Advice wanted: how to keep muscle while resting for injury

Mega me · May 31, 2014

Hey fellas,

I injured my right arm a few weeks ago. Not sure how exactly, but I have severe pain in the forearm and elbow and moderate pain in the biceps. Back, shoulder and biceps exercises seem to aggravate it, so I haven't been able to train upper body very much. I think it might be a tendon issue and I'm seeing a doc about it Monday.

Assuming doc says I need to test it completely for a couple of months, I'll probably do more cardio, focus on leaning out, and build up my legs. But without being able to train upper body, how do I avoid losing muscle there or just ending up still smooth, just smaller?

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co1e_train · May 31, 2014

Sorry to hear about your injury. Couple of thoughts.

1. Depending on how bad it is, hopefully you'll be healed and back at it before you know it.
2. It takes a good long while to truly lose muscle tissue imo. If you keep your protein intake the same then I do not think you would really lose any actual tissue. You may want to drop carbs or fats some if your energy expenditure won't be as much simply to keep from gaining in body fat.

3. It may not be the wisest option to try to lean out excessively if you won't be able to train specific body parts for a while as this could maybe speed up the muscle wasting process. To me, it would seem if you go on a full blown cut but arnt able to train optimally you may be setting yourself up for harm.

Mega me · May 31, 2014

co1e_train said:
Sorry to hear about your injury. Couple of thoughts.

1. Depending on how bad it is, hopefully you'll be healed and back at it before you know it.

2. It takes a good long while to truly lose muscle tissue imo. If you keep your protein intake the same then I do not think you would really lose any actual tissue. You may want to drop carbs or fats some if your energy expenditure won't be as much simply to keep from gaining in body fat.

3. It may not be the wisest option to try to lean out excessively if you won't be able to train specific body parts for a while as this could maybe speed up the muscle wasting process. To me, it would seem if you go on a full blown cut but arnt able to train optimally you may be setting yourself up for harm.

Thanks for the helpful reply.

1. I have a feeling it might be a whole because I've already been resting it (and icing it 2-3x/day) for a few weeks. I think it's improving, big sloooowly. Anyway, I hope you're right!

2. That sounds like good advice. I will watch the macros.

3. That makes sense, but I will go nuts if I don't do any exercise at all. I need to stay active, not just for my own sake, but also for the sake of everyone around me, lol

Also, I should have mentioned I am on a light cycle of 200 test and 200 tren. I assume that will help avoid the muscle-wasting, but maybe it is a mistake to stay on if I can't lift at full capacity...

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co1e_train · May 31, 2014

If your not able to train full out then you may not want use the tren simply because of how harsh it can be and you want to get the most out of it while using it. I would say you'll maintain muscle on 200mg of test/week without much problem and could do some kind of cardio or something of the sort with out worrying about muscle loss.

Mega me · May 31, 2014

co1e_train said:
If your not able to train full out then you may not want use the tren simply because of how harsh it can be and you want to get the most out of it while using it. I would say you'll maintain muscle on 200mg of test/week without much problem and could do some kind of cardio or something of the sort with out worrying about muscle loss.

Thanks, that makes sense.

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ALLEX · May 31, 2014

Don't worry about it. Fix the issue in your arm...

Muscle memory will get you back to your previous shape in no time.

sammy555 · May 31, 2014

When I blew my rotator cuff I pretty much Just done legs 2 to 3 dimes a week, focusing mainly on squats. Did some cardio and got shelby to do my diet. Leaned out nice, surprisingly lost no muscle at all and was only on about 200mg total gear. 100/100 test/ tren I think. As Alex says even if you lose some muscle, muscle memory will get it back in a blink of an eye so I think leaning up is a real good idea ready for a good rebound

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johnjuanb1 · May 31, 2014

If you want to hold muscle then up your protein, good fats, and calories to help it heal. If you have access take pharma grade HGH. BPC 157 and TB-500 are miracle healing peptides. I strained my pec two weeks ago and got BPC 157 that I injected into the injury for 10 days and it's damn near healed.

brutus69 · May 31, 2014

doing heavy leg work can stimulate overall muscle growth to some extent, or at least it will help with the growth hormone release and keep your metabolism going so you wont get fat or lose upper body size.

don't overdo legs tho, cuz that may be counterproductive.
and a little test wont hurt, either...

bigman1 · May 31, 2014

I just had distal bicep surgery 6 weeks ago and already full movement etc...

As JJ said BPC157, TB500 and I suggest IGF vs HGH for the healing.

10 grams of HMB also.

Google&Pubmed · May 31, 2014

Dieting would be the most important part. Keeping your protein intake high and so on and so forth. Your appetite will decrees since you are not going to be able to workout which is when it is a good time to start doing cardio (like you've mentioned) so your appetite stays high for all the food intake.

Also muscle memory is a wonderful thing. I was out for 8-9 months and ate like shit and I gained basically everything back in 3 months or so. Right now some of my body parts are actually ahead of where I use to be and my strength is all the way back also (on some parts I'm even stronger).

So don't freak out or worry about it if you can not lift for a bit. Just make sure you recover correctly.

Mega me · May 31, 2014

Thanks for all the encouraging responses and advice. I'm feeling less depressed about this now!

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Mega me · May 31, 2014

sammy555 said:
When I blew my rotator cuff I pretty much Just done legs 2 to 3 dimes a week, focusing mainly on squats. Did some cardio and got shelby to do my diet. Leaned out nice, surprisingly lost no muscle at all and was only on about 200mg total gear. 100/100 test/ tren I think. As Alex says even if you lose some muscle, muscle memory will get it back in a blink of an eye so I think leaning up is a real good idea ready for a good rebound

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How of you train legs 2-3xs/wk without overtraining? I only train them once every 6 days now.

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sammy555 · May 31, 2014

Mega me said:
How of you train legs 2-3xs/wk without overtraining? I only train them once every 6 days now.

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Legs adapt very quick for me. Plus I wasn't training much else so recovery was better in general. Strength went up quite quick to be fair and body fat drips real quick when your squatting 3x per week. It will catch up with you eventually though and you'll need a week off

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