*are
I really regret most of the things I learned from personal trainers, gym fans, and what I've read from fitness communities on the internet including here. Because almost all of it was dangerous in ways most people don't know until they end up spending a year seeing ten specialist doctors like me.
It's extremely common for people to say "oh, you're new to weight lifting? Just start squatting and benching and deadlifting the barbell, and start eating a lot, and you'll be on your way to health!"
Well, I just wanna give a word of caution. Be very safe and very cautious with any workout that is outside of body weight. It can damage your body in ways people don't tell you. And people don't know your anatomy. You may not even know your anatomy. And your physical anatomy can play in a role in how dangerous these can be. I don't think the amount of "generalized recommendation" I see for work outs for people is appropriate.
I did a beginners workout regimen. I did a combination of barbell and dumbbell exercises. I gained 20 (edit: more like 17) pounds in 3 months, most of which was muscle (measured using ultrasound machines). I gained a lot of strength. I did a combination of typical gym routines with a trainer and by myself recommended by most people. Bench press, legs press, squats, overhead press, deadlift, etc.
The problem is almost all of these can damage the body in permanent ways that most people don't know about. I'm not saying that everyone will experience problems with these issues. But these exercises increase your risk of certain damages and that's why my doctors advised me otherwise, and I feel like that's not talked about enough in gym discussions.
I learned that when I got a pain in my back that evolved into a pain in my leg that never went away from a squat. Turns out I have a bulging disc caused by loading my spine with weight. It got injured during a squat. I wasn't even in pain during the squat, but inflammation injuries are delayed. After one physiatrist, two physical therapists, one family medicine doctor, and one spine surgeon, one year later, im still recovering. I may never lose that back pain. All of these doctors said they NEVER recommend patients do squats or deadlifts. These exercises unnaturally load the spine discs with weight that pops them like berries. Treatment for this varies in success and surgery is often worse than doing nothing.
Sometime after this, I saw a neurologist, who recommended me to a neurosurgeon who diagnosed me with Tarlov (meningeal cyst) in my spine. Most doctors don't even know what this is and may not spot it in an MRI unless they're very well-trained. This is a cyst caused by cerebrospinal fluid that balloons into a ball that damages nerves and organs connected to the spine. For most people, this condition incurable, progressive, and eventually leads to unstoppable pain and shut down of organs. Treatment is not very successful because as soon as you take the heavy risk of opening the spine to drain them, they fill right back up. The cause of these cysts? Not well known. Except there are only half a dozen neurosurgeons IN THE WORLD who treat tarlov cysts, with varied success, and one of them happens to live in DFW. He identified my cyst and told me that I should never load the spine with weight. Most people get a asymptomatic tarlov cysts that cause no problems, but sometimes they get symptomatic and cause what I described above. He says 10% of his patients are fitness professionals and trainers and athletes. Turns out, the traditional gym routines people do cause tarlov cysts, because of the immense build up of fluid pressure in the spine by putting a heavy fucking bar on your back.
Right now my cyst is small and it's not causing my leg pain, but it's there, and it was likely caused by barbell weight training. Right now I just have to leave it alone until it gets large enough to warrant risk of treatment.
So throughout all this bullshit, I decided to go back to the gym and be careful with weights. I was told to work on my strength so I wanted to see what I could do safely. My various surgeons and therapists forbade me from vertically loading my spine ever again. So no more squats and deadlifts. So I tried to focus more on exercises with the bar while I'm lying down.
Then in July I suddenly noticed my shoulder couldn't raise my arm laterally anymore. I have no idea what caused it. After another orthopedic surgeon and therapist, turns out I have bursitis (inflammation of the shoulder joint) caused by bench press and overhead press with the barbell. My shoulder bone anatomically curves down a bit, causing my rotator cuff and bursa to impact with my bone when I raise my arm laterally. I would have never known this had I not gotten this x-ray from getting bursitis injury. Bursitis caused my shoulder joint to scar. I am now forbidden from doing anything like overhead and military press, or any lateral movement of my shoulder/arm like tennis, because I could cause permanent injury to my rotator cuff. Again, not because of any bad form or incorrect gym routine, but because as my orthopedic surgeon put it, military and overhead press exercises "tear up" shoulders over time and comprise most of his shoulder patients. And because my shoulder anatomically curves down in a way people on the internet have no way to diagnose before they give you blanket routine recommendations involving lifting weights above your head. Bursitis is caused by lots of things, one of those can be anatomy, but another is the fact that high weights over your head stress out the rotator cuff.
So I can't squat, can't deadlift, can't vertically load my spine, can't laterally raise my arms, and can't lift over my head. Doing so caused and will cause injuries to my anatomy by virtue of how high impact and stressful they are to human joints. 10 doctors including 2 orthopedic surgeons, 1 neurosurgeon, and 2 neurologists I have seen have told me they never recommend anyone lift heavy weights and load their spine or joints. People should do low impact, high rep bodweight exercise/lifting, or things such as walking, swimming, abs/core strengthening, and maybe some cycling.
So why do people recommend beginners get to the squat rack and flatten their joints under several pounds of pressure? The gym I go to had a trainer try to get me to sign up for his training sessions. I told him I can't vertically load my spine or lift my arms laterally or twist my obliques and he laughed and told me what to do anyway. He said "I've had two neck surgeries, I know what it's like, just do what I recommend." Um, I'm gonna listen to the 10 doctors I've talked to in this long year.
Muscle "gains" are not worth spine surgery to me.
I will never recommend the high impact weight routines to people that were recommended to me ever again. Even though I gained strength, I may have permanently damaged my joints and back.
So that's my story. I fully expect bodybuilders to come tell me that I did all exercises wrong and that barbell squatting and deadlifting are safe and effective, but I just don't believe it anymore because I was as safe as I could be as a beginner and all my doctors stressed to me how frustrated they get because they don't recommend those exercises at all and it comprises a lot of the patients that show up at their door.
Jogging and swimming and light dumbbells for me from now on, I guess.
I really regret most of the things I learned from personal trainers, gym fans, and what I've read from fitness communities on the internet including here. Because almost all of it was dangerous in ways most people don't know until they end up spending a year seeing ten specialist doctors like me.
It's extremely common for people to say "oh, you're new to weight lifting? Just start squatting and benching and deadlifting the barbell, and start eating a lot, and you'll be on your way to health!"
Well, I just wanna give a word of caution. Be very safe and very cautious with any workout that is outside of body weight. It can damage your body in ways people don't tell you. And people don't know your anatomy. You may not even know your anatomy. And your physical anatomy can play in a role in how dangerous these can be. I don't think the amount of "generalized recommendation" I see for work outs for people is appropriate.
I did a beginners workout regimen. I did a combination of barbell and dumbbell exercises. I gained 20 (edit: more like 17) pounds in 3 months, most of which was muscle (measured using ultrasound machines). I gained a lot of strength. I did a combination of typical gym routines with a trainer and by myself recommended by most people. Bench press, legs press, squats, overhead press, deadlift, etc.
The problem is almost all of these can damage the body in permanent ways that most people don't know about. I'm not saying that everyone will experience problems with these issues. But these exercises increase your risk of certain damages and that's why my doctors advised me otherwise, and I feel like that's not talked about enough in gym discussions.
I learned that when I got a pain in my back that evolved into a pain in my leg that never went away from a squat. Turns out I have a bulging disc caused by loading my spine with weight. It got injured during a squat. I wasn't even in pain during the squat, but inflammation injuries are delayed. After one physiatrist, two physical therapists, one family medicine doctor, and one spine surgeon, one year later, im still recovering. I may never lose that back pain. All of these doctors said they NEVER recommend patients do squats or deadlifts. These exercises unnaturally load the spine discs with weight that pops them like berries. Treatment for this varies in success and surgery is often worse than doing nothing.
Sometime after this, I saw a neurologist, who recommended me to a neurosurgeon who diagnosed me with Tarlov (meningeal cyst) in my spine. Most doctors don't even know what this is and may not spot it in an MRI unless they're very well-trained. This is a cyst caused by cerebrospinal fluid that balloons into a ball that damages nerves and organs connected to the spine. For most people, this condition incurable, progressive, and eventually leads to unstoppable pain and shut down of organs. Treatment is not very successful because as soon as you take the heavy risk of opening the spine to drain them, they fill right back up. The cause of these cysts? Not well known. Except there are only half a dozen neurosurgeons IN THE WORLD who treat tarlov cysts, with varied success, and one of them happens to live in DFW. He identified my cyst and told me that I should never load the spine with weight. Most people get a asymptomatic tarlov cysts that cause no problems, but sometimes they get symptomatic and cause what I described above. He says 10% of his patients are fitness professionals and trainers and athletes. Turns out, the traditional gym routines people do cause tarlov cysts, because of the immense build up of fluid pressure in the spine by putting a heavy fucking bar on your back.
Right now my cyst is small and it's not causing my leg pain, but it's there, and it was likely caused by barbell weight training. Right now I just have to leave it alone until it gets large enough to warrant risk of treatment.
So throughout all this bullshit, I decided to go back to the gym and be careful with weights. I was told to work on my strength so I wanted to see what I could do safely. My various surgeons and therapists forbade me from vertically loading my spine ever again. So no more squats and deadlifts. So I tried to focus more on exercises with the bar while I'm lying down.
Then in July I suddenly noticed my shoulder couldn't raise my arm laterally anymore. I have no idea what caused it. After another orthopedic surgeon and therapist, turns out I have bursitis (inflammation of the shoulder joint) caused by bench press and overhead press with the barbell. My shoulder bone anatomically curves down a bit, causing my rotator cuff and bursa to impact with my bone when I raise my arm laterally. I would have never known this had I not gotten this x-ray from getting bursitis injury. Bursitis caused my shoulder joint to scar. I am now forbidden from doing anything like overhead and military press, or any lateral movement of my shoulder/arm like tennis, because I could cause permanent injury to my rotator cuff. Again, not because of any bad form or incorrect gym routine, but because as my orthopedic surgeon put it, military and overhead press exercises "tear up" shoulders over time and comprise most of his shoulder patients. And because my shoulder anatomically curves down in a way people on the internet have no way to diagnose before they give you blanket routine recommendations involving lifting weights above your head. Bursitis is caused by lots of things, one of those can be anatomy, but another is the fact that high weights over your head stress out the rotator cuff.
So I can't squat, can't deadlift, can't vertically load my spine, can't laterally raise my arms, and can't lift over my head. Doing so caused and will cause injuries to my anatomy by virtue of how high impact and stressful they are to human joints. 10 doctors including 2 orthopedic surgeons, 1 neurosurgeon, and 2 neurologists I have seen have told me they never recommend anyone lift heavy weights and load their spine or joints. People should do low impact, high rep bodweight exercise/lifting, or things such as walking, swimming, abs/core strengthening, and maybe some cycling.
So why do people recommend beginners get to the squat rack and flatten their joints under several pounds of pressure? The gym I go to had a trainer try to get me to sign up for his training sessions. I told him I can't vertically load my spine or lift my arms laterally or twist my obliques and he laughed and told me what to do anyway. He said "I've had two neck surgeries, I know what it's like, just do what I recommend." Um, I'm gonna listen to the 10 doctors I've talked to in this long year.
Muscle "gains" are not worth spine surgery to me.
I will never recommend the high impact weight routines to people that were recommended to me ever again. Even though I gained strength, I may have permanently damaged my joints and back.
So that's my story. I fully expect bodybuilders to come tell me that I did all exercises wrong and that barbell squatting and deadlifting are safe and effective, but I just don't believe it anymore because I was as safe as I could be as a beginner and all my doctors stressed to me how frustrated they get because they don't recommend those exercises at all and it comprises a lot of the patients that show up at their door.
Jogging and swimming and light dumbbells for me from now on, I guess.
