Shoulder....Venting

[Catrin]

Oh Catrin, I am so bummed to hear this. I know how much you enjoyed your kettlebells. Dang if it's not always something!

I do think fast walking, tai chi, and hiking are good, but it's also good to have at least a little upper body strength, just for daily living. Not sure how you could achieve that without kettlebells and with your bad shoulders. Sigh...

Oh I had to to give up the upper body part of it more than a year ago because of shoulders and neck, we just kept discovering more and more about the pathologies underlying all of it. In the last year I could only use kettlebells for swings - which, if done properly, is NOT an upper-body exercise but uses the hips and legs for a good cardiovascular workout. There are many other kettlebell lifts for the upper body, such as the single-arm snatch, jerk, and Long Cycle (the last one was my chosen competition lift - it's a clean and jerk with a KB). And yes, it's not good for my upper body strength but what can I do? Isometric hold exercises IS an option, still researching if it could adversely impact my torn tendons in the one shoulder. It's is good for muscle strengthening, so it COULD be an option.

[emily_in_nc]

Isometric hold exercises IS an option, still researching if it could adversely impact my torn tendons in the one shoulder. It's is good for muscle strengthening, so it COULD be an option.

I see. I knew you'd had to cut back on your kettlebelling and couldn't do the overhead stuff, but assumed the swings were also somewhat upper body impacting. Hoping you can figure out something!

[Catrin]

I see. I knew you'd had to cut back on your kettlebelling and couldn't do the overhead stuff, but assumed the swings were also somewhat upper body impacting. Hoping you can figure out something!

Working on it. Unless the shoulders are as jacked as mine, proper swings don't impact the arms as the hands are just holding them - it's a hip exercise. I'm not referring to the thing that crossfitters call swings...

Hoping I can at least do isometric holds, this uses no weight at all but can be highly effective. Good old Jack LeLane (however his last name is spelled) really focused on this method back in the day. Not much is heard of it these days as it requires NO gym equipment at all, hard to make money from it.

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[emily_in_nc]

Hoping I can at least do isometric holds, this uses no weight at all but can be highly effective. Good old Jack LeLane (however his last name is spelled) really focused on this method back in the day. Not much is heard of it these days as it requires NO gym equipment at all, hard to make money from it.

I remember that! Jack LaLane was in amazing shape. Can you do planks at all? I am guessing no, with your shoulders. But not sure what other isometric hold you are referring to. Enlighten me?

[Catrin]

I remember that! Jack LaLane was in amazing shape. Can you do planks at all? I am guessing no, with your shoulders. But not sure what other isometric hold you are referring to. Enlighten me?

Isometric exercises are those exercises that contracts the muscle without changing either angle of the joint or the length of the muscle. There are different approaches to isometric exercises for strength, and at least for my upper body, there is really only one approach that seems safe.

It's simply this. Intentionally contract the muscle and hold it without moving it once it's contracted. Sounds very simple, but I know of someone who lost no muscle tone after enduring a lengthy period in a body cast. All he was capable of doing were these isometric holds (as my trainer calls them)- for his entire body - and focused on that as often as he could. Now I'm not in HIS situation, and I'm weight bearing in other ways fortunately. Other good examples are things like squats, lunges, and push-ups. I can do the first two as much as my knees allow, I won't attempt push-ups (pain) - planks are actually better (no pain) and I think that's because there is no movement.I THINK I can also do this against a wall if I can find the right angle - basically a plank against the wall. That might actually be kinder than doing it on the floor as my entire bodyweight wouldn't be involved.

Good link to a broader discussion of isometric exercise in general. You will note a reference to certain activities that by their nature are isometric - including mountain biking, climbing, and skiing You will also note a discussion on a wider range of isometric exercises than what I mention above, but I'm focusing on options that might at least help me slow down the loss of upper body strength without hurting myself further.

Frankly, if my left shoulder weren't so *&*%^$@% arthritic, I think I would be more likely to allow them to fix the shoulder with the torn tendons. As that isn't the case, I will wait until/unless I lose more function in the torn shoulder because it's STILL more functional than the arthritic one - and I live alone.

[emily_in_nc]

Good information, Catrin, thanks. I knew that planks were isometric but couldn't think of too many other examples. It's definitely easier to do them on an angle against a wall. On the floor is hard as it uses a lot of core strength; it's certainly not just an upper body exercise. A side plank uses a lot of upper body but would probably be too tough on your shoulders.

[Catrin]

Good information, Catrin, thanks. I knew that planks were isometric but couldn't think of too many other examples. It's definitely easier to do them on an angle against a wall. On the floor is hard as it uses a lot of core strength; it's certainly not just an upper body exercise. A side plank uses a lot of upper body but would probably be too tough on your shoulders.

Yes, no way I can do a side plank. There are many other ways as well - holding a weight in a static position without moving for a period of time, hard to explain but I think you understand. The important thing is the joint doesn't move and the muscle doesn't lengthen - and while some do use weights - body weight is usually enough. I've got to be more careful than many but I won't give up!