Fitness questions
September 17, 2024 1:34 PM Subscribe
Please can you help me understand several issues related to my body and fitness. Or: what even is this body??
Some background: I was a bookish child, did nothing much in the way of sports and reached adulthood without having acquired much at all in terms of muscles. I've always been very flexible though. As an adult, I spent too much time sitting in a chair at work, which gave me 2 ruptured discs before 30. I tried occasionally to "do sports" in order to strengthen my back and generally my body. This time round (I'm 38 now), I've been doing weights exercises at home, which I've really enjoyed. However, I always come up against the following issues, and I need help understanding if I'm doing something wrong, or if this is just approaching old age, or if there is something wrong with me (which - I hope not!). I'm female, btw.
1) I seem to lose any acquired muscle within days. I worked my way up to doing a 90s plank, was doing squats etc. and I was able to take the stairs at work without breathing hard. Yay! Then I got sick, had to pause for a week, and I'm wheezing up the stairs like I've never done any sport at all. Is this normal?? Why are these muscles degenerating that fast? It took me weeks to build them!
2) I'm sore, a lot. If I try to prevent the issue above by doing my exercises every second day, I'm just sore all the time. If I wait until I'm not sore, I feel like I run into issue 1) again.
3) maybe the same as issue 2), but I stretch in the evening, to get the tightness out of the back of my legs, for instance, and in the morning they are tighter than ever.
This has always been the case for me, when I went running and when I did martial arts as well.
I'm frustrated and annoyed - why, body?
Can you help me better understand if these issues are normal? Am I doing something wrong? Are you experiencing these issues, too?
Thanks in advance!
Some background: I was a bookish child, did nothing much in the way of sports and reached adulthood without having acquired much at all in terms of muscles. I've always been very flexible though. As an adult, I spent too much time sitting in a chair at work, which gave me 2 ruptured discs before 30. I tried occasionally to "do sports" in order to strengthen my back and generally my body. This time round (I'm 38 now), I've been doing weights exercises at home, which I've really enjoyed. However, I always come up against the following issues, and I need help understanding if I'm doing something wrong, or if this is just approaching old age, or if there is something wrong with me (which - I hope not!). I'm female, btw.
1) I seem to lose any acquired muscle within days. I worked my way up to doing a 90s plank, was doing squats etc. and I was able to take the stairs at work without breathing hard. Yay! Then I got sick, had to pause for a week, and I'm wheezing up the stairs like I've never done any sport at all. Is this normal?? Why are these muscles degenerating that fast? It took me weeks to build them!
2) I'm sore, a lot. If I try to prevent the issue above by doing my exercises every second day, I'm just sore all the time. If I wait until I'm not sore, I feel like I run into issue 1) again.
3) maybe the same as issue 2), but I stretch in the evening, to get the tightness out of the back of my legs, for instance, and in the morning they are tighter than ever.
This has always been the case for me, when I went running and when I did martial arts as well.
I'm frustrated and annoyed - why, body?
Can you help me better understand if these issues are normal? Am I doing something wrong? Are you experiencing these issues, too?
Thanks in advance!
1. I wouldn't assume the first issue is from losing muscle. People don't really lose muscle in a meaningful way after a week. If you had a respiratory infection of any kind, the wheezing could be your body recovering from that.
2. What kind of soreness are you experiencing? With weight training, it's normal to have low-grade muscle soreness if you are challenging yourself, increasing volume and load.
3. Could well be your sleeping position.
These are just guesses/hypotheses, I am just trying to offer alternatives to the idea that your body responses to training in some way that means there is something "wrong" with it. Have you considered working with a trainer/coach, either in person or virtually? They could help you understand your body better and individualize a program that would meet your particular goals.
posted by virve at 1:55 PM on September 17, 2024 [6 favorites]
2. What kind of soreness are you experiencing? With weight training, it's normal to have low-grade muscle soreness if you are challenging yourself, increasing volume and load.
3. Could well be your sleeping position.
These are just guesses/hypotheses, I am just trying to offer alternatives to the idea that your body responses to training in some way that means there is something "wrong" with it. Have you considered working with a trainer/coach, either in person or virtually? They could help you understand your body better and individualize a program that would meet your particular goals.
posted by virve at 1:55 PM on September 17, 2024 [6 favorites]
Are you on statins? I had muscle pain for years I thought was from exercise, and it turned out it was a side effect of the statins, causing muscle pain themselves and making exercise pain worse.
posted by procrastination at 2:02 PM on September 17, 2024 [2 favorites]
posted by procrastination at 2:02 PM on September 17, 2024 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Your body sounds like mine, see if joint hypermobility or connective tissue disorder seems like it might fit. You can (and should) still exercise and build strength but it will look different than it does for other people. Just trying to “do sports” or “take up jogging” is not going to work for your body (or mine). Overdoing it, with strength training or stretching, leads to increased stiffness and pain the body tries to stabilize. It’s frustrating but manageable if you gradually increase strength and be very careful with stretching.
posted by stellaluna at 2:24 PM on September 17, 2024 [9 favorites]
posted by stellaluna at 2:24 PM on September 17, 2024 [9 favorites]
Best answer: Naturally flexible and rupturing two discs before 30? Ever been checked for Ehlers Danlos? It's a connective tissue disorder that can make building muscles difficult, among many many other things. You can get tested at a rheumatology clinic. Hypermobility is not the only (or necessary) symptom as it can affect many different systems within the body. People with this condition often need special accommodation during surgery, so knowing if you have it can be important.
If that is the case, you'll want to find exercises / workouts specifically made for people with this condition. Fortunately this disorder is getting more attention recently and there are many more resources than there used to be.
posted by ananci at 2:26 PM on September 17, 2024 [10 favorites]
If that is the case, you'll want to find exercises / workouts specifically made for people with this condition. Fortunately this disorder is getting more attention recently and there are many more resources than there used to be.
posted by ananci at 2:26 PM on September 17, 2024 [10 favorites]
I seem to lose any acquired muscle within days. I worked my way up to doing a 90s plank, was doing squats etc. and I was able to take the stairs at work without breathing hard. Yay! Then I got sick, had to pause for a week, and I'm wheezing up the stairs like I've never done any sport at all.
OK, so, deconditioning is real and it does happen annoyingly fast, but as you get more and more fit the bounce-back period generally gets shorter. For example: last year, I got stomach flu about a month into a brand-new class schedule. It took me out for a week, and when I went back, I had about 3 bad classes before I suddenly was back to before-sickness level.
This year, same exercise program, now with a full year under my belt -- I was out for a week with flu, and only had one bad class before the bounce-back.
But I agree with others that there may be some kind of hypermobility issue at work and you should get checked out.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 2:28 PM on September 17, 2024 [1 favorite]
OK, so, deconditioning is real and it does happen annoyingly fast, but as you get more and more fit the bounce-back period generally gets shorter. For example: last year, I got stomach flu about a month into a brand-new class schedule. It took me out for a week, and when I went back, I had about 3 bad classes before I suddenly was back to before-sickness level.
This year, same exercise program, now with a full year under my belt -- I was out for a week with flu, and only had one bad class before the bounce-back.
But I agree with others that there may be some kind of hypermobility issue at work and you should get checked out.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 2:28 PM on September 17, 2024 [1 favorite]
Nthing to try to get someone to assess you for EDS ASAP. It's not just a "joint" disorder as commonly perceived, if you have it you really need to be cleared by not just an orthopedic specialist but a cardiologist and probably gastroenterologist before you take on any exercise regimens.
Collagen is the structural component of almost everything that isn't made of bone, so like your aorta and esophagus and other things that should be difficult to tear and are supposed to be too rigid to collapse can be extremely vulnerable to damage as well as spontaneous failure.
My entire extensive social circle is of people who have been online a whole lot, mostly seated, since around the year 2000, and even now in our 40s and 50s the only ones with ruptured or herniated discs got them either from serious accidents, childhood gymnastics/horses, or autoimmune disease. It should have been a bigger red flag to whoever treated yours.
I hope you get good answers quickly.
posted by Lyn Never at 2:47 PM on September 17, 2024 [4 favorites]
Collagen is the structural component of almost everything that isn't made of bone, so like your aorta and esophagus and other things that should be difficult to tear and are supposed to be too rigid to collapse can be extremely vulnerable to damage as well as spontaneous failure.
My entire extensive social circle is of people who have been online a whole lot, mostly seated, since around the year 2000, and even now in our 40s and 50s the only ones with ruptured or herniated discs got them either from serious accidents, childhood gymnastics/horses, or autoimmune disease. It should have been a bigger red flag to whoever treated yours.
I hope you get good answers quickly.
posted by Lyn Never at 2:47 PM on September 17, 2024 [4 favorites]
Best answer: In addition to the other good advice you're getting in here, I recommend you read The Back Mechanic by Dr. Stewart McGill. He does a good job giving an introduction to the anatomy of the spine and describing the various ways they cause problems. He spends a lot of time explaining that strengthening and stretching could actually make things worse.
The book isn't going to directly address the 3 bullet points you've asked about. I recommend it because after 25 years of disc problems it has helped me understand how my own attempts to 'do sports', yoga, hiking, cycling, weight lifting, have impacted (both positively and negatively) my back problems. As you work to address these other issues you will benefit by having an understanding of how a new sport or exercise routine might affect your discs.
posted by J-Garr at 3:25 PM on September 17, 2024
The book isn't going to directly address the 3 bullet points you've asked about. I recommend it because after 25 years of disc problems it has helped me understand how my own attempts to 'do sports', yoga, hiking, cycling, weight lifting, have impacted (both positively and negatively) my back problems. As you work to address these other issues you will benefit by having an understanding of how a new sport or exercise routine might affect your discs.
posted by J-Garr at 3:25 PM on September 17, 2024
Best answer: I began a weightlifting program earlier this year (I am well into the menopause transition and was following my doctor's advice). After the first month of the program totally kicked my ass, I scheduled a couple sessions with a registered dietician. The dietician reviewed my eating diary and recommended what was, to me, an absolutely shocking goal amount of protein to consume daily to support the strength I was trying to gain. The closer I got to meeting that goal, the less sore I was and the stronger I got. If you are able to rule out other issues, maybe try meeting with a dietician?
posted by minervous at 7:05 PM on September 17, 2024 [4 favorites]
posted by minervous at 7:05 PM on September 17, 2024 [4 favorites]
Without trying to address specific issues regarding hypermobility, I have some general practices that seem to apply. Protein is pretty big in keeping muscle on board, as was mentioned previously. Make sure you get enough. It is better to have a daily practice exercise routine supplemented with strength training sessions.
A week without building muscle will have a discernible impact, depending on how sedentary you are during that week. Cardio will also be affected. For a fit person, recapturing that means getting up to speed again...perhaps 1-2 weeks recapturing lost gains. If you've been sick, then that probably takes longer while your body rebuilds the immune response.
By practicing some form of exercise daily, my body tends to be ready every day. If I skip days, things get out of whack, and the potential for injury increases. Over time, an adaptation process occurs, so this is 'normal.' I don't get sore muscles beyond typical results within regular routines. When I have a 'rest' day, I usually do a bike ride or a hike, so there's exertion that day, just not in the form of an exercise session.
posted by diode at 7:32 AM on September 19, 2024 [1 favorite]
A week without building muscle will have a discernible impact, depending on how sedentary you are during that week. Cardio will also be affected. For a fit person, recapturing that means getting up to speed again...perhaps 1-2 weeks recapturing lost gains. If you've been sick, then that probably takes longer while your body rebuilds the immune response.
By practicing some form of exercise daily, my body tends to be ready every day. If I skip days, things get out of whack, and the potential for injury increases. Over time, an adaptation process occurs, so this is 'normal.' I don't get sore muscles beyond typical results within regular routines. When I have a 'rest' day, I usually do a bike ride or a hike, so there's exertion that day, just not in the form of an exercise session.
posted by diode at 7:32 AM on September 19, 2024 [1 favorite]
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Yes I do but it's not as bad going back to square one. You are building "muscle memory" each time you start conditioning, a phrase which means not only the most common usage, of unconsciously knowing now to do physical things, but ALSO your body remembers how to quickly regain that muscle mass after a (relatively short ) time away from exercise. After you condition and build muscle, it comes back much faster than it would have before you got fit. So you feel like you've "lost it" but really that's not entirely true, because you can "find it" again much faster and easier than before.
posted by ponie at 1:54 PM on September 17, 2024 [1 favorite]