, it puts too much pressure on the knees or something.
I've read that machines aren't all that safe and I've read that free weights are actually safer a lot of the time because they allow for a natural range of movement, plus they help with balance and co-ordination.
Maybe try machines with more natural movements.
Posted by alexandra_k on August 14, 2009, at 5:15:02
In reply to Re: can you lift weights with plates in your bones? » alexandra_k, posted by Deneb on August 14, 2009, at 4:13:42
I can't do squats or many of the complex leg free weight exercises because I don't have the range of ankle movement that is required. There isn't pressure on my knees after cardio warm-up (they are slightly 'clicky' for the first 5 minutes of cardio then they settle down and I just feel my muscles when I'm doing weights). I'm limited with the free-weight stuff partly because I have a limited range of movement, and partly because I'm only just learning how to 'recruit' my muscles. I've heard that 'complex' exercises are better (in the sense of being more natural) but that machine weights are a good start with respect to learning to recruit the individual muscles that will be part of the movement in free weights. I've made significant improvements in the amount I'm able to lift in machine weights in the first two weeks. Apparently that development isn't about increased muscle mass it is about learning to recruit more muscle fibers in each movement. I like machine weights because I'm just learning...
Targeting my legs / thighs / *ss is hard, though, because I'm so limited in my ankle movements. Machine weights seems best for that (along with cardio) only... There still seem to be some that are problematic. I think that what I need them to do is... Take the metal out of my legs.
Posted by alexandra_k on August 14, 2009, at 5:18:00
In reply to Re: can you lift weights with plates in your bones, posted by alexandra_k on August 14, 2009, at 5:15:02
Maybe the thing is... Motivating them to do that.
Apparently many of the medical advances that are made in joints / breaks etc has to do with the injuries of atheletes. Injuries that impact on the performance of... People we care about. Advances that assist people get as much back to doing what they were doing as possible. Go figure... Sometimes that is life. One gets treated better as a PhD student in psychiatric services than one has ever been treated before. If I want to keep my mobility... Guess I need to face that... I need to (at least want) to do something 'worthwhile' with that.
Kinda like Bobo and his judgement of 'value'. Medicine is rife with it. It isn't fair. But then, there it is.
Posted by Deneb on August 14, 2009, at 5:21:33
In reply to Re: can you lift weights with plates in your bones, posted by alexandra_k on August 14, 2009, at 5:15:02
I actually like the machine weights better myself, just because I feel safer with them. With free weights I am always afraid of losing control because I am not strong. I've just read free weights are better, but with your limited range of movement, I'd say stick with the machines then.
Good for you for sticking with the program! It feels good to make progress like that.
How is the cardio going? Were you able to do the elliptical a bit?
Have you used more nicotine gum?
Posted by alexandra_k on August 14, 2009, at 5:23:23
In reply to Re: can you lift weights with plates in your bones, posted by alexandra_k on August 14, 2009, at 5:18:00
And I guess it makes sense with orthopedic. When is something a bone issue compared to a muscle issue? Best to start off with the physio referral because why do stuff to bones when it might turn out to be muscular / ligaments after all? At least atheletes have their muscles and ligaments in tip-top shape. So one knows that what is lacking is in the bones... So what one needs to do is to develop the muscles as best one can (within the limits of what the bones allow) and then make a case for improving the bones.
I can stand on one leg now. I guess now... It is all about timing.
My leg really does ache. In a nasty bone achy way. But two weeks of the gym lol. Not quite good enough yet, methinks. What would be more realistic? Six months? See how much the bone aches tomorrow...
Posted by alexandra_k on August 14, 2009, at 5:30:19
In reply to Re: can you lift weights with plates in your bones » alexandra_k, posted by Deneb on August 14, 2009, at 5:21:33
Free weights are meant to be 'better' in the sense that they are 'more natural' with respect to recruiting multiple muscle groups whereas machine weights tend to work on isolated muscles.
I worry a little about losing control with machine weights. Worried I'll drop the weights with muscle failure. I think that after a time you get a better idea of 'muscle failure' in the 'one more - I can do it' vs 'one more - I drop the weight' sense. Worst case you drop the weight and it makes a loud clank. I guess that is some kind of security compared to free weights. I go at a time where nobody worries much what you are up to. Aside from the three giggling girls who are obviously going to come for 2 or 3 times then get bored that they haven't picked up some guy. Aside from the guy who bikes next to me sometimes who takes forever to set up the machine... Then glances over frequently... Then leaves after 5 minutes when nobody seems to be checking him out (maybe they are made for each other).
Lunges are meant to be great for you - but I can't do them. Can't do elliptical or stepper either. Getting stronger on bike, though. Doing my 2 laps in under 30 minutes on setting 8. Aiming for setting 10 tomorrow (so long as I can walk to the gym on my sore leg). Quit date tomorrow. Arms tomorrow.
Posted by Deneb on August 14, 2009, at 5:40:50
In reply to Re: can you lift weights with plates in your bones, posted by alexandra_k on August 14, 2009, at 5:30:19
How many days are you going to the gym? My pdoc told me not to overdo myself when I first started exercising. You can make gains without the pain.
Be sure to give your muscles time to rest. I read the resting phase is the most important part, that's when you actually build muscle. The exercise makes micro tears that stimulate your muscles to grow and get stronger.
I always found the bike was either too easy or too hard. I must not have been setting it up properly. I liked the recombent bike at the lowest setting after a good workout on the treadmill or elliptical. It was like resting but still exercising. LOL
I think you should ask your doctor about whether or not it is OK to do certain exercises. I dunno, doctor or some other professional who knows bones and stuff.
Maybe try asking here:
http://www.doctorslounge.com/forums/index.php
I spent like 2 days reading Q and A's.
Posted by alexandra_k on August 14, 2009, at 6:50:36
In reply to Re: can you lift weights with plates in your bones » alexandra_k, posted by Deneb on August 14, 2009, at 5:40:50
> How many days are you going to the gym? My pdoc told me not to overdo myself when I first started exercising. You can make gains without the pain.
I don't think I'm (typically) suffering pain. Muscle fatigue is different from pain. I still need to read up on 'muscle burning' and whether I should work through that or not - but I'm definately not working through pain. I aimed to go 7 days a week - but the trainer who figured my program said not to do more than 6 to give me a day to rest. I've actually been going 5 days a week. I can tell that my body needs a rest after about 4 days training.
> I always found the bike was either too easy or too hard. I must not have been setting it up properly. I liked the recombent bike at the lowest setting after a good workout on the treadmill or elliptical. It was like resting but still exercising. LOL
Most people seem to think that the recombent bike gives you as good a workout as the regular bike - but there is some controversy. Seems that it partly depends on how you hold yourself but the upright bike has the potential to tone your abdominals / core a bit more than the recombent. I think that the recombent mainly appeals to guys (where their balls get in the way) or people who haven't developed the *ss muscles to feel okay on the upright bike. The settings... I aim to go for 30 minutes. But I also want to push myself. So... When I get a good workout on a setting (e.g., sweating, and feeling (at times) that I simply can't go on... And yet I'm going on... Then the endorphins start to flow and I feel both good and like I simply can't go on at the same time...) then I figure I've got it about right.
> I think you should ask your doctor about whether or not it is OK to do certain exercises. I dunno, doctor or some other professional who knows bones and stuff.
Talked to doc. Need to talk to orthopedic surgeon, yeah.
> Maybe try asking here:
> http://www.doctorslounge.com/forums/index.php
That site is more about professionals conversing than consumer inquiries... People are particularly worried about being sued in the US (for instance). But yeah... Suppose I could formulate it as such... But people will wonder about what I'm up to venturing away from Psychology / Psychiatry / Research lol.
Posted by Deneb on August 14, 2009, at 7:09:19
In reply to Re: can you lift weights with plates in your bones, posted by alexandra_k on August 14, 2009, at 6:50:36
Hmmm...I think you may be thinking of a different website. This website has a forum where doctors and nurses answer comsumers' health questions. There are topics from cardiology to gynecology.
I just asked a question about my near fainting episodes. It sometimes takes a while for a health professional to answer the question though.
The whole forum is filled with consumer's questions, there is even a section for bones.
Posted by alexandra_k on August 14, 2009, at 7:19:56
In reply to Re: can you lift weights with plates in your bones, posted by alexandra_k on August 14, 2009, at 6:50:36
i have a folk theory. my folk theory goes like thus:
every time a cigarette goes out in the world... somewhere in the world, a cigarette lights up. conservation of lit things, or some such. of course the law is perfectly consistent with a decrease in smoking - so long as more than one cigarette goes out at the same time - only one needs to light up (so it isn't strictly speaking conservation, perhaps...
my reason for smoking: the significant majority of animals (with one exception) are afraid of fire. Except for one animal: humans. What do they do to show they ain't afraid of it? why, they stick things between their lips with fire on the ends and... smoke them. haha!!!!! I wonder how long it was between the discovery of controlled fire and the discovery of smoking!!!
and thinking of it that way - will i ever give up???
(dad died of lung cancer obviously as the result of smoking so i bloody well hope so)
here is another theory (probably on a par with the first). the conservation of health: hysterical paralyses simply don't cut it nowdays. what with our knowledge of neural circuits (and 'anatomically correct' forms of paralysis and all). now what do we get? a whole bunch of other things that aren't (typically) considered psychosomatic at all... i don't even want to suggest what (for fear of offending) but there are conditions taken extemely seriously by other specialities... conditions requiring surgery and all...
and some people present with a whole bunch of them (over time). and i... have chosen (advertently or inadvertently) to focus my attention on psychiatric complaints. but why??? given the stigma and so on and so forth... why on earth??? i'm physically fit as a fiddle (except for my injuries). but who on earth is to say who is better off... or whether there is a conservation of health phenomenon going on... sometimes people need a little care and attention... whatever its manifestation... for better or worse... maybe there is a conservation of health thing going on: people will express their sickness (discontents) in various ways... whatever those ways might be... but they will express them in some way... conservation of health, i say.
and p-doc registrar... with her black baby t (very cool in my book) gives me something to hold on to, in a sense. but what do you do when the image fades??? and really, are the non=mentally ill community any different from we? any different from me? who's to say...
Posted by alexandra_k on August 14, 2009, at 7:20:51
In reply to Re: can you lift weights with plates in your bones » alexandra_k, posted by Deneb on August 14, 2009, at 7:09:19
ah. i've only posted in the student doctors section. thanks for that - i'll take a look :-)
Posted by Kath on August 14, 2009, at 10:13:59
In reply to can you lift weights with plates in your bones?, posted by alexandra_k on August 14, 2009, at 1:20:22
Hi Alex,
I think it'd be a really good idea to talk to your doctor about this.
Just to make sure you're not going to damage yourself.
xo Kath
Posted by Phillipa on August 14, 2009, at 13:22:06
In reply to Re: can you lift weights with plates in your bones, posted by alexandra_k on August 14, 2009, at 7:20:51
Alex just saw this are you in some physical rehab? If not could you call the doc and ask for specific excercises don't want to see you hurt your injuries worse. Love Phillipa
Posted by alexandra_k on August 15, 2009, at 9:45:19
In reply to Re: can you lift weights with plates in your bones » alexandra_k, posted by Phillipa on August 14, 2009, at 13:22:06
I have asked my doc. My doc doesn't know, so I need to get in to see an orthopedic surgeon. Leg is feeling a little better today. Hurts if I walk around on it a lot, but not otherwise. Not bad enough to go to A and E so see how it does tomorrow.
Thanks for the site Deneb. I got it confused with a different one (similar lay out). Registrations turned off at the mo, but hopefully I can join up and ask.
This is the end of the thread.
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