Fitness question

BrunoOh · 2016-01-14T12:05:29+00:00

Play a sport.

wickedwildewolf · 2016-01-14T12:09:18+00:00

martin-ho · 2016-01-14T19:39:42+00:00

Skip the weights for now. Do calisthenics!

Letsbeserioushere · 2016-01-14T23:01:22+00:00

Because your muscles are very weak, the structural integrity of your joints/ligaments is susceptible to failure, which means you must be very careful not to get injured all over again. The last thing you want is to bulge a disc because your erectors, core, glutes and obliques aren't working properly when you squat.

So, my advice would be start off with a rehabilitation approach, rather than a strength building one. - Go for long walks everyday.
- Stretch the following: Quads, hip flexors and erectors (tightness here causes lower cross syndrome) and your pec major and minor (causes internal rotation of shoulders, I.e. bad posture).
- START DOING PILATES, EVERY DAY. Strengthening your core and obliques is extremely important when coming out of an injured state.
- Within your pilates routine, do glute work (glute bridges, hip thrust, etc..) - Get a light resistance band and start to strengthen the muscles that depress and retract the shoulder blades (rotator cuffs, rear delts, lower traps). This is to avoid shoulder injuries and to fix your posture (90% of us have shit posture).

Just doing the above, you could be doing 3-4 hours of rehab each day. Do this religiously and progress your exercises over 4-6 weeks. Thereafter, begin to step foot in the gym, but make sure to keep doing your core training.

I've had bad injuries in the past, and this is the type of approach you need in order to get in a position where you can start to train for strength.

The advice I've given you is fairly general. PM me if you want specific exercises and the like. Learn from my mistakes when I say that this will help you a lot.

whodat6922 · 2016-01-14T17:09:32+00:00

It's going to take time and patience. Don't rush it or you will hurt yourself again.

The trick with staying motivated (for me) when you know you have to start all over again is to develop a system where you consistently see results. You are either consistently lifting more wight (5x5 SL style), consistently running longer distances, consistently putting on weight, whatever. In your situation, I would recommend keeping track of your weight as the first goal. Set a goal of what weight you want to be before you move on to heavy lifting again. Maybe 20 lbs more than you weigh now? Your goal could simply be 2 lbs a week. I know that is a lot, but if you are truly underweight, this shouldn't be hard. It won't be 2 lbs a week of pure muscle obviously, but simply increasing your body weight will make you stronger and less susceptible to injury, because every day your body is dealing with more weight.

When you develop a system like this, your end goal is constantly reinforced by your in between goals. It's like "Hey if I can just keep doing what I'm doing, I'll get where I want to be." Then it basically feels like you already accomplished what you want.

I would focus on putting on weight first and getting your body acclimated to basic physical activities: Bodyweight stuff, yoga, running, swimming. Set a weekly weight goal. Then I would move on to lifting heavier weights, and I would increase the weight in every single exercise every time I got an opportunity to.

Title	Fitness question
Author	sickofbeingaffraid
Upvotes	5
Comments	8
Date	January 14, 2016 11:28 AM UTC (10 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/askTRP
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/asktrp/comments/40x7k7/fitness_question/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/askTRP/fitness-question.159265 https://theredarchive.com/post/159265

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