Exercises for people with joint problems?

[MetaPhysical]

I am not over 35 but I thought this might be a more appropriate place to post, since joint conditions do not tend to afflict the young so much.

Anyway, I have minor avascular necrosis which was a side effect of one of the drugs I had to take during a leukemia treatment which I finished over 6 months ago. Basically what is entailed by the condition is that there is a lack of blood vessels going to certain parts of the bone, causing that area to die and become more brittle. Recent MRIs have revealed that I have two small areas that are affected by this: one in the right hip, and one inside the humeral head of my right shoulder.

Weight bearing exercise is not discouraged by my doctors, but only to a point. Basically I have been told I cannot too much stress on the affected joints that would compress them and cause the area to compact (which causes problems), so direct weight bearing exercises that will put a lot of stress on the joints are out, such as squats, deadlift, military press, bench press, dips, etc, etc. Pretty much most exercises for my body would use one of these parts so most of the routine I used to do is no longer viable.

So I am here to ask if people who have joint problems, could help me think of exercises for my entire body that would not put so much stress on my hip or shoulder. Parts that I am having particular trouble thinking of exercises for are the erector spinae, chest, anterior and lateral delts.

Cliffs:

- I have minor avascular necrosis in shoulder and hip
- Doctor said heavy, direct weight bearing is not good
- Need help finding exercises for particular body parts (see last paragraph)

[Bando]

Thats a tough place your in, I appreciate the intelligence of your post rather than the "had luke, shlder messd, now wht?" option.

What are your goals? Bodybuilder build?

[jgreystoke]

You might seek out specialists other than doctors, who tend to be trained to think in terms of drug or cut.

Sports injury specialists have lots of experience helping people build up after injury. So they are used to helping people with an accumulation of physical limitations. Might help you get around your problem and get strong.

Like Bando suggested, you'd better define your goals.

There is a difference between wanting to be a 160lb tennis player and a 220lb bodybuilder.

[StartinOver-68]

To the OP. I was going to take your post serious and offer some advice untill I noticed how long you've been here, some of your previous posts, and where they were posted. Things must be slow in the Misc. section.

[gbg]

So what's the deal ? Is he for real?

[Fishhawk]

This is a post from another thread of his from last December.

MetaPhysical:
[lol, no functional value eh? Joint locks eh?
Last time one of my buddies who does martial arts tried to joint lock me, I easily overpowered him and proceeded to toss him to the ground like a rag doll. Of course my style is more on the power lifting side then the bodybuilding side. Either way, there are plenty of benefits to being bigger.]

What stands out in his post is his direct reference to his buddy putting a "joint lock" on him. Of course this could have been a couple years ago, but his reference to joint locks and his style being "power lifting" is curious.

[aneas]

Not cool if fake. Some of us are in alot of pain.

[SYNBAD]

big fat neg getting handed out if this is not real. Let him live in my wifes shoes for a week!

[boathead]

i have f'ed up knees, ankles, hip, shoulders, and elbows. i think my toe knuckles are still ok.

as a concession to age, and my orthopaedic mess, i am coming to grips with this: that lifting heavy might just not be in the cards for me.

so, i am trying to borrow from hypertrophy periodization principles: low weight, more reps.

on another thread, it's been discussed about doing leg presses for prolonged times, i.e. 1 minute or more. let me tell you, in three weeks of trying this, i've made FAR better gains than with any other plan. and i am starting to experiment, using this concept, with other exercises. the results are more than favorable.

i guess the point is this: the concept of periodization seems to be accepted, with hypertrophy being one of the periods. perhaps that is where you need to be.

for once, i have some things hypertrophing other than my prostate.

[lukamar]

To the OP. I was going to take your post serious and offer some advice untill I noticed how long you've been here, some of your previous posts, and where they were posted. Things must be slow in the Misc. section.

My previous wife died of cancer. If he's playing with us, I'm not impressed.

[MetaPhysical]

To the OP. I was going to take your post serious and offer some advice untill I noticed how long you've been here, some of your previous posts, and where they were posted. Things must be slow in the Misc. section.

This is a serious question. I am not joking. I was an ALL (acute lymphocytic leukemia) patient at princess margaret hospital in Toronto Ontario for two years (they specialize is cancer). I was on dexamethisone (spelling?) for those two years and it seriously messed up my bones, with thinning and AVN. You think I am lying then look up AVN yourself.

Before I got leukemia I was a very active person leaning more toward power lifting. I made many a post in the teen section. After I got leukemia I wasn't exactly in the best shape to go to the gym but didn't want to stop posting here and frequented the misc section (mostly R/P). If my length of time here says anything, you should look at my post count... I am mostly a lurker, not one of the misc Jackasses.

I have been semi active since my chemo regime eased up about 1 year into the treatment, but now that I have having joint problems I need to change things and am looking for legitimate advice.

Thanks for the cynicism though.

Edit:

I should totally neg you for even suggesting this was a joke. I really went through all this ****, and I don't appreciate being called a liar. But I am not going to do that. Not everyone who has a post in the misc is an immature dick.

[MetaPhysical]

This is a post from another thread of his from last December.

MetaPhysical:
[lol, no functional value eh? Joint locks eh?
Last time one of my buddies who does martial arts tried to joint lock me, I easily overpowered him and proceeded to toss him to the ground like a rag doll. Of course my style is more on the power lifting side then the bodybuilding side. Either way, there are plenty of benefits to being bigger.]

What stands out in his post is his direct reference to his buddy putting a "joint lock" on him. Of course this could have been a couple years ago, but his reference to joint locks and his style being "power lifting" is curious.

Yes that was a post I made in reference to a time before I got ALL.

I can't believe you people actualy think I am joking about this... if you look at my post history I have never made a joke thread, and if you search hard enough I have even reamed people out for certain posts about cancer.

[MetaPhysical]

One of my posts a few months after I finished induction and radiation stages of chemo:

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...24#post7107824

Thanks for all thinking I am a liar.

edit: more:

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...87#post7103987
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...96#post7110796

[otrebmu]

tough situation you're in...

If you could afford it you could possibly seek the advice or a sports therapist, like someone above posted.

stretching bands or something? higher reps, lower weight? not really sure...

[MetaPhysical]

tough situation you're in...

If you could afford it you could possibly seek the advice or a sports therapist, like someone above posted.

stretching bands or something? higher reps, lower weight? not really sure...

Yes back to the original topic.

I have talked to a sports medicine specialist. Like I have mentioned, strength and weight training is not necessarily discouraged, but the intensity has to be reduced. They have said low weight high rep is the way to go, but the problem is that I should not apply certain angles of force to these joints (mainly that which would press the joint and possibly compress it).

As I had mentioned things like squats (too much stress on the hip), deadlifts (hip issue again), military and bench presses (putting weight on the humeral head), are all out.

To aid in some suggestions, I am no longer looking for a bodybuilding physique. It is not even viable for me at the moment. I just want to keep my body looking good and prevent it from becoming doughy.

[otrebmu]

swimming?? although that takes quite a bit of shoulder flexibility, you could ease into it. It'll work your cardiovascular system more so than will you gain any size from it.

[Fishhawk]

If you really do have leukemia then I apologize. It just looked very strange that you were talking about joint issues because of cancer when two months ago you mentioned that your friend tried to joint lock you and you threw him to the ground and then said that you power lift. Once again I apologize.
Back to topic it sounds like you might want to forget about lifting heavy and stay with light weights for the time being. Maybe a couple years down the road things may change and you will feel you can handle more weight.
Can you bike ride? How about investing in a nice road bike. It opens up opportunities for club rides that offer short to moderate to long (100mi) rides. And if it is competition you need, there are always plenty of races to get a competitive fix. During the summer I will ride three to four days a week. I get lean and its is a great way to lose the days stress. Its just me, my bike, and the road. I get the same rush when I set a new personal speed record as I do when I set a personal best with weights.

[MetaPhysical]

swimming?? although that takes quite a bit of shoulder flexibility, you could ease into it. It'll work your cardiovascular system more so than will you gain any size from it.

That is actually a really good idea, swimming had not occurred to me. My range of motion is still good so I should not have trouble. Thanks.

If you really do have leukemia then I apologize. It just looked very strange that you were talking about joint issues because of cancer when two months ago you mentioned that your friend tried to joint lock you and you threw him to the ground and then said that you power lift. Once again I apologize.
Back to topic it sounds like you might want to forget about lifting heavy and stay with light weights for the time being. Maybe a couple years down the road things may change and you will feel you can handle more weight.
Can you bike ride? How about investing in a nice road bike. It opens up opportunities for club rides that offer short to moderate to long (100mi) rides. And if it is competition you need, there are always plenty of races to get a competitive fix. During the summer I will ride three to four days a week. I get lean and its is a great way to lose the days stress. Its just me, my bike, and the road. I get the same rush when I set a new personal speed record as I do when I set a personal best with weights.

I did have it, and thank you for the apology. In the post you are reffering to, that was an event that happened several years ago before I got ALL, notice how I did not reffer to a specific time frame. Ever since I got sick my friends have not even thought about roughhousing with me.

As for the powerlifting remark: It was not until recently that I have been told not to lift heavy, the AVN is currently asymptomatic with respect to pain. It was by chance that it was discovered during an MRI for an unrelated problem. Ever since its discovery, I have been told to tone things down, or else I face exacerbating things, and would face joint replacement in the very near future. As it stands I still face this possibility at a relatively young age.

On the flip side, I am still in the early stages of the disease and am seeking alternative treatment. It is not a common to catch it before it is beyond fixing, such as in the case of joint collapse, because usually people do not know they have it until its too late. I was lucky to find this early and may still hold some hope of recovery with alternative, yet difficult to find, treatments.

Please in future, take something like this up in a PM rather than derailing the thread. I have shown no reason to be suspected as a troll except for the fact that I have posted in the misc. When my post history is at best ambiguous, as you even conceded earlier, it should not be seen as a red herring without further investigation.

[gbg]

I agree with Otrembmu, Swimming might be a good choice because the gravity factor. Less gravity= less compression. Also Tia chi, very slow controlled movements that is good for the mind as well. Good luck to you.

[AlexNJ]

That is actually a really good idea, swimming had not occurred to me. My range of motion is still good so I should not have trouble. Thanks.

If you're looking for something to do without getting wet, high intensity rowing will give you a good workout. Rowing has the advantage of being not only good for cardio at lower intensity, but providing a good overall body workout if you really step it up. It isn't weightlifting but at least is easy on the joints (take it from somebody with joint pain).