[Swing]

Ok, little history. in line for shoulder operation #3 (dont let your kids be pitchers ), just recovering from knee scope #1 with the other knee scheduled soon.

because of all of that i can do NO weights for my upper body (shoulders, chest, arms, etc.). right now all i do are leg presses, bike and some stomach and back exercises. the problem is my arms are shriviling up. any ideas on what i can do for my upper body?

[BrianSCohen]

Originally Posted by Swing

Ok, little history. in line for shoulder operation #3 (dont let your kids be pitchers ), just recovering from knee scope #1 with the other knee scheduled soon.

because of all of that i can do NO weights for my upper body (shoulders, chest, arms, etc.). right now all i do are leg presses, bike and some stomach and back exercises. the problem is my arms are shriviling up. any ideas on what i can do for my upper body?

Doctors don't know much about exercise. If you went to your doctor and told him that it hurt when you used your arms to lift weights, his obvious answer is to "don't lift weights." You may very well have serious shoulder problems, but that is even more reason to have a very concerted effort to exercise and rehabilitate your shoulder. You may very well never be able to do overhead pressing or even to perform a bench press, but keeping long term strength and mobility in your upper body is going to depend on working out your upper body.

Despite this, I might suggest that you retain as many compound exercises as you can. You should be able to squat. You may very well be able deadlift. You might even be able to do rows. Doing heavy compounds will build muscle throughout your body.

[Tiger Lily]

can you do water aerobics? or chair exercises?

the local arthritis association is a good source for exercise alternatives

good luck!

[Mich]

Hi Swing, Welcome to the group.

It's troubling to give some part of you enough time to heal. I've had two "frozen shoulders" one of which they operated on. (That's not all of my broken stuff list, but enough for this discussion ) Did you ask your doc about some type of physical therapy for your knees, do the things you are doing seem to be enough?

Is your shoulder something that will need repair, like a torn rotator cuff, or might it be a frozen shoulder? It's called adhesive capsulitis and in my own terms, is when the lubricating sack of the joint slowly dries up, the tendons tighten because of favoring it, and you literally get to the point where you can't move it without a great deal of pain. It is more common in diabetics.

After my first frozen shoulder, I decided I didn't want anyone to have to operate again because it took years, not months to get it moving correctly again afterward. When shoulder number two began to do its thing, I started stretching and flexing it myself and avoided any medical intervention on that one. They're both normal now, thank goodness.

I'm thinking you, having mentioned pitching, have a repairable injury. Tiger Lily's suggestion is a good one, water stretching exercises might help while you wait.

Again, welcome. Looking forward to hearing more from you.

Mich

[Cassini]

Originally Posted by Tiger Lily

can you do water aerobics? or chair exercises?

the local arthritis association is a good source for exercise alternatives

good luck!

I agree totally with this comment, tigerlily... I am in behind swimming with full speed ahead. Even just floating in the pool with some kind of floater is good for sore/broken joints. I had to start a 5 day a week regime after hurting my shoulder (torn rotator cuff) at work a few years ago, not only did I feel better daily, I lost weight to boot!
(Just restarting a new program with swimming to get back to a decent weight and health)
Cass

[Swing]

Thanks for the replies. I have a set of the resistence bands and hope to give those a shot. mich, yes, my shoulder has the trifecta of problems...torn RC, torn labrium, SLAP lesion (whatever that is---google bicept detach surgery...yuck). doc told me if he does that one its a 12 months rehab so i am putting it off as long as possible.

the pool stuff is a good idea, ill give that a shot as well.

thanks for the responses!!