Lifting with one arm?

[boardn10]

Anything wrong with working out with only one arm? I can do legs although I can't squat any longer and can only really lift with one arm. Lyme disease and Babesiosis has been hell on my joints, peripheral nerves and muscles and I just can't do much with the left arm. So, Yesterday I tried to back in the gym after three months out and jut use one arm. What else can I do?

 

I mean, I have lost 30 lbs of mostly muscle in the last 3-4 months and I can't stand to lokk in the mirror. I am becoming hunched over, white as a ghost and frail. I want to cry.

 

Thanks for listening.

 

Rich

Edited January 4, 2010 by boardn10

[MaryStella]

I did it after I had shoulder surgery and one arm was in a sling for 6 weeks. I just subbed kettlebells and dumbbells for barbells. Or did things like jumping 1 arm pullups

[VeganEssentials]

There's not anything too wrong with lifting with one arm, but if you do it for a long time, expect imbalances as one side stays strong and the other goes unused. If you do decide to train one arm, I'd consider doing any isometrics you can for the other and/or possibly even getting one of those electrical stimulation machines. Their use for building muscle has always been pretty well worthless, but as a therapeutic to help stimulate muscle fiber to prevent atrophy, it could be beneficial to use on parts you can't train so that they still get some use to slow down any atrophy. Just a thought!

[Vegan Joe]

I think engaging muscle under a good load is a plus for the circulartory, and organ systems. Tearing and down and rebuilding of muscle is a natural process that should be maintained at a hefty rate, just for general health.

[MartinVegartin]

What you are doing could benefit you because of the effect called 'contralateral effects of unilateral strength training' or 'cross-education of strength.'

 

This is where there is an increase of strength or a decrease in atrophy in a limb that is not exercised - where it benefits from the opposite limb being exercised. It's been demonstrated in people who have one limb in a plaster or immobilised in some way. Look on the pubmed site. There are lots of abstracts there. Of course, abstracts don't tell the whole story but there is a lot of research which shows it works. There are a few full free studies there as well if you can find them.

 

There is also a technique called motor imagery. A type of visualisation method. I have found only one study to suggest that it can be used for strength gains but it can be used to keep the neural pathways and the motor skills in working order for when you are able to exercise again. It has been used to acquire or improve physical skills - including sporting ones. And has been used in the rehabilitation of people who are injured or have nerve damage. It involves clearly imagining doing an exercise. You've done many reps of lots of exercises so you know what it feels like. You can clearly imagine how it feels to hold and move a weight. How your whole body feels when you are doing it. If you want to give it a go, try it in differennt ways - lying down relaxed with your eyes closed or actually in the position of doing the exercise, such as standing as if you are going to do an overhead press. You could even sometimes exercise your painfree arm and use imagery at the same time with your painful arm - combine both techniques. During the imagery exercise, you should try as much as you can to imagine pushing or pulling the weight. Imagine exactly how your body will feel, what positions you are in, the movements - even where you would be looking, because you must make it as realistic as possible. In activities such as imagining hitting a ball, the correct eye movements are critical, as they would be if really doing the activity.

 

A caution: using imagery for your painful arm could increase the pain or swelling. This has been found in at least one study. It might be better to imagine that you are doing isometric exercises for the painful arm or for movements that would be painful. Or, as the causes of pain are different, you might not experience any pain by using imagery.

 

Here is the study that found an increase in strength from imagery:

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Muscle & Nerve. 2003 Aug;28(2):168-73.

 

Effects of imagery motor training on torque production of ankle plantar flexor muscles.

 

Zijdewind I, Toering ST, Bessem B, Van Der Laan O, Diercks RL.

 

Department of Medical Physiology, University of Groningen, A Deusinglaan 1, 9713 AV Groningen, The Netherlands.

 

The aim of this study was to investigate in control subjects the effect of imagery training on the torque of plantar-flexor muscles of the ankle. Twenty-nine subjects were allocated to one of three groups that performed either imagery training, low-intensity strength training, or no training (only measurements). The low-intensity training served as an attention control group. Plantar-flexor torques were measured before, during, directly after, and 4 weeks after the training period. At the end of a 7-week training program, significant differences were observed between the maximal voluntary torque production of the imagery training group (136.3 +/- 21.8% of pretraining torque) vs. the low-intensity training group (112.9 +/- 29.0%; P < 0.02) and the control group (113.6 +/- 19.2%; P < 0.02). The results of this study show that imagery training of lower leg muscles significantly increased voluntary torque production of the ankle plantar-flexor muscles and that the force increase was not due to nonspecific motivational effects. Such muscle strengthening effects might be beneficial in rehabilitation for improving or maintaining muscle torque after immobilization.

 

PMID: 12872320

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I've only seen this abstract, not the whole study, but I think the imagery group didn't do any physical exercise - just imagery.

 

One more thing, for your pain you can use other imagery/visualistion techniques. They have been used successfully to control or reduce pain in people suffering from cancer, cystitis, recurrent abdominal pain, various types of arthritis, and other conditons. It's even been used to reduce the tremors or Parkinson's Disease patients. You can find lots of them on pubmed.

 

You could scan your body for where there is pain, represent it in some way - such as a colour or texture, and then use some imagined article to drain away the colour or change the texture. You could imagine putting your hand into some analgesic or healing liquid and then imagine putting your hand on the painful area.

 

These things sound like madness but they can work. The evidence is available.

Keep an open mind and give them a try.

[boardn10]

Thanks so much everyone for the support and help. It means a lot to me. It really is like a family on this forum.

 

I do have a tens unit so I will use that more often. Sometimes a tens unit can disrupt pain signals as well.

 

I really would like to hault atrophy more than anything because I don't imagine I'll be able to build back up till healthy. But, I will take said in thie post to heart and use it all. I have used visualization for other sports in life such as snowboarding and even for guitar playing. I know it can help.

 

I will continue the one arm or unilateral movements for now and isometrics when possible. I can do good quality rows, decent pulldowns, curls, some form of tricep work and shrugs. I can't really do any pushing movements accept maybe the top 10% of the moevement. I can't do any overhead pushing nor any laterals. I can somewhat do a front lateral with the left arm if I don't make the weight to heavy, maybe about 20-25 lbs. I am doing what I can.

 

My Orthopeodist said Lyme can cause calcium deposits and an MRI has verified I have plenty in this shoulder. So, he feels it is a combination of inflammation from the disease and calcium deposits of whic he said can be very painful. I am having a procedure done where they go in with a needle and wash away the deposits. Apparently it is quite successful.