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[Mtall]

Overall, during an internal femur LL procedure, who would have an easier time both during lengthening and recovery?
Who would have less pain and who would have a faster recovery?

A thin person, not much muscle and not much fat?
A fat person, not much muscle and a lot of fat?
Or
A body builder kinda guy, a lot of muscle and very little fat?

[ub40]

Flexibility is key. A lighter person will have an easier time doing physiotherapy and relying on their arms

[YourSpaceBoyfriend]

I don't remember correctly but people with more muscle on their legs will experience bigger pain, i don't know about fat people though.

And yes, stretching is pretty important.

[ub40]

I don't remember correctly but people with more muscle on their legs will experience bigger pain, i don't know about fat people though.

And yes, stretching is pretty important.

As a person with muscular legs this comment is very accurate, I wish I worked on my flexibility prior to the procedure because it has not been a smooth process for me. I'm still happy I went through with it and I'm almost in the clear now

[Mtall]

I don't remember correctly but people with more muscle on their legs will experience bigger pain, i don't know about fat people though.

And yes, stretching is pretty important.

JESUS CHRIST! I was planning to build up my leg muscles before the procedure to make the LL experience less painful !  So, what you're saying is, I should just stretch like a madman and focus on becoming like a rubber band instead? 

[Alu]

You still need good muscles. For circulation purposes.

[Mtall]

You still need good muscles. For circulation purposes.

But I wouldn't need to "build up" for that, would I?  I'm assuming what a person has naturally is enough for circulation purposes.

[TIBIKE200]

You still need good muscles. For circulation purposes.

Actually, circulation has nothing to do with muscle mass. best way to augment the circulation in your legs is walking, jogging and hiking. Aerobic exercise basically. That will explain why runners and hickers with whom I have spoken had the best recovery times.

[Mtall]

Actually, circulation has nothing to do with muscle mass. best way to augment the circulation in your legs is walking, jogging and hiking. Aerobic exercise basically. That will explain why runners and hickers with whom I have spoken had the best recovery times.

Running makes your legs pretty muscular too. Maybe not as much as if you squat in the gym, but then you're still becoming more muscular.
For LL, is that going to help or is it going to make the process longer and more painful?

[Alu]

Just don't get football player leg muscles and you should be fine. Work them out, to the point where you could probably run a 10K without much problems.

[DoingItForMe]

I think fat in your legs makes it easier to stretch your legs because you have more flesh to work with. But, if you're fat because you're lazy, then you're going to have a hard time. The key to a faster recovery is working hard to do your stretches and doing your walks post-surgery. If I wasn't stretching as much as I did, the doctor would have probably stopped me short of my 8 cm goal. I don't think muscles matter much prior to surgery, because you're going to lose those leg muscles anyway as your legs atrophy. Weighing less can also help, because you'd be closer to weight-bearing weight and thus get to walking earlier.

[Antonio]

Actually there is research to show that stronger muscles are helpful in increasing flexibility.

Link: http://www.thesportsphysiotherapist.com/eccentric-training-flexibility/

Paradoxical as it may seem, the review of 6 studies show that after eccentric training (negative weight training) the ROM and muscle length increased between 3% and 34%, especially in the hamstrings. And even better results compared to static stretching.

In their own words:

"Interestingly, stretching does not seem to positively influence length-tension relationships in the same fashion as eccentric training, which improves the ability of a muscle to produce force in a lengthened position (Proske & Morgan et al., 2001).The reason is that the weights stretch and increase the size of the sarcomeres (striated muscle tissue fiber)."

Eccentric training or negative weight training is using weights in the extending part of the movement, say for calves you would use weight while lowering and get a friend to help you while pushing up. But the muscles of the legs work in opposing directions, so by logic doing squats would be eccentric training on the quads while going down and working the hams while going up. Same for the calves and front shin muscles.

I maintain that strength training and building muscles is an essential part of LL preparation, and I would think that Dr. Guichet, Dr. Monegal and others would agree with me.

[Antonio]

@DIFM: Fat is fat, muscle is muscle, and both are fundamentally different. Muscle is used for moving the bones, fat is used as padding for joints and energy reserve but does nothing whatsoever for stretching.

Muscles matter because they provide support when standing, walking, getting up. From my own experience, the more muscle I recovered in recovery, the better I walked and the more confident I felt in going up and down stairs.

If you have well-developed muscles, when you lose them from atrophy, you can more easily regain them as the sarcomeres have been stretched. This phenomenon is known as muscle memory.

[Sweden]

Stretching is everything.

You won't be able to build your legs before the surgery. It takes years to build heavy legs. Work out normally and stretch as much as possible. You should be able to place your head on your knees with straight legs.

We had a heavy bodybuilder in the guesthouse when I was lengthening. Captain America. The frame broke on his left leg bc his muscles were too big and strong. Poor guy. His tibia got deformed after that.
Then he disappeared from the Internet. Too bad, he had very much to contribute with.

[Bigpoppapump]

Trust me when i say you should avoid building up your legs before you come here. Large muscles have generally got more nerves in them and are more resistant to stretching.

Another factor regarding strength is this, if you have the type of calves that are built from doing the odd set of calf raises here and there then you should be fine as you likely dont have much strength in your calves but take it from someone like me who can calf raise 900lbs x 20 reps on my pit shark machine, 1 x 10 150kgs single leg dip belt calf raises, 15 reps at 500lbs + on the smith machine, then you will have some seriously resilient tissue to stretch. Furthermore guys like myself who are as strong as we look usually have tendons like garden hoses which typically dont like getting stretched either. The girly boys who calf raise 100-200lbs will have little problems.

I reduced my bodyweight from 227lbs to 180lbs to come to do my lengthening, ive lost provably another 20lbs or so so far just from atrophy alone, which tbh is utterly killing me psychologically! To watch 12-13 years of hard earned mass and strength go is beyong painful

[frank]

Trust me when i say you should avoid building up your legs before you come here. Large muscles have generally got more nerves in them and are more resistant to stretching.

Another factor regarding strength is this, if you have the type of calves that are built from doing the odd set of calf raises here and there then you should be fine as you likely dont have much strength in your calves but take it from someone like me who can calf raise 900lbs x 20 reps on my pit shark machine, 1 x 10 150kgs single leg dip belt calf raises, 15 reps at 500lbs + on the smith machine, then you will have some seriously resilient tissue to stretch. Furthermore guys like myself who are as strong as we look usually have tendons like garden hoses which typically dont like getting stretched either. The girly boys who calf raise 100-200lbs will have little problems.

I reduced my bodyweight from 227lbs to 180lbs to come to do my lengthening, ive lost provably another 20lbs or so so far just from atrophy alone, which tbh is utterly killing me psychologically! To watch 12-13 years of hard earned mass and strength go is beyong painful

Generally have more nerves in them? When you increase muscle mass you dont increase the amount of nerves. And someone literally linked 6 studies showing more muscle mass in legs improve ROM while everyone who is against building your legs has only been using anecdotal evidence.