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need advice on tendon and core strengthening routine

SoreArms

New member
I've had tons of tendon and joint problems since I started lifting heavy. Currently I have an elbow tendon that has been bugging me for a couple of months now, haven't really lifted since, every time I try it starts to bother me. I've also had injuries to both knees in the last year or so that prevent me fom doing legs too heavy, ligaments are now lose and will eventually need surgery. Since I stopped lifting I've basically stopped going to the gym, I've gained some weight in that time. Since I don't want to remain sedentary, I think I want to concentrate on 1) losing fat 2) strengthening the tendons/ligaments 3) strengthening the core (if thats possible with basic, non heavy, exercises).

Can you guys recommend some exercises, routines or anything of that sort? Also any advice or input would be greatly appreciated.

I know that a lot of you are going to give me advice about how my tendon problems are probably due to bad form, not stretching or warming up properly, etc.. While I do appreciate the advice, lets try to keep on topic as much as possible.

Thanks in advance buds.
 
I'd be interested to see what you are doing in the gym now, in detail, so that I could get a better idea as to where you are as well as possible problems.

B True
 
i can't tell you whether you damaged your tendons or not. but, i know from my own experiences what has helped me. for elbows, i use a velcro support for my left. and if they feel stiff or any pain, i try to warm that area up by doing curls. try doing some forearm work, too. unbalanced musculature in an arm can cause problems.
 
SoreArms said:
I think I want to concentrate on 1) losing fat 2) strengthening the tendons/ligaments 3) strengthening the core (if thats possible with basic, non heavy, exercises).

Can you guys recommend some exercises, routines or anything of that sort? Also any advice or input would be greatly appreciated.

I know that a lot of you are going to give me advice about how my tendon problems are probably due to bad form, not stretching or warming up properly, etc.. While I do appreciate the advice, lets try to keep on topic as much as possible.

Thanks in advance buds.
From what I understand just about the only way to strengthen tendons is to lift heavy, so you're kinda in a catch-22 here.

Some details would be helpful, such as:
-What are the nature of your knee injuries? Lifting (like the elbow) or some sort of dynamic injury from sports? If it's lifting related you may have form or depth issues. Have your leg movements been centered around free backsquats or some sort of machine?

-DO you warmup properly? I realize you want us to "stay on topic" but I think that may be central to the issue. What sort of warmups are you using? Have you been on AAS and possibly caused your muscles to strengthen faster than your joints?

In terms of recommendations, well it's tough to say without more info, but I'd venture to guess that some ATF squats would help your knees if you start light, but if you're too far gone to do 'em, perhaps physical therapy is the next approach. Also, the eliptical machine is great for people with achey joints- haven't used it myself but I know plenty of people who swear by it.

HTH
 
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As far as connective tissue I too have read that heavy weight is the way to build them.

On the other hand, Bompa in his book 'Serious Strength Training' (BTW it's a nice book on periodization although to be honest I've only skimmed through it and originally bought it for the pictures ;) ) has a 6-week mesocycle of low intensity/high rep for preparing the tendons and ligaments for hypertrophy and strength phases.

Also, I think tendons and ligaments have limited blood supply and therefore need to do lots of reps to increase the flow to these areas. Anyway, Bompa has 3 laws that make a lot of sense to me:

1. Before strength, develop flexibility
2. Before strength, develop tendons
3. Before limbs, develop core

That's another reason I wanted to do my current low intensity conditioning phase prior to starting Korte.
 
Jim Ouini said:
As far as connective tissue I too have read that heavy weight is the way to build them.

On the other hand, Bompa in his book 'Serious Strength Training' (BTW it's a nice book on periodization although to be honest I've only skimmed through it and originally bought it for the pictures ;) ) has a 6-week mesocycle of low intensity/high rep for preparing the tendons and ligaments for hypertrophy and strength phases.

Also, I think tendons and ligaments have limited blood supply and therefore need to do lots of reps to increase the flow to these areas. Anyway, Bompa has 3 laws that make a lot of sense to me:

1. Before strength, develop flexibility
2. Before strength, develop tendons
3. Before limbs, develop core

That's another reason I wanted to do my current low intensity conditioning phase prior to starting Korte.
awesome, thanks bud, whats the name of the book? Can you give me some exercise or routine examples that he recommends?

If anyone has more info on anything related to what Jim Ouini posted above, I'd love to hear it.

As far as a little more info on my training and injuries:
Knee injuries were originally unrelated to lifing, but since they were deamed healed, I aggrevated them by doing heavy squats. Since the ligaments are loose, the strain of keeping my body centered/balanced from doing squats made them worse. I had recently started doing light hack squats (on the squat machine) because the machine takes away the task of my knees having to balance my body and light leg presses. Although I'm not supposed to lock out on either, so I try not to (already went through physical therapy). I can do cardio, I like to use the elliptical or the recumbent bike because of the low impact, I have jogged on real turf in the last few months and while I got through it fine, I felt the pains for several days later. Same thing happened after playing tennis a couple of weeks a go, with the addition of my knee popping out of socket/locking out (happens sporradicaly, it has to do with the way I shift weight on my legs). My RC's also bother me a lot when benching, so I switched to DB presses instead of BB and I just can't find a way/form to do chins, pull ups or dips with out it hurting like a mofo (on both shoulder but more on my right). About 9 months a go, I suffered a partial tear on my elbow ligament while lifting. I laid off it for a few weeks and once it felt fine I went back to lifting. Over the last couple of months though, the pain has started to come back, only duller. I had/have been wearing a support brace on my elbow over that time span, every time I lift. While it helps with the actual lifting, it doesn't seem to help it go away. The pain is worse when I do not wear it (to lift).

Like I mentioned, I've only been lifting for about 2 years, so I'm by no means an expert. However, all my troubles started shortly after I changed to low rep, high weight routine and I now realize that it is in large part my fault. While I was stretching, from the logs I kept I now know that I wasn't warming up correctly (starting weight too high) and I moved the weight up too fast (instead of working with a weight for a few sessions I'd up it after only a couple of sets). I focused a lot on form when I first started, but I believe that after some time I concentrated more on the weight and less on the form, that also plays a big role on this. So while I know that i made aa lot of mistakes that I can correct and reduce the risk of many of these injuries, I also want to lay off the heavy stuff for a while (6-8 months) and allow my tendons and joints to heal properly without stress or set backs, particularly my elbow, while strengthening them and my core.

I haven't been to the gym for a few weeks, and only sporradically over the last 2 months because of all these problems. So I want to develop a new routine and focus so that I can return to my regular workout schedule.

Thanks for the help buds
 
Read this:
http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=332299
Squats should look like this:
http://www.uwlax.edu/strengthcenter/videos/exercisevideos/High Bar Back Squat.mpg

I really think your knee pain will lessen if you do these light with good form for a few weeks. More than a few members around here have found that their knee pain became a memory when they began to squat to the proper depth and started light enouigh to learn form perfectly. In a nutshell squatting deep loads the hips over the knees, whereas squatting ~parallel puts all the load on the knees, including the transition from lowering to raising, which is particularly stressful.

As far as warming up, I like to do a general warmup followed by a specific warmup. I.E. 10 mins. on the eliptical, then (using squats as the example) a set of 15 or so with the bar, then 135 for 5, 225 for 5, etc til working weights are hit. Obviously you'd adjust based on target weight. Stretch post-workout, maybe hit the jacuzzi and you'll feel better soon.

Anothrer random tip would be to wear more clothes while you lift. My elbow used to bug me and I noticed that when I wore my sweatshirt the whole time it hurt a lot less.

As fara as a routine- warmup, higher reps emphasizing form, stretch/cooldown, then increase the weight as you feel up to it. I don't think it has to be complicated or fancy- just cautious.
 
STRETCH every day (when warm) - developmental stretches for 10-20mins.

SWIM at least once a week.

Include FUNCTIONAL strength moves like oly lifts, power moves (eg jump squats, dynamic shrugs...) and bodyweight exercises (like bridges, dips, one leg squats...)
 
Here's the book, it's not new by any means.

Serious Strength Training

As far as routines, what he calls the Anatomical Adaptation phase is pretty low intensity, like 40-60% 1RM for 12-15 rep IIRC. I haven't done the exact routine like he prescribes since he recommends lots of machines and isolation exercises...I'm doing my own thing with free weights and compound movements.
 
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