OK Ladies I need your help.

[The_Jarhead]

My Wife was in a car accident a few months ago that has left her with some serious back and neck pain. Since then she has been unable to do any lifting. (Even very light lifting cause very bad pain). Since the accident she has gotten a little better but she will never be back to 100%. While she never really enjoyed lifting in the past she is starting to notice the difference not being able to do it is doing to her body. Now she is very far from being over weight in any way but she is noticing that her upper body isn’t as tone as it was or as she would like it to be, and her problem areas are starting to be problems again (hips and thighs).

So we are trying to come up with something for her to do that will help her achieve what she wants but not over stress her injuries. I’ve always lifted and the only time I ever did any thing else was in boot camp and I don’t think that kind of training will do her any good, so I’m not real sure what to do for her. Right now she is doing some cardio (Stairmaster and biking when the weather is ok). I was thinking maybe something along the lines of Pilates but I don’t know much about it.

Any info you can give will be greatly appreciated.

[Shibby]

I know you were looking for ladies help, but maybe I can ease your mind some. It has only been a couple months. There is still alot of recovering to do. The back is a very sensitive area. To give you an example of how long full recovery can take, I will tell you a little about ACL injuries, since I have some excpierence with the rehab. Post surgery it takes about 3 months to really start getting a good range of motion so that you can start working on muscle and motor skill recovery. All this can take a year or even more until a person has full use of there knee again and back injuries can be much worse. I would suggest just taking it easy for a couple more months. Just do what feels comfortable when she can and keep as positive as possible. Slowly up the stress of the exercise as comfortable also. It may be a long time until she is at 100%. Just remeber as when starting out, you had to learn that this was a journey not a sprint.

[7lok4]

Again, i am not a lady but I would recommend giving the pool a try. It is virtually gravity/impact free and you can get a good workout in many ways. Any time I was rehabing from a significant injury or sugery I spent hours in the pool. They make things to increase resistance in the water for arm and legs that can add to a light strength routine.

[The_Jarhead]

OK when I say few moths it's more than just a few the accident was in early June.
I know she isn't going to be able to jump right back to working out she may never be able to.
That’s' why we are looking for an alternate type workout for her.

[Shibby]

I'm not sure what you mean by alternate types of workouts. Making the body stronger is about putting stress on the muscles. The pool is good as 7lok4 said, also maybe a beginner pilates. The core strengthening will also help strengthen and support the back. Some places have rowing moachines and an upper body cardio hand bike. But it's all about doing it at a comfortable pace since your working around an injury.

[redsquirrel]

Even if it were in June, that's only 6 months...What types of exercise is she limited to? What exercises has the Doctor told her not to do?

[The_Jarhead]

The doctor didn't tell her that's she absolutly can't do anything. More like take everything at your own pace and go from there don't do things that hurt.

From what she has tried anything that causes strong muscle contractions gives her a lot of pain. (her main issue right now is muscle spasms). So lifting is out. Like I said I was thinking about pilates but I've never done it so I can't say how much that may or not hurt or help.

[Shibby]

If she wants to try pilates, make sure it's a mat class. Anything else probably would be to much of a strain to start with.

[Puddles]

Stretching and more stretching, before and after any kind of exercise will help her. Swimming is great and pilates should not be a problem. I looked for my pilates dvd to bring to her today but either my daughter borrowed it or I lent it to Elaine because it's not with my stuff. I also used some bands when I injured my neck/arm and mom's been using them post-op, when you guys come over she can give them a try. She can still do lunges, squats (without weight) and crunches.

[Puddles]

One other thought...I've discovered that I can alleviate about 75% of the trouble I have by not wearing a bra. The pressure of the straps aggrivates the nerves, that's why I wear tank tops most of the time. She should try going without a bra for a couple of weeks and see if that helps at all.