How to tone and build muscle without lifting

amyn73
amyn73 Posts: 241 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Every time I start to exercise (anything- running, kettle bell, light lifting) my rotator cuff injuries flair up and make it difficult to lift my arms, let alone lift weight. No surgery in my future so I need to work within my limitations. Any low impact ways to build muscle? Not a fan of water aerobics but otherwise up for other exercises. Thanks.

Replies

  • Fflpnari
    Fflpnari Posts: 975 Member
    Body weight exercises... Like squats or lunges.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    Build muscle low impact? Not really. You can firm up the muscles you have with body weight exercises while working around the shoulder issue. For a woman to build muscle requires adequate protein, adequate calories and resistance training. With all that it is slow going. .5 to 1 lb per month at best. That doesn't mean you can't be more conditioned though.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
    Resistance bands, TRX, med balls, etc. You might be limited as to the specific exercises you do based on your injury.
  • Muscleflex79
    Muscleflex79 Posts: 1,917 Member
    can't you still lift heavy targeting every other body part besides rotator cuff/shoulder (then do trx/bands/etc for that area)??
  • Okiludy
    Okiludy Posts: 558 Member
    Body weight exercises and bands will help with strength a bit if more of a load than you did before. Still any gain will be modest. For any real strength or muscle growth weight training is required I think.

    Now that's not to say not to try something. It sounds to me like you don't do any exercise now. Anything is better than nothing. Walking a few km and slowly increasing it would likely help overall fitness. Try a few exercises and find something you like that your body can do. If you don't like it you will stop doing it.

    I also would see a physical therapist. They gave me resistance band exercises that after a few month fixed my shoulder impingement. I didn't have to keep going back just do the exercises at home with the bands.
  • canadianlbs
    canadianlbs Posts: 5,199 Member
    edited July 2017
    my sister swam butterfly stroke at near national competition levels in her teens, and no real preventative maintenance was included in how they trained her back then. she says she's been told that her rotator tendons are 'basically shredded' now that she's nearing 50. so i'm very cautious about presuming or over-simplifying shoulder issues.

    but having said that, you imply that these are 'old' injuries and that makes me wonder if you've ever done any therapeutic soft tissue work. i am NOT going to claim that this will just magically make the whole thing go away. but it just might help at least in some respects since injuries do leave things like adhesions and trigger points in their wake.

    if cost is an issue you could try looking to see if there's an accreditated massage/bodywork school anywhere near. my city has a few and most of them sell sessions with their student interns for way less than you'd pay after those same students have graduated. i go to one where i basically pay what i would for a movie without the popcorn or the small drink.
  • Iheartrunning36
    Iheartrunning36 Posts: 73 Member
    I had a rotator cuff injury had surgery, most exercises will make it worse if it's not corrected. I waited years, but I actually tore mine. It never really got better until ten years later. I would 100% advise to go get referral to physical therapist for the right exercises....you can make your injury worse. Or google PT exercise for your condition. I totally get your pain, it's awful.
  • Okiludy
    Okiludy Posts: 558 Member
    Iheartrunning36 wrote: »
    I had a rotator cuff injury had surgery, most exercises will make it worse if it's not corrected. I waited years, but I actually tore mine. It never really got better until ten years later. I would 100% advise to go get referral to physical therapist for the right exercises....you can make your injury worse. Or google PT exercise for your condition. I totally get your pain, it's awful.

    Oh yes the pain is real. I couldn't even raise my arm to my chin without tears before therapy. So glad I did not need surgery. I was 100% sure I would need it but band exercises and time did the trick. It was not a magical go in and it worked next day. It was months of slow steady effort at home and seeing the doc about once a month to check progress.
  • PokernuttAR
    PokernuttAR Posts: 74 Member
    edited July 2017
    mmapags wrote: »
    Build muscle low impact? Not really.
    ...to build muscle requires adequate protein, adequate calories and resistance training.

    I agree with this part of his message. ^^^

    In addition the resistance training needs to get more progressively more difficult in order to cause muscle growth. I would suggest that you wait until your healthy and your doctor gives you the ok to begin a proven workout program. In the mean time, maybe you can concentrate on the lower body parts. Good luck. :)
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
    define rotator cuff "injury"?

    Weight lifting is particularly useful for correcting unstable shoulder, impingement, and postural problems which lead to rotator cuff problems.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 33,720 Member
    Cutaway_Collar wrote: »
    Indoor rower helps a bit.

    I owe my shoulder structure to rowing.

    Yeah, rowing builds some muscle, just slower than weight training. To the extent I have muscles, they're almost entirely from rowing.

    Whether it'll work with a rotator cuff problem is another question: It's going to depend on the specific nature of the problem. Shoulder/rotator cuff injuries are not unheard of in rowing.

    OP, any chance you can get a physical therapy referral, to get truly expert, custom-tailored advice about which motions you can do safely?
  • goldthistime
    goldthistime Posts: 3,214 Member
    If even holding weights for lunges or squats can irritate your rotator cuff, I'd suggest the leg machines at the gym. If the gym isn't an option, lots of reps with no weights still does the job. In one of the challenges I did a couple years ago they had us do squats with no weights till failure. I don't think I've ever been that sore.

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