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[Bruno Mars]

Is it possible to maintain muscles (upper body) during the lengthening phase?

[patientdad]

No.

[Alu]

I think other's have stated that since they relied on their upper body to move around perhaps you could benefit and sustain that strength.

[TIBIKE200]

I think other's have stated that since they relied on their upper body to move around perhaps you could benefit and sustain that strength.

I guess it depends how much you use your wheelchair compared to walker

[YourSpaceBoyfriend]

No.

Because? You can do most of the exercises on a bench or in the sitting position.

[CCMidwest]

Because? You can do most of the exercises on a bench or in the sitting position.

Most femur patients have complained that even just sitting, much less sitting while holding weights, is extremely painful after a few minutes.

[patientdad]

You're paying $100k for the procedure, why take any chances in messing it up?  Besides, even sitting, you press your feet against the floor.  I don't think any doctor would recommend it.  Wait out your time during lengthening and consolidation, then slowly work your way back.

[goldenegg]

I maintained my upper body pretty well through LL. not intentionally, but just from using the walker and then crutches all the time. unless you have a super ripped upper body to begin with or never walk during lengthening and lay in bed all day, then I think you won't lose much upper body strength.

if you mean intentionally working out your upper body while lengthening like at the gym, then I would avoid doing that too often so your body can focus on healing your broken and stretched legs

[KiloKAHN]

You should be able to maintain your current muscle mass in the chest and shoulder area without having to train them specifically just by using your walker and using your arms to scoot across the floor if you don't feel like walking. Even if you could, you wouldn't want to tear up your muscles in the upper body through a workout routine when its already expending a ton of energy trying to repair your legs. You use up many more calories when your bones are trying to repair than you would otherwise. Not sure what your daily caloric needs are with CLL, but there was an article out there that showed a person who needs 2,000 calories a day need to boost it to 6,000 calories daily when recovering from a hip fracture.

[CCMidwest]

6000 calories?? 

My gosh that's a lot. I do 5000-6000 when bulking, but that's with 6-8 hours of weekly lifting time too. Can't imagine trying to eat that much while immobile...

[KiloKAHN]

6000 calories?? 

My gosh that's a lot. I do 5000-6000 when bulking, but that's with 6-8 hours of weekly lifting time too. Can't imagine trying to eat that much while immobile...

Tell me about it. I believe it though. I lost about 40 lbs in India and I wasn't even skipping meals.

[Moubgf]

You're paying $100k for the procedure, why take any chances in messing it up?  Besides, even sitting, you press your feet against the floor.  I don't think any doctor would recommend it.  Wait out your time during lengthening and consolidation, then slowly work your way back.

how do you press your feet against the floor when you are sitting down?
its the same when you stand up

[YellowSpike]

You should be able to maintain your current muscle mass in the chest and shoulder area without having to train them specifically just by using your walker and using your arms to scoot across the floor if you don't feel like walking. Even if you could, you wouldn't want to tear up your muscles in the upper body through a workout routine when its already expending a ton of energy trying to repair your legs. You use up many more calories when your bones are trying to repair than you would otherwise. Not sure what your daily caloric needs are with CLL, but there was an article out there that showed a person who needs 2,000 calories a day need to boost it to 6,000 calories daily when recovering from a hip fracture.

I wonder if this is why my consolidation (especially my left leg) was slow. I didn't eat this much because I didn't want to become obese.

[CCMidwest]

I wonder if this is why my consolidation (especially my left leg) was slow. I didn't eat this much because I didn't want to become obese.

I wonder if it would still help? Not 6000 per day obviously, unless you wanna get fat, but like 10%-20% over your basil? (more if you're lifting)

Might avoid the bone graft?

[TIBIKE200]

I wonder if this is why my consolidation (especially my left leg) was slow. I didn't eat this much because I didn't want to become obese.

Stop smoking (you said you smoke 2 per day which is still 2 above what is considered safe).

[YellowSpike]

Yeah. I still have about 2 cigarettes a day. I know it's not good. I think my slow consolidation was a combination of the light smoking (although I have a hard time believing 2 a day could have such an impact - but maybe that's me just in denial), not eating as many calories as I should have, and also slacking off with calcium supplements (you can be sure I've greatly increased my intake - I use one called "Bone Up Ultra").

[Bruno Mars]

Thanks guys for your advices. I would need to talk to my Doctor to clear this out of my head. Is there any supplement that you would recommend me for this? I guess multivitamin, calcium pills? I am taking Glucosamine currently.

[Bigpoppapump]

Regarding bodybuilding this was a concern of mine as well

I think that if you find someone you could maybe do light seated bicep work some side laterals seated some ab work etc if the pain is not too bad and you keep your feet elevated.

I think however its best to just concentrate on your lengthening and recovering from that. Muscle can always be rebuilt and no one cares how your physique is really. From all the years i have weight trained i have observed the physiques of men who went out with the best looking women and tbh nearly ALL of them were on the skinny side. They were not hulking 220lb guys who had triangle necks and 28" thighs they were the opposite of that. I myself for the first time this year had to stop training to get my weight down from 225 to around 185 and it was tough initially but you get used to it. No one cares epecially women about how big your arms are, in fact the vast majority of comments i got were from guys, the women who did mention it would say 'youre like the incredible hulk id be safe with you' then laugh and go and hang off their tall skinny boyfriends arm. Muscular physiques i can safely say are WAY WAY down on a womans priorities in dating.

You will rebuild muscle whennyou come back with the added benefit that your body will be unused to the training and respond pretty fast. RBE is the reason most guys gains stop in gyms and a prolonged break can spur on new gains.

Most of us here however want to be taller to attract the opposite sex there is no point in bulking yourself back up and putting them off you. Broad shoulders, slim waist and lean face will attract women. Big giant pecs, hulking forearms and no neck will not attract them, no one has ever bench pressed or squatted their way into a womans bed

[TIBIKE200]

Regarding bodybuilding this was a concern of mine as well

I think that if you find someone you could maybe do light seated bicep work some side laterals seated some ab work etc if the pain is not too bad and you keep your feet elevated.

I think however its best to just concentrate on your lengthening and recovering from that. Muscle can always be rebuilt and no one cares how your physique is really. From all the years i have weight trained i have observed the physiques of men who went out with the best looking women and tbh nearly ALL of them were on the skinny side. They were not hulking 220lb guys who had triangle necks and 28" thighs they were the opposite of that. I myself for the first time this year had to stop training to get my weight down from 225 to around 185 and it was tough initially but you get used to it. No one cares epecially women about how big your arms are, in fact the vast majority of comments i got were from guys, the women who did mention it would say 'youre like the incredible hulk id be safe with you' then laugh and go and hang off their tall skinny boyfriends arm. Muscular physiques i can safely say are WAY WAY down on a womans priorities in dating.

You will rebuild muscle whennyou come back with the added benefit that your body will be unused to the training and respond pretty fast. RBE is the reason most guys gains stop in gyms and a prolonged break can spur on new gains.

Most of us here however want to be taller to attract the opposite sex there is no point in bulking yourself back up and putting them off you. Broad shoulders, slim waist and lean face will attract women. Big giant pecs, hulking forearms and no neck will not attract them, no one has ever bench pressed or squatted their way into a womans bed

It's because the muscular slim is the best look. The upside down triangle with long legs.

[Bigpoppapump]

Yeah id say thats accurate

[aussieboy]

yes it is possible. I was on eternal fixators on tibia and did body building. I also worked and went to school. just on wheelchair/crutches. with external fixator, u can weight bear, so its okay.

[ggg112]

I haven't had anything done yet myself, unfortunately still in the saving up funds phase for quite some time.  However, ...and guys feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but done in a very careful fashion, assuming you already have decent relative strength, certain calisthenics in the form of more compound movements and obviously scaled/modified back to your needs, ie Archer rows, chins and pulls, dips, Serge Norbert style..high volume, high reps, increased eccentrics, multi angular isometrics, partials, etc, and theraband and/or light dumbbells for shoulders, (obviously being careful and mindful of WB status), ... something like a Joe DeFranco "shoulder thrasher"...worked for Triple H of the WWE, stomach vacuums/posterior pelvic tilt whenever in your w/c...never a bad thing to improve lower back health and assist getting a more tapered waist.

To me, the unilateral stuff, bicep curls , triceps extensions , etc are all well and good , but I would go for the most bang for my buck with the compound stuff with options are limited

[Bigpoppapump]

I think you are right these things could abd can be done however i think that certain people will simply be too drained mentally and physically to even give it a thought. Various people get pain on different levels even if the injury is the same and of the same severity. Very similar to how some guys will weight train and get sore arms or traps but rarely gets sore in other areas and for the next guy its the opposite.

I also think that its best to let the body concentrate on healing the trauma done to the bones and tissue. If you did weight train whilst in this state i think you would become exhausted quickly and your calorie needs would also have to go up to heal exhausted muscles and an exhausted cns.

[ggg112]

Bigpoppapump,

Very good points.   Especially about the CNA, it's been a quite a while, but I was looking at being a strength and conditioning coach after undergrad, and during my internship at a Division 1 Big 10 school, (in the states), the were strict "HIIT Jedis"...the freak athletes were fine.  Normal people like myself, who had to train like this to know how to appropriately push the athletes...hard core CNS fatigue, diminished gains, decreased immunity, etc..which I can see the trauma from CLL more than likely being worse or the same.

Also the person  training upper body during lengthening, to me, would be similar to that freak athlete, possible, butore more than likely very lucky genes lol.

[aussieboy]

I think you are right these things could abd can be done however i think that certain people will simply be too drained mentally and physically to even give it a thought. Various people get pain on different levels even if the injury is the same and of the same severity. Very similar to how some guys will weight train and get sore arms or traps but rarely gets sore in other areas and for the next guy its the opposite.

I also think that its best to let the body concentrate on healing the trauma done to the bones and tissue. If you did weight train whilst in this state i think you would become exhausted quickly and your calorie needs would also have to go up to heal exhausted muscles and an exhausted cns.

There is only mental and physical drain in the first month. After that, I was full of energy!
Even with frequent workouts, I gained a total of 15 kg (body fat), but have lost most of it now.
Essentially, your metabolism drops drastically. When you cannot walk or walk very little, your metabolism drops. Your muscles atrophy, your metabolism drops further. You take antibiotics, they destroy mitochondrial DNA and cause you to age faster and have a lower metabolic rate (thankfully reversible with exercise) - this led me to put on so much fats. My waist ballooned from 30 inches to 37+ inches, and thankfully its back to 30 inches.
I would advise you to hit the gym regularly to avoid this problem!

[aussieboy]

I haven't had anything done yet myself, unfortunately still in the saving up funds phase for quite some time.  However, ...and guys feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but done in a very careful fashion, assuming you already have decent relative strength, certain calisthenics in the form of more compound movements and obviously scaled/modified back to your needs, ie Archer rows, chins and pulls, dips, Serge Norbert style..high volume, high reps, increased eccentrics, multi angular isometrics, partials, etc, and theraband and/or light dumbbells for shoulders, (obviously being careful and mindful of WB status), ... something like a Joe DeFranco "shoulder thrasher"...worked for Triple H of the WWE, stomach vacuums/posterior pelvic tilt whenever in your w/c...never a bad thing to improve lower back health and assist getting a more tapered waist.

To me, the unilateral stuff, bicep curls , triceps extensions , etc are all well and good , but I would go for the most bang for my buck with the compound stuff with options are limited

I did machine exercises mostly, dips, push-ups, biking at high speed, all with external fixators on.

[EndGame]

I think it all depends on the person and their pain tolerance and how well or poorly their journey is going. I don't think of myself as a body builder but a lot of my PT therapists have asked me if I am one. I'm in the middle of bilateral femurs and have had no trouble lifting weights upper body. Only do it twice a week simply to maintain. Part of it is balance too. I have a home aid to assist me though. Without that id say it's impossible. But once you transfer to a flat bench you can have your aid set the weights down next to you and go from there. Though back was a huge pain using elastic bands over door jams and transferring to the floor, but I joined the YMCA and now use their machines for back day. Nice to join a gym with a lift and a real pool. Can't swim laps in tiny hotel pool, so full size pool is nice. Definitely recommend it because otherwise you get no cardio while doing LL. Or atleast not with precise here in the states. Guichet is different story from what I read. lots of cardio... I have been told walker good (some use and weighting on the legs) and blood flow (obvious reasons) should lead to good bone growth and healing. Also, you can safely work your calves and glutes in the pool which should allow for a faster recovery, but I'm not that point yet still lengthening. Hoping to have super fast recovery but minimizing muscle atrophy during lengthening.

[Deads]

You're paying $100k for the procedure, why take any chances in messing it up?  Besides, even sitting, you press your feet against the floor.  I don't think any doctor would recommend it.  Wait out your time during lengthening and consolidation, then slowly work your way back.

I can see why it would be silly to risk it, but it can be done safely. Just maintenance work isn't too intense and you don't need to plant your feet on the ground.. You don't even need to use heavy weights.. I would go crazy not being able to workout for that long.