Strength training with pain

KathieZ123

I have lost 35 lbs and want to lose more. The issue is loose skin and pain. I need to tighten up all over. I have arthritis and spinal stenosis and fibromyalgia. My hands and arms hurt lately a lot. The skin on my knees and thighs and arms is flabby.
I'm in pain most of the time but I try to remember to lift my power ball and do some arms exercise. I used to do yoga but got away from it. I don't think yoga will tighten the loose skin. I need to do sit ups/crunches but haven't been doing that either.
Looking for suggestions, etc.

whitebalance

My suggestion - mobilitywod.com
I found ideas there that helped me eliminate the sciatica I was experiencing from my activities.

beachbriel

Hi there, I have chronic pain from Fibro and Scoliosis, so I know the extra barriers that come with this. From my experience of losing 50lbs / having multiple pregnancies and my husband of losing over 100 lbs so far, is to focus on healthy lifestyle changes that result in slower progress of total body recomposition. Meaning, losing fat while gaining lean muscle and strength. This combined with a nutritious diet/ hitting macros, and lot of water, helps the skin 'bounce back.' This is the more lengthy and hard way, but the results we have been getting are worth it. I have become 'skinny fat' aka flabby with loose skin in the past after pregnancies by focusing on dropping weight on the scale (calories restriction and only light cardio) without strength training.

My advice with the pain is start small, build up, and don't give up. If you get a flare, move the bit you can, relax more and get back into the routine as soon as you can. Keep experimenting with different exercises until you find some your body can handle, and always try to do a bit more each time. The less I move, the more I hurt. The more I hurt, the less I move... That is a cycle that I have been trying to break, and sometimes the pain is unbearable. However, overall, my pain level is down, my mood up and my energy up.

In case this helps: I started with water classes: aerobics, yogolates, kick boxing, etc. I did this and/or walking 3x a week for 3 months. I also began stretching at night; give this a try even on bad days. I remember being so discouraged as I was once an athlete and now yoga... in water... was so painful. I then began to do the elliptical instead of walking for more intensity. Next, came the resistance machines at light weights (think 15 on arms and 30 on legs); I now can do 30:50. Next came harder classes for me like Yoga then Bodypump then BodyCombat, Zumba and cycling. I did 1 or 2 a week as I could tolerate. I started to practice the moves on my own at home, and as I got stronger it hurt less. Cycling causes unbearable pain in my feet and legs that left me numb and hard to walk; I gave it three tries before moving on to make sure. I may try it again soon now that I am stronger. I am now up to 3 days cardio (HIIT) and two with free weights though I want to do 3:3. On flare weeks (almost always before my period), I at least walk and stretch and do my routine as my body will let me. I don't think isolation or spot training works for tightening up the skin well. Keep going, experimenting and doing what works for you.