Workout tips

[rickeypea]

Hi,

Hoping for some help from some experienced people for a workout plan for myself.  Here is my problem.  I have 2 bad shoulders, one already surgically repaired but not great and another that has 2 tears in his rotator cuff.  I am currently under the care of a surgeon for that but doubt that I will have surgery again.

So what types of exercises or programs can I do to gain some strength but not damage my shoulders first.

Right now I do a lot of hiking.

Thanks so much and I look forward to your replies

[Tony Bondioli]

For some good starting ideas...

www.monkeybargym.com

Here's a recent article in Outdoor magazine about the Monkey Bar...

http://outside.away.com/outside/bodywork/200712/monkey-bar-gym-1.html

[BigKhanz]

So what types of exercises or programs can I do to gain some strength but not damage my shoulders first.

What do you mean by that? What kind of strength are you trying to build? If you are referring to the type of upperbody strength you get from resistance training, there really isn't much you can do without healing up first. The vast majority of strength gains are neurological in nature. As your joints, muscles fibers, bones and connective tissues become stronger and better able to stand up to exertion, the neurological system allows the muscle's nerves to 'fire' at a higher level thus making the muscles 'stronger'. To make the muscles grow larger, requires hypertrophy. This is why bodybuilders and powerlifters train differently.

Long and the short of it: do what the doc says, it's usually your best bet.

[wongk222]

If you want to lose weight, what are you doing sitting around staring at your computer? Go take a long walk -- and do it every day. Walk fast or jog.

Lift weights every other day for a half hour or more. Go for a full body workout -- work all the muscle groups. Start slow if you're not in shape. Take it easy so you don't hurt yourself and have to stop.

And if you really want to lose weight permanently, get on a low-fat vegetarian diet. No sodas, no sweets, no milk, cheese, ice cream, hamburger -- none of that. No sugary energy drinks or coffee drinks. Drink pure water.

I don't know if you can lose ten pounds in three weeks, but I suppose it is possible. Losing twenty pounds would rely on unhealthy measures. That's not smart.

For meal ideas, check out the "balanced healthy diet" page on my Web site, below.

To show you how many Hollywood stars and athletes eat this way, I've included another link. It may surprise you how the celebrities stay thin and young-looking.

[Tony Bondioli]

Wong, the purpose of this community is to promote the philosophy that there is a healthier way for people to "lose weight permanently" than the often-prescribed (and typically unattainable and ineffective) "low-fat vegetarian diet" you mention, a way based on our genetic heritage as omnivorous hunter-gatherers.

Your above post is also dangerously close to being spam.  This is not the place for you to solicit customers for your supplement-selling business.

[Alex Good]

 Two frigged shoulders? When I injured my shoulder pushups were all I could do.

[laurahill]

Very good workout tips...Thank you so much for this tips..
I always go for running and swimming exercise daily to control my weight.I feel that eating proper balanced diet are good for health and it is also good to reduced obesity problem.

[Huphry]

 It depends on many factors actually:

1. Your body build (weight, height, etc)
2. What you are used to
3. What your max is
4. Your time commitment

Now, I'll just explain how I would do it for my size, weight, and height.

I'm 17, about 150lbs

First thing I would do in a gym every year is max out. What I mean by that is, figure out what my body can handle on all the exersizes. Box jumps, squats (w/ weights), bench, DB press, etc.

This is a key to weight lifting. You never do even close to this amount when doing reps. EVER. The point of maxing out is getting as much weight as you can possibly do, at a safe level though of course. So start out small like 40 lbs (i know its very small but just start with it), on each side if you were doing bench for example, and then do 3 reps, and if ur good, skip to 50, and keep going until you max out. I suggest only doing 1-3 reps of each. If your having struggle on any one, you must be able to do 3 before you can say you maxed out on it. If you can't do 3, then you must go down lower.

Now once you have that, its making a plan for you.

I suggest doing hardcore lifting one day with ab routine at the end, skip a day of working out, then do little lifting the next day, along with a bunch of arm building things, like bridges etc. then skip a day, then do hardcore lifting again. Now, lets put this plan on a monday, tuesday, friday basis.

Monday's lifting, and friday's lifting must be different or you will wear your body out. I don't mean different as in different routine, i mean work on a different part of the body. However, I suggest for every day, you do the DB press. Its very helpful.

The biggest thing about weight lifting in general is, always lift in a secure place, like the Y, or your high school, somewhere where you can get help immediatly right away if needed. The biggest thing I can tell you, without going inside your mind is, if you really want to weight lift you must know the basics behind it. Maxing out is great, but that only rips your muscles. When you use max weights, you rip muscles to make them bigger. But you don't want that, if you want the hard stiff muscles, you need a mixture of max and reps. Reps will tone your muscles, while maxing rips your muscles to make them bigger. If you just make them bigger, your arms won't look like they have muscle, but you will still be able to lift a lot