Lifting with plate in forearm

Long story short, I had a nasty broken arm in high school that required a titanium plate in my forearm to fix (five screws, about six inches long, starting about an inch from my wrist). Since last September I joined a new gym and I've been doing 'real' lifting, it was all bull**** machine work before then, and its been going pretty well so far. But I've got just a couple of questions to throw out there:

1) Does anyone around here have a similar injury and how has that effected increasing weight on deadlifts, bench press, etc? I'm still pretty light on those lifts (bench around 175x10, deadlifts 225x8) but I'm worried that as I increase, some arm problems might come up because of the plate, just looking to know what I might be in store for.

2) Whenever I do bicep work, the forearm with the plate in it hurts like a bastard. From what I've read, that's generally because the forearm isn't strong enough to support the weight even though the bicep is. But since I only have the pain in my bad arm, I'm worried that no amount of forearm strengthening is going to fix the problem. If anyone else has had a similar injury and experience, any advice would be great. Otherwise, what are the best bicep exercises that can be done with minimal strain on the forearm?

Do you have a medical professional that you can consult? Each individual stabilization is different and requires different instructions/approaches to care.

[QUOTE=Seldini;648799353]Long story short, I had a nasty broken arm in high school that required a titanium plate in my forearm to fix (five screws, about six inches long, starting about an inch from my wrist). Since last September I joined a new gym and I've been doing 'real' lifting, it was all bull**** machine work before then, and its been going pretty well so far. But I've got just a couple of questions to throw out there:

1) Does anyone around here have a similar injury and how has that effected increasing weight on deadlifts, bench press, etc? I'm still pretty light on those lifts (bench around 175x10, deadlifts 225x8) but I'm worried that as I increase, some arm problems might come up because of the plate, just looking to know what I might be in store for.

2) Whenever I do bicep work, the forearm with the plate in it hurts like a bastard. From what I've read, that's generally because the forearm isn't strong enough to support the weight even though the bicep is. But since I only have the pain in my bad arm, I'm worried that no amount of forearm strengthening is going to fix the problem. If anyone else has had a similar injury and experience, any advice would be great. Otherwise, what are the best bicep exercises that can be done with minimal strain on the forearm?[/QUOTE]


Now wait, I can see the furure. If and when you see a Doctor, they are going to tell you "don't put undues stress on the affected arm" You know why they will tell you that? it is because if the Doc says "go for it. Try to curl 150 pounds" and you get hurt the doctor Is liabel for telling you advice that resulted in your injury. Me, I don't know you and you don't know me. So, I will tell you "go for it, try to curl 150 pounds."

No, just kidding. The guy is right. Every situation regarding post surgery ORIF of forearm is unique. My advice: Train around it. Do things that don't cause pain to the repaired area. Be careful. Go see a Doc if you want. Doctor will tell you the same I think. Peace.

1. I do not have a similar injury. Don't hunt boogers, though. Lift only what you are comfortable doing, and go up in weight slowly to avoid injury. If you can lift 205 pounds 30 times on bench press but the moment you go to 230 it bothers your arm, stick with lighter weight.

2. How do you do bicep work? It is generally more comfortable for the forearms not to be braced-don't use a preacher type bench to do bicep work on. do standing or sitting curls with the weight dropped at your side, or try standing barbell curls. Also-It will probabally help to do some wrist flexion exercises/forearm work. Just remember to keep everything light and comfortable. Once everything in your arm gets used to moving every which way and you build the muscle around it to help, your problems will likley be minimized.

[QUOTE=Seldini;648799353]Long story short, I had a nasty broken arm in high school that required a titanium plate in my forearm to fix (five screws, about six inches long, starting about an inch from my wrist). Since last September I joined a new gym and I've been doing 'real' lifting, it was all bull**** machine work before then, and its been going pretty well so far. But I've got just a couple of questions to throw out there:

1) Does anyone around here have a similar injury and how has that effected increasing weight on deadlifts, bench press, etc? I'm still pretty light on those lifts (bench around 175x10, deadlifts 225x8) but I'm worried that as I increase, some arm problems might come up because of the plate, just looking to know what I might be in store for.

2) Whenever I do bicep work, the forearm with the plate in it hurts like a bastard. From what I've read, that's generally because the forearm isn't strong enough to support the weight even though the bicep is. But since I only have the pain in my bad arm, I'm worried that no amount of forearm strengthening is going to fix the problem. If anyone else has had a similar injury and experience, any advice would be great. Otherwise, what are the best bicep exercises that can be done with minimal strain on the forearm?[/QUOTE]

here is another thought on your surgically repaired forearm. one indication to remove the implanted hardware is if the hardware causes you pain. The plate in your arm is not necesarily permanent. it can be removed. Your bone heals after about 6 weeks. Maybe it is not the exercise that is bothering you but the plate. If it becomes a problem the plate can be removed in surgery that is much simpler than the one to put the plate in. Just a thought.

I've had a similar injury, I broke my ulna and radius in both arms in a motocross accident and have plates in both. The biggest advice I can give is to know your body and take it slow. The fact of the matter is, you'll have discomfort, especially when just starting to workout. Remember, those are foreign objects and they were necessary to heal an injury. That all being said, as long as your injury has properly healed, you should have no trouble getting in your workouts.

1. Strengthen your forearms. It's not going to fix your problems, but it will help immensely with discomfort during bicep exercises. It's easy to neglect, and normally there is atrophy from having this injury; however, to get back to form you need those forearm muscles for support.

2. As a previous poster stated, try to avoid exercises where your elbow is the fulcrum point and your bicep is stationary, i.e. preacher curl exercises. I really find that this puts unnecessary and unnatural pressure on your forearm.

3. Press exercises like bench and chest presses may cause some discomfort. If you start to feel pain then it's too much weight, pump the brakes and just scale down.

4. If you still want to incorporate the preacher into your workout do it on the cable machine.

Just take it slow and you'll be fine. Don't do too much too fast. It's been about 10 years since my broken arms and I still have some discomfort, but for the most part they don't get me too much trouble. Hope this helps.

i too have forearm plates on both sides of my left forearm. i started lifting at least over a year after sergery so i think my bone has healed enough. gonna stop preacher curls.i dont know if all the hardware for these sergeries is the same but can someone that has the same one tell me how it feels and what the design is?

I have a titanium plate in my left humerus. So not the same injury. But it's been in there for 25 years, so I still wanted to share my experience.

First of all, I assume that your bone is fully healed, and that your doctor has cleared you for all activities, without any restrictions. I remember that I had a final checkup 1 year after the surgery, where they told me that everything looked perfect. I probably wouldn't have been comfortable lifting serious weights before reaching that final milestone in recovery.

For me, the impact on lifting is minimal, but it is noticeable under certain conditions. It seems like movements that involve a twisting force on the arm can cause me pain. Straight movements are no problem at all. I can bench press or deadlift without noticing anything. I know that the bone is healed and at full strength, so my theory is that the plate/screws interfere with the muscles during certain movements.

For exercises that turned out to be somewhat problematic, I found that minor changes could greatly improve things. For example, I did upright rows for a while, and they initially caused me pain. Just using a grip that was more narrow by 1 or 2 inches mostly fixed it. Similar for kettlebell lifts, where I had pain on the descent. Just slowing down the descent, and maintaining very deliberate control, solved that problem. I ended up stopping those exercises anyway. Partly because of the potential for pain, but mostly because they did not fit into my program, and because upright rows have a reputation for being hard on shoulders anyway.

I would definitely recommend that you listen to your body. Pain often serves a purpose, and lets you know what's bad for you. So either find replacements for exercises that cause you discomfort, or tweak details like the grip, or speed of the movement. Try straight bars vs. ez-bars, etc.

Now that you asked about it, it actually occurs to me that I haven't noticed any discomfort the last few weeks. I started seriously lifting again in March. So either I'm successfully avoiding the painful movements, or the consistent lifting has reduced the impact.

ive stopped lifting completely now. i think a screw came loose in the forearm bar, ther is now a bump in the middle so gonna get xrays. i want to get it completely removed so my arm gets stronger,

You guys know this is 5 yrs old right?

and?