I’m trying to get back to gaining muscle and strength after my diagnosis

rkeaton2004

I’m a 20yr old male in the military. I was really active having to do pt for work and go to the gym afterwards. About 8 months ago I was diagnosed with Ehlers danlos. This really haunted everything and causes me to have a lot of joint pain and so much laxity in joints to where they dislocate every hour of the day and pop back in. I was also told I have heart regurgitation and I just did a sleep study because my sleep is weird. I know I can’t be as active and do as good as I use to but I would really like some help getting back in shape gain healthy weight(I’m naturally skinny). Certain workouts hurt my shoulder and back so like over head tricep, rotation with weight for my shoulders, and heavy barbell movements like deadlifts and Romanian deadlifts. If anyone could please reach out I would love to get a plan for working out and a diet to match I’m looking to slowly gain healthy weight bulk up some and be better.

wfsmr865fk

You need to relearn proper range of motion, for folks with flexible joints, the max range of motion is often too much and creates musculoskeletal pain. Heavy lifting is often too high impact and causes similar issues, but the irony is you need to be stronger than average, because your tendons and ligaments are like used rubber bands. The connective tissue can feel better when diet and exercise is optimized, but it can also get worse because genetics hate you. The heart issue can become worse with regular, heavy lifting, so you need to have a high volume of reps, with a moderate to low weight. The point is to get the muscle fatigued and promote growth, while avoiding a sudden increase in blood pressure. The exercises should demand effort, but should not feel like you need to try hard, at the end you only feel “puffed”, the blood flow steadily increased and it never got to a high level, where you feel tired after the exercise. Diet can be tricky because food sensitivities are commorbid with connective tissue disorders like EDS. You can do a blood test, or try it out yourself, for a month avoid certain common trigger foods like gluten, dairy, soy. You should consider reducing or eliminating red meat, until you have a clear answer from a cardiologist if it’s appropriate for you. Some people are fine, some people need to cut out red meat to control their weight issues. Also look up POTS, you might have issues when standing up from sitting and getting dizzy. Find a physical therapist to start correcting the joint imbalances, often issues with the SIJ. Everyone has different issues and it’s a bit tough until you systematically check everything. Great thing , is that you started this when you’re 20, you can prevent things and take care of your health.