Hi, this is my first post but I just wanted to get something off my chest.
I have recently fractured my tib and fib in my left leg and am obviously out of training. When I have spoken to people they are asking me if I am still training my upper body. The problem I have with this is that my left leg, after 5 weeks, is now 2.5 inches smaller than my right, so why would I want to then put my upper body out of proportion to my lower body on top of that??
Don’t get me wrong, I am swimming to maintain as much as I can and for rehab etc but I don’t want to be top heavy especially it makes more sense to rehab my leg back up to normal strength, size and motion before worrying about my biceps etc…
I guess my point is, I thought it was mainly women who wanted skinny legs and a big chest yet a lot of the men in (commercial) gyms seem to be wanting the same results. I just don’t get why?!?
you should still train upper body while your leg heals. You’re not going to get a “big chest” in the 12-16 weeks that you’re recovering from that fracture.
If you neglect upperbody weight training all together you’re going to set yourself way back over the next few months.
Yeah who wants a huge upper body and huge biceps? That would suck. Honestly it doesn’t sound like you train much to begin with. Most of us would be dying to get back in the gym and do something, anything. After hurting my back a couple of years ago I was doing dips and chins before I could walk normally or tie my shoes.
Well I would say I train enough seeing as I am a Personal Trainer by trade.
I don’t have a problem with training while I’m injured, I am doing rehab and as much as I can to build my leg back up to its usual strength and size. All of this within 5 weeks which is way ahead of schedule. I would like to have a big chest and biceps as long as its in proportion with the rest of the body, legs included. I am saying my main goal is to get back to training full body properly and healthily, not to look like the chumps who are top heavy because they never train their legs.
Well done on doing chins and dips with a bad back though.
You do understand the concept of ‘muscle memory’ right?
TBH, you are coming across kind of pompous … as if your status as a PT makes you an expert, but you seem to lack a basic understanding of how quickly lost muscle regenerates once you place a training stimulus on it - not to mention that you seem to believe that you will grow materially out of proportion during this time.
To address your point though, most men don’t want big legs purely because they don’t have it in them to make their wheels grow. It’s not easy doing full ROM squats let alone for double digit reps while trying to hold back the vomit from spraying all over the room. The fact that women always compliment chest, abs or biceps doesn’t help that cause. Most men are driven to impress the opposite sex.
Just because you’re a personal trainer by trade doesn’t mean you train. I see more worthless trainers that aren’t worth the paper their little print off certificate is on. Sounds like you may be one of them…
You’re really not going to somehow look like a chump with a huge upper body and small lower body because of 12-16 weeks. If anything it should be motivation that when you can get back to lifting full body you just hit it that much harder with your lower body.
You should definitely keep training upper body as much as you can and I remember reading a few years back that some studies showed if you continue to lift with your good leg you can cut down on the muscle wastage and even increase the size of your broken leg.
Don’t ask me how it works, apparently we don’t grow unilaterally and there is some crossover.
[quote]LiquidMercury wrote:
Just because you’re a personal trainer by trade doesn’t mean you train. I see more worthless trainers that aren’t worth the paper their little print off certificate is on. Sounds like you may be one of them…
[/quote]
I was thinking this same thing. I am in much better shape and am stronger than every single trainer at my gym. It’s pretty sad TBH
[quote]LiquidMercury wrote:
Just because you’re a personal trainer by trade doesn’t mean you train. I see more worthless trainers that aren’t worth the paper their little print off certificate is on. Sounds like you may be one of them…
[/quote]
I was thinking this same thing. I am in much better shape and am stronger than every single trainer at my gym. It’s pretty sad TBH[/quote]
Truth! I use one to tidy my weights and spot me (for free).
[quote]LiquidMercury wrote:
Just because you’re a personal trainer by trade doesn’t mean you train. I see more worthless trainers that aren’t worth the paper their little print off certificate is on. Sounds like you may be one of them…
[/quote]
I was thinking this same thing. I am in much better shape and am stronger than every single trainer at my gym. It’s pretty sad TBH[/quote]
This is definitely one of those guys who thinks he is superior to much more advanced lifters because he has 15" arms to match his 15" calves. Obviously the guy with 20" arms and 18" calves doesn’t train his lower body or he wouldn’t be disproportional like that.
You are going to stop training for 12-16 weeks because you are worried about losing your beautiful body symmetry, and you are calling someone ELSE a woman? Just train nancy…
your legs might get weaker but if you dont lift at all then your body will forget that you are a weightlifter. it happened to me. two weeks in the carribean i came back and i was weaker in everything. you need some tension in your body and some surges in testosterone.
plus your upper body isnt going to swell up in a few weeks. that is just logic. and if it did, then theoreticaly that should help your legs along.
ps: wasnt there an article recently saying that creatine is good for mantaining muscle during injuries or something?
[quote]gregron wrote:
I was thinking this same thing. I am in much better shape and am stronger than every single trainer at my gym. It’s pretty sad TBH[/quote]
