Working out and not increasing in strength

hoyagirl03

Hi, all---

I have a guy friend who works out pretty regularly--- primarily strength training in all of the body parts but spaces them out very well. He has knee problems so he can't really do too much cardio. One of the things he has been complaining about is that when he gets to a certain weight, his muscles start to cramp up so he goes up in weight slowly. Since he can't do too much cardio, he just does about 5-6 minutes on the bike every time he is at the gym and increases it by the minute every week. But he can never get past a certain level. He's worried that he's not gaining any strength and doing all of this work for naught. Anyone else run into this? any advice (I told him to go to the doctor, but also just trying to see if anyone else has run into this/have any advice).

thanks!

tross0924

Cardio helps in weight lifting because it conditions your body better to provide better blood flow and allow the blood vessels to dilate more and take in more "energy" when you're doing your work.

This is a total guess on my part, I've got no evidence to back this up, but I could be that he's hitting a wall cause he can't deliver more energy to his muscles when they need it since he lacks the cardio aspect. He could try a supplement. Nitric Oxcide is supposed to help with dilation and pushing the nutrients into his muscles.

Not sure if that will help, but it's a fairly cheap try at a fix.

knittnponder

Can he access a pool? Swimming is great cardio and won't bug his knees.

CheetoBandoto

I've been told that though they don't bulk you up as much as weight lifting, calisthenics like push ups, sit ups, 90x or insanity generate real strength.

TAWoody

I think the cramping of the muscles should be looked at first before anything else. Has he talked to his doc about that yet? That doesn't sound normal to me so that's probably why he's hitting walls if he isn't doing something right or his body can't do something right.

sarab99

Cramping is usually dehydration or potassium loss. Dr. would probably be a great start.

EDIT: I should add not to play with your own potassium levels without a Dr. you can have cardiac complications if you overdo it.

TAWoody

Cramping is usually dehydration or potassium loss. Dr. would probably be a great start.

EDIT: I should add not to play with your own potassium levels without a Dr. you can have cardiac complications if you overdo it.

Those are the 2 I've heard. Either try drinking more water especially pre workout or maybe try eating a banana pre workout.

HawaiianTx

Does he have access to an elliptical? I'm 49, my knees are shot. I've tried running on these hightech (padded) tracks that some of the high schools in my area have invested in for the kids. They help, but I still feel it in my knees if I run more than two or three times a week. I've tried the treadmills in the gym and the same thing happens.

Elliptical's have been a god send for me. I started using them in May just a mile or two at level 1, 2, or 3. The ones in my local gym only let you go for 35 minutes + a 5 minute cool down period. Since May I've gone from the original mile or two, at level 1, 2, or 3 to levels 12 to 16. At those levels i can burn over 500 calories in the 40 minutes.

koosdel

It's possible, he just needs a more aggressive work out partner, and a form check.

aj_rock

Joint problems should be discussed with a doctor/trainer/physiotherapist. I don't think most of us here are qualified to make an over teh internetz recommendation on what to do with knee problems :P