What to do?
MyIdaho54
Posts: 81 Member
I'm a relative newbie to this program. I made it to week 4 of my first round when I strained my right knee and my right shoulder. I've been in PT for 4 weeks. My DPT is marvelous and she believes that I'll be able to go back to weight training in time. I like her confidence but I'M not so sure.... I like the potential benefits of restarting down the road but am concerned about future injury and once again having expensive PT or worse medical issues. The right knee had a meniscus tear that was repaired three years ago while the right shoulder had a minor rotator cuff tear from seven years ago. The right knee is coming around with PT but is still weaker than the left knee. My DPT says no overhead weight training and no full squats or deadlifts for now. She has me doing half squats with a stability ball, leg presses, leg lifts with weights and a few other general exercises.
What do you suggest for my future? Try all pro again or is there a better beginner routine?
What do you suggest for my future? Try all pro again or is there a better beginner routine?
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Replies
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As far as beginner weight lifting programs, All Pro's is among the best. Other good ones are starting strengths, stronglifts and New Rules of lifting. The quality of the program is not a question here. You should determine what exercises you can and can't do together with your DPT and make a customized program together. With any standard program you will run into the same issues with your current limitations. The internet is unfortunately not the best source to get something tailored to specific needs, especially when they are medical of nature.
Good luck! :flowerforyou:0 -
Thanks for your reply Pandora! I should have worded my last sentence more carefully... I really liked the All pro routine and was very disappointed when the injuries occurred... I guess I have to own up and recognize most beginner programs are developed for younger more fit individuals. As a recovering 59 yr old couch potato with injuries, I don't and shouldn't qualify as a beginner...
Have a great day!
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Hi - just wanted to chime in and say I agree with Pandorakicks advice. Complete your PT and see where you land. Don't hesitate to create a modified version that works for you and your limitations. Some lifting is better than nothing!
I've been doing All Pro since last July. I have had a few issues with knee, shoulder, and back pain. Each time I chose to stop the exercises that were causing pain, do lots of mobility work/ice/ibuprofen or get some PT, and get back at it when I felt up to it (and when the PT gave his blessing). I was always so disappointed when I had to take a break, stressing over not making progress or worse going backwards. Right now I have been on a full break from All Pro for 2 weeks due to shoulder pain. I finally decided that when I am able to get back, I still know more than I did last July. My form is better. My knowledge of the program is better. My approach, while conservative, is better. So what if I am unable to start back with the same weights or do the program exactly as written?
I am a 52 year old former couch potato with injuries. I have scoliosis. I am a beginner. Most importantly though, I am stronger than I was last year. I do not want to go back to being a couch potato, so I will take the bad along with the good, and keep moving forward.
Good luck!
Edited for spelling 0 -
Thank you for your encouraging thoughts karindiane! You'd make a great coach!!! :flowerforyou: Congratulations on your successes!
It is very humbling that I can't do a "beginner" program. But, I need to get past that and focus on doing what works and is right for me given my strengths and limitations. My DPT has and will continue to play an critical role in shaping my exercise/training program.0 -
I began AllPro around 5 months after a ligament tear in my thigh with a dodgy shoulder pain that was plaguing me some 10 months after I wrenched it. I began with very light weights - and while sometimes I wonder at my (relative) weakness I have now doubled the weights I began with, so while the going is slow, at least it is still going!
Also, around 2-3 months back my knee began to twinge a lot during my squats and I wasn't sure if I was damaging it, my form was fine but I am still packing a lot of weight and perhaps that load is too much. So I switched to one-legged leg press - which I have read is an excellent exercise for knee rehab - it prevents the back problems that leg presses sometimes to lead to. I use the same method of a heavy-medium-light day, plus the increases in reps for this. My elbow hurts (eep, that sounds like a litany of joint pains, but my shoulder is mostly okay now and the thigh has healed) so I don't overdo the bicep curls.
The way I see it, I may not be following the SBR routine exactly as prescribed, but by using its principles I am using a progressive loading-deloading program and I can the benefits in weight loss and some modest body recomp.0 -
Thank you for your encouraging thoughts karindiane! You'd make a great coach!!! :flowerforyou: Congratulations on your successes!
It is very humbling that I can't do a "beginner" program. But, I need to get past that and focus on doing what works and is right for me given my strengths and limitations. My DPT has and will continue to play an critical role in shaping my exercise/training program.
Just to address this comment about not being able to do a beginner program - when I decided to do some sort of resistance training (at risk of osteoporosis and my doc strongly encouraged it) I was unable to do even one bodyweight squat. Yep, that's right, not even one. Everyone starts somewhere, and my somewhere was different than others, but it was where I needed to be. Try not to compare yourself to others. Compare yourself to yourself, recognizing the progress you make, whether that progress is increasing reps and weight per the program, dialing in form, creating modifications, addressing pain, or learning about your body and it's limitations.
Edited to add: Thank you for your kind words!0 -
Thanks for sharing your story and perspective paprad! I especially enjoyed this comment: "so while the going is slow, at least it is still going!". An awesome thought! :flowerforyou: I wish you the very best in your future!
I visited my DPT this afternoon and she gave me an early Christmas present. She cleared me for returning to the all pro program but no DL or MP for now and only 2 sets of bodyweight squats. She wants me to trim the working weights to 1/2 my previous working weight and start at 8 reps/set. She added a couple other rehab exercises and is also allowing me to do: lat pull downs, tricep extensions, sitting rows, and leg presses. She trimmed my PT visits to 1x every 2 weeks but I need to send her a weekly excel report with my workout data and post links to videos of my squats. Awesome, exactly what I was hoping for! :happy:
Wahoo, I start the journey again tonight! Thanks karindiane for sharing your story as well! I had two PT's evaluating my bodyweight squats today and got some great tips! The new squats are much better than the old ones...0 -
That's great, MyIdaho - hope things go well with your routine. And I'm glad I could help! Maybe I should embroider that line on a pillowcase myself, for moments of self doubt!
I plan to start squatting again in a week or so, to test whether the leg-presses have helped. There is an excellent article, by the way, by Lyle McDonald on squats versus leg presses and I was comforted by his view that squats, while amazing for those who can do them, are not essential - a lot of the benefit can be achieved via other means if, for some reason, squats are ruled out medically.
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/squat-versus-leg-press-for-big-legs.html0 -
Good to hear you get to start again MyIdaho :flowerforyou:
How is it going now?0 -
Checking in for an update. I'm in my third week of a new round. For the most part, all is well. I have been disappointed with my bench press as I'm only lifting 50% of my earlier level. It doesn't feel too heavy but control is less than perfect with a little wavering on the right side with the impinged shoulder. My PT wants me to keep dropping till its perfect, then build up. It will be easier to just switch to dumbbells and the bench at home rather than the gym.
My right knee is still noticeably weaker then the left when doing individual leg presses. I use the same weight for each leg but the left could easily go 30+ lbs higher without issue. Improvement is also obvious and BW squats are going well. I really should be a poster boy for learning, practicing and perfecting form before starting any new exercise. Improper form caused my injuries and could have been avoided with first hand support. My PT is excellent but I can't afford to use her has trainer. Her company charges me $20 to warm up on their exercise bike and $30 for therapy when I do BW squats at the clinic. Yikes!!! My gym has an arrangement with a local trainer that I plan on visiting with and perhaps hiring to assist me. The first visit is free so we'll see how it goes! I have seen her working with other older guys that rehabing injuries and she knew exactly what my PT had prescribed when I briefly gave her my situation. I'm very hopeful...
Thanks for the interest Pandora and best to all!0 -
You're welcome!
Good to hear that you're improving. Progress is key! :flowerforyou:0 -
My PT wants me to keep dropping till its perfect, then build up. It will be easier to just switch to dumbbells and the bench at home rather than the gym.
Spot on!
In general, there's nothing wrong with going with dumbbells and going very light starting weight with AP SBR (or most any other routine for that matter), and there's no hurry to increase the weight. Form first, everything else after.
Week after week of the same routine at the same weight may not be the most exciting thing in the world, but light weight, focus on form, and using dumbbells (which will help build stabilizer muscles even better than barbells) is going to benefit you far more in terms of overall fitness than pushing too hard, injuring (or re-injuring) yourself & being unable to do anything.
Having just returned to lifting a year or two ago following 15+ years absence, I know how it feels to check the ego at the door when it comes to how much I'm lifting. I'm not pushing anywhere near the weight that I was at the ripe old age of 20-25 but, overall, I'm probably in better shape now than I was then.0
