JP Fitness Forums powered by fitness insite  
Google
 
Web forums.jpfitness.com

Go Back   JP Fitness Forums > Fitness > Injuries and Rehab
Register FAQ Members List Calendar Mark Forums Read

Injuries and Rehab Tell us where it hurts! Do a quick search before asking about your shoulder injury to make sure your question hasn't already been answered (about 50 times), and read the sticky post first.

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 01-17-2005, 12:41 PM   #1 (permalink)
IHI
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Iowa
Posts: 2
Post

Warning: Long post but tried to give history for better possible solution. Questions are the last 2 paragraphs

When i was in high school I was a huge weight lifting freak and once girls started it kinda fadded away. Now older I really want to start weight training again for the mental "feel good" and try to get body back to a moderate shape.

Years ago sking torn a tendon in right knee and had a very low endurance for any any weight especially squating so stuck with leg curls with low weight. Have never been able to squat large weight without knee getting very shakey.

Last year played on softball leauge, mind said let'g go body did'nt agree. Anyways, while running to first base I felt my left knee pop and my leg wanted to buckle sideways. Kept playing cuz I'm not smart enough to say when. Went to doctor next day, they thought it just s sprain/strain and nothing they could do treatment wise even if it did get torn, so just recommended ice and no activity. To this day my left knee still bothers me and during certain movements will actually buckle sideways again with extreme pain that goes away after 5 or 10 minutes. Still told just a sprain that willtake awhile to heal?

Also when lifting in HS was a big fan of heavy wieght low reps, at one point my right shoulder gave out with alot of pain and that "wormy" felling like after a hard work out and to this day have not been able to put alot of weight on it without shoulder wanting to give out. Tried light weight/high rep training back them to "re-condition it" but to this day is still the same.

I own a small construction business and literally have to climb ladders and deal with lifting heavy things everyday and no option but to work to pay the bills so "proper" rest/rehibilitaion is NOT an option at this point.

I really want to get back into working out lower body, but now with right knee 50/50 and left knee useless, what kind of low impact/safe training would be recommended. Really want to get back into squats, but even at this point with an empty 45lb bar it's about all I can do-body's just going out I guess and I need to show it who's boss again.

What would be some different approaches to bench pressing so I can get back into the heavier wieght and not worry about blowing shoudler out again?

Sorry for long post, thought with a little history it might help. I'm not going for a magazine body or 900 pound squats, and can even deal with VERY light weight for a period if it'll get my body back to take on heavier stuff later. Any exercises/procedures would be VERY helpul.

Thanks Josh
__________________
There are two types of people that never amount to much:
Those who cannot do what they are told, and those who can do nothing else.
IHI is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
Old 01-19-2005, 01:48 AM   #2 (permalink)
MudFud
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia
Posts: 1,061
Post

So...

(and this is all guesstimating from the brief history you've given)

You've possibly got:

1) a torn something in your right knee that produces instability when you squat (this could be any of the knee ligaments)

2) a possible torn medial or lateral collateral ligament in your left knee, that still causes intense pain and feelings of instability, and possibly, recurrent latero-medial giving-way, suggestive of a tear.

3) a shoulder dislocation from high school, which (I don't know how far away from high school you are) continues to give you feelings of instability and possibly dislocation.

4) an active occupation which requires climbing ladders and heavy lifting.

I'm going to hazzard a small opinion here and dramatically say that I'm pretty sure becoming able to bench press and squat is the least of your worries right now, despite the high priority it has on your list of things-to-do.

You have a job that requires repetitive loading of your knee joints, while you continue to experience symptoms of instability as well as actual giving way on a number of occasions. From a pseudo-medical point of view (since I'm not actually a doctor yet), knees that give way are indicative of serious injury. If you haven't had an orthopaedic consult/opinion, you should get one ASAP. Recurrent feelings of instability and actual giving way not only comprimise your safety in your job, but also may be precipitating factors in the development of osteoarthritis in the not-so-distant future, which will have long-term and serious consequences to your ability to perform your occupation as well as recreational activities.

So knee-wise, until you know exactly what's wrong with your knees, there is no training that would be recommended that would be "low-impact" or safe that would result in any substantial fitness/return to squatting progress.

The same goes for your shoulder. Shoulder dislocations can be not-so-problematic, depending on their severity. But chronic feelings of instability suggest more than a simple "I popped my shoulder out and it popped back in itself". That "wormy" feeling may be part of your labrum (the membrane that holds the ball of your arm bone in the shoulder socket) torn loose and flapping around in the joint space. So again, all the rehab in the world is not going to do you an iota of good if what you have is a severly torn, unrepaired labrum. Similarly, if you have a torn labrum (and I really don't know if you do, because I've never seen or met you), then there is an inherent structural/mechanical problem that will persist and manifest as instability and thus, you will always be at risk of another dislocation while bench pressing. Get thee to an orthopod.

So, while I appreciate that you do not have the luxury of taking time off for rest and rehabilitation, I would ask you to consider the fact that if you've got what I think you've got, NOT taking the time for REPAIR, rest and rehab means that you will not be doing your job for much longer without development of significant long-term disability and pain.

But of course, I could be completely wrong. I'm not in Iowa =).

Bottom line: The symptoms you describe may be indicative of serious injury in all three of the joints you describe. Go and see a musculoskeletal specialist (whether that's a orthopaedic surgeon, or a sport medicine physician) to determine the extent of these injuries to make sure you are not at risk of becoming incapable of doing your job. THEN you can start planning for those squats and benches.
__________________
Evidence-Based Fitness -- Critical Reviews of Fitness Research http://evidencebasedfitness.bl ogspot.com
bryanc is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
Old 01-19-2005, 07:40 AM   #3 (permalink)
IHI
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Iowa
Posts: 2
Post

Bryan, thank your for taking time to reply. As you can imagine, not the response I wanted to hear, but I for long term help/solution the specialist is probably the way to go. Maybe if I could ever see my real doctor he might feel the same, but that's like breaking into Fort Knox. I always get the nurse practioner and the answer is always ice and rest.

Again thanks for the reply, much appreciated, but not what I wanted to hear
__________________
There are two types of people that never amount to much:
Those who cannot do what they are told, and those who can do nothing else.
IHI is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 07:33 PM.

Features ...
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.8
Copyright ©2000 - 2009, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Content Relevant URLs by vBSEO 3.2.0
Ad Management by RedTyger