I hope you guys don't mind me posting so much, but I'm just trying to get through this damn thing. As a result of injuries, real or imagined, I was laid up for months and lost quite a bit of strength. I was weak to the point that propping myself up out of bed too much caused pain.
I started lifting weights with 3 lb dumb bells, and took things very slowly. Within about the last three weeks or so, I have progressed significantly in terms of gaining strength. I lifted with heavier weight (6 lb), and many reps (30) last night, and felt fine afterwards. My muscles burned during the exercise from lactic acid, but I felt no pain at all, anywhere. Although 30 reps might seem like quite a bit, I didn't think of it that way at the time. As a rule, I try not to dumb bells that I can't lift at least 15 times per set. I do this precisely to guard against tendon injury. I had intended to lift the 6 lb weights 20x, but realized that I could get to 30. Yes, it was a struggle, but again, there was no pain. I felt that I'd given myself a good workout at 30 reps.
Actually, I probably could have lifted another set, but decided not to push things too much.
Today, the tendons of my forearm are painful. I have two choices: I can ice and rest the area for a few days, or not do anything, and go ahead with further lifting after two days have passed since my last workout. Icing the area and holding off on things like powering through washing the dishes would be the way to go if I were irritating the tendon as a result of building too much muscle too fast. NOT icing, and repeating to myself that there's nothing wrong with me is the way to go to address this as TMS.
In a way, I feel that this might be a legitimate injury. I have read that muscles grow much faster than tendons. People that use steroids often suffer tendon injuries since muscle growth outpaces tendon growth. I am not using drugs to get stronger, just exercising vigorously and eating well. Is it even possible to grow muscle "too fast" in relation to tendons with this sort of program?
What would you do?
Thanks.
I started lifting weights with 3 lb dumb bells, and took things very slowly. Within about the last three weeks or so, I have progressed significantly in terms of gaining strength. I lifted with heavier weight (6 lb), and many reps (30) last night, and felt fine afterwards. My muscles burned during the exercise from lactic acid, but I felt no pain at all, anywhere. Although 30 reps might seem like quite a bit, I didn't think of it that way at the time. As a rule, I try not to dumb bells that I can't lift at least 15 times per set. I do this precisely to guard against tendon injury. I had intended to lift the 6 lb weights 20x, but realized that I could get to 30. Yes, it was a struggle, but again, there was no pain. I felt that I'd given myself a good workout at 30 reps.
Actually, I probably could have lifted another set, but decided not to push things too much.
Today, the tendons of my forearm are painful. I have two choices: I can ice and rest the area for a few days, or not do anything, and go ahead with further lifting after two days have passed since my last workout. Icing the area and holding off on things like powering through washing the dishes would be the way to go if I were irritating the tendon as a result of building too much muscle too fast. NOT icing, and repeating to myself that there's nothing wrong with me is the way to go to address this as TMS.
In a way, I feel that this might be a legitimate injury. I have read that muscles grow much faster than tendons. People that use steroids often suffer tendon injuries since muscle growth outpaces tendon growth. I am not using drugs to get stronger, just exercising vigorously and eating well. Is it even possible to grow muscle "too fast" in relation to tendons with this sort of program?
What would you do?
Thanks.
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