Dave Draper’s Musclebuilding Q&A

I’m coming up on 62 in February. My knees are giving me problems, especially my right knee.  In May I’m having a partial knee replacement on my right knee.  How do I keep my leg strength when I can’t squat anymore?

You’ll be wise to listen to your physical therapist and take your time… walking is a great exercise, inclines and stairs eventually.

Light extensions and curls might be included with leg presses in time. The extent of the injury and the particulars of the repair will certainly determine your course of rehab.

You’ll get a few clues from your PT and previously wounded friends and settle on listening to yourself and your instincts to lead you to recovery. You’re a smart guy…

Oh, and prayer… dd

I’ve had some surgeries and when I ask my doctor about training, he tells me like all bodybuilders I’m a fanatic and should just do cardio. I would like to bulk up some before I become plant food, but can’t seem to move forward without pain.

Fact is, without bearing (experiencing) your limitations myself, I have no credible way to offer a plan to circumvent or fix them. I’d only be guessing. Your doctor’s not too far off in associating bodybuilders with fanatics, however basic exercise modified by you (or a PT) is essential to injury repair, and muscle and structure rehab.

Training in a fundamental home gym does wonders for the healthy and fully functioning lifter, but a professional gym with a variety machines serves him well when struggling with basic disabilities and injuries. You might consider this route; you can then sample the various pieces of equipment like foods at smorgasbord and discover a routine that suits your needs and abilities, likes and dislikes.

Same thing at home; you need to apply trial and error cautiously and, depending on your 10-year past experience, create, devise, invent and improvise exercises and movements that “do the trick.”

Thought Heap:

• Warming up with light weights and reasonably high reps, partial movements and limited range of motion, always concentrating on form and pain, and optional grooves.
• Pushing and pressing as well as pulling and curling… one-arm dumbbell movements (concentration curls, laterals, rows, tri-extensions) allow you to carve out exercise grooves that dodge the painful regions.
• Barbell curls are wearing on the joints as hands are held in an unnatural straight-line forward-grip position ­ stress and strain are born by wrists, elbows and deltoid regions. Beware! Bent bar is good alternative.
• Reps don’t have to be high all the time with all exercises. I often work in the 15, 12, 10, 8, 6 rep-ranges with weight increments between sets, 3 to 5 sets per exercise.

I do this all the time and some of my best workouts and my most informative workouts have come while training under the tutorship of stern injuries. Sensible daring, warming up lots, focus persuaded by pain, groove creativity and finesse rule; light, smart, well paced, with a bite of intensity on a few well-chosen reps for spice.

Pump and burn — no setting records or showing off.

Never quit! (tell that to your doctor)… Godspeed… Dave

I am now 46 and have been weight training since 15. At 42 I was hit with a nasty virus that still plaques me with muscle weakness and insomnia, greatly reducing my post-workout recovery. The past few years the left shoulder started hurting, MRI showed impingement w/ partial thickness tears, then medial epicondylitis. The Ortho doc didn’t push for surgery, but said if I want to resume weight training I would have to limit my overhead movements and give up squats or have arthroscpic surgery. As much as I want to work out, I hold back in fear of wearing out what is left of my aging body. Have you had or know any other bodybuilders who had arthroscopic surgery and resumed their normal workout routines? What do most bodybuilders do about nagging wear and tear injuries?

Forty-six is young from my viewpoint and the lifters I know have had the urge and incentive to push on though their 50s and on into their 60s and 70s. Orthoscopy for shoulders or knees are not uncommon among my buds at the gym and are a dreaded inconvenience, but they have worked wonders — diminishing pain, increasing mobility and capability. With your viral-infection limitations, who knows how repair might be affected… only God or the best and sincerest doctors.

You’re right. We face a critical dilemma as we get older: When is resistance training no longer healthy, and when are we wearing out our bodies as we press on rather than favoring the heaps of flesh?

Be wise and aware. I train on and, with an ear and eye on the signals and the nose of commonsense and instinct, modify wherever I need and must. ‘Wherever’ includes training intensity, duration and frequency — rest and recovery — weights used, sets and reps applied — groove of movement, range of motion and rep-speed and rep-pace and set-pace — cables or machine instead of free-weights — and, of course, nutrition and supplementation. It’s a work in progress…

We’re all different — chemistry, genes, structure, psychology, what makes us tick, what satisfies our needs, what our needs are. The repair procedures take careful consideration, balancing, evaluating, conferring… pros and cons.

You’re in the driver’s seat — floor it or hit the breaks, left at the corner, veer right or go straight ahead with the top down… engage seat belts… potholes ahead.

Go… Godspeed… Dave

I am having biceps surgery on Thursday… Any advice and/or direction you can offer would very much be appreciated. I had my right rotator cuff (with some biceps tearing) repaired about 2.5 years ago; it’s come back really well, good and strong.  I am hoping for the same with this.

Tough one,  and I don’t have any advice that’s worthwhile.

My mumbling mouthful: Biceps repairs are iffy cuz there’s no dense, sinewy tissue to sew together or connect, as I understand it from my biceps surgery and surgeon 10 years ago.

I think injuries, as we muscleheads and strength athletes know them, are in the hands of the injured. Commonsense, mind- and emotion-, as well as, body-control, sensibleness, patience, rest and nutrition, and slow introduction of partial movements associated with the injured area.

Focus and finesse, muscle action without resistance, and, in time, light weight and long warm ups, more focus and finesse and onward in reps and range of motion and another hint of additional weight/resistance.
Time goes by; you live, you learn and grow, you restore, you adapt and compensate. The beat goes on.
Continue to be strong and courageous… God’s mercy and might… Dave

I am 59 years young and still love working out. I have been blessed with good health except my mid back is giving me a lot of problems. I have pain radiating from the left side of my spine and going up to my neck. What do you think about spinal manipulation for this condition?

A good chiropractor could serve you well. Sometimes a simple manipulation can do wonders, especially if we understand the cause of the misplacement and attend its correction.

Laree writes frequently about hip-mobility and Feldenkrais treatment as a healer in the disorder you describe as we get older and subject ourselves to more and more misuse — bad habits of posture or repetitive action.

Check her past missives on joint mobility in the archived blog.

Go… Godspeed… Dave

I am just starting to feel my 47-year-old body before and after workouts and am now struggling with shoulder pain after I do bench presses and some lateral raises. I am now about 2 weeks of not doing anything for my chest to hopefully stave off the pain in my shoulders, and the lateral raises have been stopped as well. When you say you do the raises one at a time, do you still use the same amount of weight on each side?

Drop the bench press for a while (or for good) and try dumbbell presses at various degrees of incline (the lower, the more pec — the higher, the more deltoid). Better muscle engagement, less joint aggravation.

One-arm laterals (sidearm) are done while holding a post for body stability and raising the weight in a groove (sideways to forward) that pleases you, starting with a light weight to warm up and assess the action. With each successive set, increase the weight or the reps per set to suit your preferences (4-5 sets in the 6-to-12 range). As you become familiar with the movement, you can go heavier and use more body thrust, even approaching a one-arm-dumbbell clean-like motion. The exercise can get serious.

Use the same weight on both sides unless you’re involved in an critical rehab program.

Be sensible always.

Godspeed… Dave

If you had it to do all over again, what training would you do differently?  Also, what lower back exercises do you recommend for someone who’s had lower back surgery?

There are one or two (or a thousand) reps I would have withheld that culminated in overload and a bad injury. Our enthusiasm, drive, need and stupidity bring us to the edge and push us over… Oops, torn rotator, strained lower back or overtraining in general.

No routine or particular exercise would I recall. They all had their place in building, teaching and growing. I could go on as I finesse and pick apart the inquiry, but we have muscles to build.

Not long ago I had a quad lamenectomy (L2,3,4,5) and within weeks I was performing rope tucks for health and strength of the midsection and torso, and some version of lat rows and one arm dumbbell rows. When and how you incorporate these movements depends on your surgery and your back’s health, repair and recovery.

Go light (duh!) and higher reps (10+ range) and with great focus on groove-finesse and pain signals. Modify weight and reps as you recover, no more world championships.

Press on with God’s might… Dave

From reading your newsletters, I know  you have a pacemaker. I got one in December. I’m okayed to work out, but my doctor said not to exaggerate arm movements as with the dumbbell fly. He had nothing more to offer than that. Apparently some exercises may break the wire from the pacemaker to the heart or cause what is called a clavicle pinch. What exercises are you unable to do?

I’m a triple-lead Medtronic man, myself. It’s been like a year and no problemos.

I was offered the same in-depth training input by the docs and decided to do what I always do: use commonsense, instinct, and feel.

Approach slowly, cautiously, attentively with freehand stretching and warming up… soon daring experimentation and testing of limits as the unit settles in and wire placements strengthen their attachments.

A few momentary scares early on (Oops, now I did it — not a bad thing to keep you honest) when I was sensitive and protective, but in weeks I was dipping, performing dumbbell presses and cable crossovers with legitimate confidence and only occasional discomfort. Now I don’t think about it unless the unit itself slides down my pant leg… tickles… just kidding.

That was my experience, and I offer no solid advice. We’re all different, mind and body. I do wish you a long, healthy and happy life with the solid iron in your hands and a rhythmic sparkle in your heart.

Go… Godspeed… Dave

What would be the best-fastest-safest way for me to recover and get back to my lifting schedule after a long absence following a successful surgery? I know I can probably work on my lower areas (abs? legs?) Or will I have to possibly start from scratch or square one? It’s hard for me to fathom not being able to workout, and how I’m going to be able to deal with it.  I’m 63 now, going on 29.

We are amid the tough times when injuries and limitations besiege us. No one is immune. It’s — dare I say the words — old age. I didn’t expect the debilitation to be so soon and so quick and so crappy.

You will deal with the repairs according to your own needs and abilities and, finally, determination. Don’t let determination become an enemy; a strong will can push a good man over the edge.

Get to the gym post haste and do what you can in torso and leg work, and sneak in wrist curls and little highly-focused mini-curls with a dumbbells. You are about to learn how to get maximum exertion with minimum weight and abbreviated motion. Soon you’ll branch out as you test your potential. You’ll find a path upon which to trod with sufficient comfort, safety and fulfillment, as you listen and focus and improvise and play.

Light weights, thoughtful reps, certain machines and tiny dumbbells are your temporary tools of choice. They work wonders. Be encouraged.

You know better than I what to do… follow your nose.

Godspeed… Dave

What can I do for weak knees, rather what exercises can I do to strengthen my knees?

Tough to answer the question sensibly without more background data: lifting experience, available equipment, injuries or incapacities, goals…

Here are the basics for weak yet otherwise healthy knees:

• Lunges, partials at first till sufficiently strengthened and prepared. Then, over time go deeper and more aggressively, 2 to 3 sets of 10 to 12 three times a week
• Walking lunges freehand and walking lunges carrying dumbbells, 2 to 3 sets of 10 to 12
• Freehand deep squats (past parallel), progressing in time to squats with barbell on the back or holding dumbbells, 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps twice weekly
• Possibly leg extensions, depending on the knee problem,  2 to 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps every third day

… any commonsense combination of the above exercises as you advance.

dd

I have a big discrepancy in shoulder strength. My question to you is to try to strengthen the weaker shoulder most effectively, do you suggest using dumbbells of different weights [one lighter, one heavier] when doing shoulder presses, using dumbbells of the same weight but just continuing on to failure with the strong side after the weak shoulder has failed, or doing more sets with the weak shoulder than the strong one?

Not an uncommon problem. Our bodies are often out of whack from habits or injuries from years ago. A kid might be shy and minimize his or her stature by slouching or rounding their shoulders. He or she grows up with shortened muscle structure here and lengthened muscle there. A minor injury, badly sprained ankle or such, causes the body to compensate and one develops muscle imbalances. Sit in front of a computer for lengths of time, and, oops, we’ve got a pretzel. Most everyone is a victim.

Treatments of Rolfing and/or Feldenkrais (wonderful stuff) can restore or awaken neural pathways that have lost their way and bring health back to the system… just a thought.

I don’t use different weights or rep patterns to overcome a common or typical muscle imbalance. I have the stronger-left-shoulder, weaker-right-shoulder scenario. I treat both the good and its lagging partner as one. I choose the lighter weight and proceed to train with focus and form. If the matter is severe — arm in cast — I engage in emergency tactics. That’s another story.

If you have a significantly injured left or right region — biceps, knee, shoulder strain or soreness– then the use of dumbbells is wise. The injured area requires its own therapy, with attention to groove, range of motion, hand-position and weight, usually guided by pain and common sense.

That’s all… Go… Godspeed… Dave

I’m about 275 lbs and want to chop 50 off of that by tackling the mid section while strengthening the core muscles while not bothering a recovering herniated L4. Do you have any cable exercises that you can recommend that I can start with?

Glad to hear the recovery progress is going well. I hope to have my back surgery in the next few months, same area involving three discs that need to be relieved of nerve blockage.

I don’t have the weight problem, but assure you you’ll be able to attend to that by increasing your activity (cycle and whatever exercises are possible regularly — daily) to help raise the metabolism and by right eating. You need discipline in eating and the right combination of foods (nutrients) to suit you — we’re all different. I like high protein, medium good fat and medium healthy carbs.

I go to a gym; after surgery I’ll roam the gym floor and select by sampling the various machine exercises that do not adversely load the lower back. There are a bunch: dip machine, pulldowns with a variety of grips, seated back row, certain Hammer Strength back or chest machine, pushdowns. Any of these, if approached carefully (body positioning, improvised body support, light weight, modified range of motion, extreme focus), will serve to build and rebuild the body’s muscular system and structure. They make me happy and keep me strong and sane.

Slowly, surely, playfully and without pressure or doubt or anxiety you will sort out the worthy task before you.

Go… Godspeed… Dave

I had an A/C shoulder separation injury following a fall that was pinned, had the pin removed, and months of physiotherapy before given the all clear last August. Been advised by a personal trainer to avoid dips and possibly close-grip benches. What safe moves can I do to form a good triceps workout?  I’ve lost a lot of confidence here.

It’s been many months since the doc’s okay; you should be well on the mend.

Tough to advise on joint repair. Only the bearer of the injury can accurately choose the exercises, direct their grooves and the recovery process — commonsense, pain awareness, focus, warming up, abbreviated movements, light weights, slow and thoughtful reps, trial and error.

You might stick to various dumbbell presses to secure shoulders and work tris.

Try pulley pushdowns — overhead and forward-facing — with safe positioning of the cable and range of motion and medium resistance.

Lying extensions with a barbell and one-hand overhead extensions with a dumbbell are risk-worthy possibilities. Kick-backs… ugh.

Overall training will bring you back to full power and speed in time. Injury and recovery have a weird way of complementing the musclebuilder.

Confidence will grow with exercise-injury understanding and muscle strength and shoulder health.

Go… Godspeed

Approximately 5 months ago I completely tore my distal biceps. I had the biceps repaired and have now completed four months of physical therapy. My question to you is when can I resume lifting like I used to, and what exercises? I’ve been cleared by the doctor.

Tough recovery. The biceps were described to me as so much chopped meat, which is difficult to repair at the insertions. Using that picture, I became focused and more focused.

Just a rundown of precautions might help:

I’d return to my training with great care and attention beginning with partial reps and light weights, and would engage thumbs-up curls with dumbbells for starters.

Wrist curls would fit in there nicely. Triceps would include machine dips, close-grip bench pressing and pulley pushdowns.

I’d avoid any movements that required cleaning the bar or dumbbells into position (sudden biceps overload), including for triceps extensions and dumbbell presses. And I’d avoid over-extension of the biceps in lat pulldowns, chins, extended curls or preacher curls and such.

Abbreviated seated lat rows and modified bentover dumbbell rows will require care and testing.

Make up your routine as you test and try the various basics… no secrets here… you’re your own best therapist, so the docs told me… and they’re right… commonsense, guts, time, perseverance and God’s right hand.

Legs and aerobics and diet need no alterations.

Go… Dave

Dave, how did you kick the sauce? I’m pretty sure I drink too much.

I hit the real bottom. House, family, friends and work gone, and in ICU with congestive heart failure. The doctors and nurses said goodbye.

I managed to crawl away and re-right myself over the years by none less than God’s grace. Sober eyes and mind see and think differently, clearly and painfully. I was sick to death, you’re just a little under the weather.

Read, jog, train, clean house, find a productive diversion, recognize the weakness and worthlessness and commonness and cheapness of the booze habit and put it away — before it puts you away, and it will in time — very insidious, the Devil in a mug or six-pack.

Here’s one for the record books: Jesus Saves… read the Bible, live, learn and grow.

Go… Godspeed… Dave (I ain’t no alter boy)

I began working out again at home with a bar, a bench and dumbbells after a huge layoff, ’bout 25 years! I’m experiencing elbow pain, mainly with curls and slightly with kickbacks and triceps extensions. Can’t do laterals at all without pain. Holding the weights for deadlifts and calf raises kills the elbows. Do have any advice for an old feller who loves to lift?

Elbows are under heavy stress: age and condition and inflammation due to overuse and overload and insufficient repair time. Additionally, training with limited equipment narrows down your choices of exercises to perform. Less variation, more redundancy and you’re pressed to practice unsuitable or disagreeable movements.

Sounds like tendonitis… so common and disheartening. You’ll have to follow the pain and work out the solution yourself — basic instinct and commonsense.

Rearrange your workouts so pressing and triceps work don’t interfere with one another. Don’t over-extend the elbow in either the lock-out or bent position.

Skip triceps kickbacks — troublesome.

Invest in a pair of elbow wraps that can be pulled on and off, snug and not-so-snug as needed. Helps me bigtime.

Take Aleve or other anti-inflammatory OTC medicine on tougher days. Ice if swelling is visible, or even maybe if not.

Try reverse or thumbs-up curls for painfree biceps action.

Expand your exercise repertoire by improvising or further equipment investments or a gym membership.

Provide a three-day weight-free rest each week.

Carry on the good fight, go… Godspeed… dd

I have a pinched nerve and my lower vertebrae are compressed from an injury. At a recent visit to my chiropractor, he told me to avoid the elliptical and stair master, and to avoid all back exercises… specifically to stop doing squats (one of my favorites). What exercises do you suggest?

Not good news… critical area and you don’t want to abuse or damage it further. Beware and be aware.

Did your DC take pictures to confirm his findings? I’m scheduled for an MRI of the lumbar for a similar problem, which is getting severe. For me, squats are out, but the leg press is no problem till I sort things out.

No major loss giving up the Stairmaster and the elliptical (tough on knees and hips); you can replace them with the stationary bike — practice intervals. Great stuff.

Squats and lunges might have to give way to the leg press, extensions and curls. You might carefully bring in hyperextensions for the lower back health and strength. Dunno about very light deads…

Can’t tell you how many favorites I’ve had to give up due to limitations from injury and age. The beat goes on; we improvise, we adjust, we find joy in the bountiful remnants. Growth comes from accidents, injuries and failure. Smile, you’re on a roll.

Go, girl… Godspeed… Dave

I’m having shoulder pain lately. It could be tendinitis, but I’m not certain. Is this something to be concerned with? Should I rest it? Do you have any suggested workout or stretching routines for a shoulder problem?

Join the club. We struggle and strain and eventually get an injury for all our noble efforts. It ain’t fair.

I continue to train when pain rears its ugly head, working those muscle groups unaffected or least affected by the injury. This MO often assists in repair.

After warming up I work close to the pain and injured region to engage my own therapy. Most doctors can’t help till a real problem develops. They often suggest a layoff, water-boarding to a devoted nutsie lifter.

Do common sense warm-ups, light weights and so forth and go onward with bold caution… website full of info… look around. Here are a few links to get you started:

Handling weight training injuries

Tendinitis

Repair of shoulder injuries, part 1

Beware of heavy bench presses.

Go… Godspeed… DD

My question involves a chronic discomfort I have in what I am told is my rhomboid. It is basically a collection of knots behind my left shoulder blade, that I can’t seem to get rid of and seem to be agitated by bench pressing and occasionally by shoulder pressing.

I believe the knots are exactly that, knots of muscle fibers that need to be basically untangled and dispersed by a knowledgeable sport massage therapist, a chiropractor you trust or a therapist skilled in Active Release Therapy (ART).

Laree’s written a blog post that will explain this more fully, here: Triggerpoint therapy.
Works wonders to relieve pain, regain regional body function and allow healthy neuromuscular transmission… something like that.
Go… DD

What do you suggest for me as I begin training after a layoff and with a bad back?

Try this:

Warm up with floor crunches and bent-leg leg-raises (according to your back limitations and range of motion) for the core muscles and abdominal area: a set of 15 crunches (more or less, depending on ability) followed by a set of 10+/- leg-raises. Repeat.

Stand up straight (at attention) as a starting position and perform 10 reps of bent-leg good morning exercises (modified deadlifts), reaching for the floor to maximize your range of motion and to continue to work and warm up the back region. Perform a second set. In future workouts you’ll look forward to holding light weights in your hands for resistance and strengthening of involved systemic and ancillary muscles (lower back, grip, thighs).

As you are able, position a pair of light dumbbells over head as you sit on an incline bench. Perform 2 sets of dumbbell inclines for 10 reps. Soon you will move to 3 sets, maybe four sets, and increase the weight as your strength grows (works shoulders, chest, triceps).

Seated on the end of the bench, perform two sets of 10 reps of alternate dumbbell curls (provides biceps, grip and some torso action). In time move to three and four sets, increasing the weight to accommodate strength increase. Lower reps to eight where and when needed. Your commonsense is welcome.

Lying on the bench with both hands gripping and positioning a single dumbbell in an overhead starting point, lower the dumbbell so the plates just pass the forehead by bending the arms at the elbow only, and return to the starting position (triceps, grip). The upper arm should remain stationary, thereby placing the resistance on the triceps. Repeat and follow same rep-weight protocol as suggested above.

Focus, hope, daring, patience and practice. This is a substantial beginners routine for a guy with some possible background, some drive and some heart. It’s great practice to start someone thinking right and take them to the next levels (our website will make more sense with each workout). As you learn and improve you can apply more and more effort and acquired savvy. This routine, though modest, will work an advanced musclebuilder if he or she gives it all he or she has.

Backs are tricky… you be the guardian as you proceed.

Go… God’s Might… Dave