ADVICE ON FITNESS / STRENGTH /MUSCLE BUILDING

Manjinder

Hi Folks

I have had right hemiplegia from birth. I am no in my late 50s and want to gain more strength and muscle. In general, I want to get 'bigger'.

In order to achieve my goals, do you think:

1. I should start attending my local gym and start using the equipment available there?
2. Ask a personal trainer for advice on how to achieve me goals?
3. Use resistance bands/dumb bells at home in order to achieve me goals.

…or can you advice of alternative routes?

Thanks in advance for your responses.

teuchterlass

Go on line and search strengthening exercises look to see what you think you can do and try. Instead of buying dumbbells use a tin of peas, soup etc, see how you get on, if you are having trouble see a personal trainer for a one off advise and do the exercises/stretches advised at home, if you are sticking it out then head for a gym, the gym will also advise you on technique but will be charging you per month. Depends how much money you have available and whether you will stick out the regime.

Many folk start with great intentions at the gym and end up paying months and months after giving up or reduce the amount of times they do actually attend.

HappyDays62

Ask your GP for a referral to a musculoskeletal services provider who can offer physiotherapy for free. Of course, all of your ideas will also work if you want to pay for it and @teuchterlass (es) comments are also worth thinking about. Good luck!

TomZee

I do not know the details of your health or income. Online exercises are a good start. These seem specific to you but I am sure you can search more yourself https://www.flintrehab.com/core-exercises-for-stroke-patients/

If you have joint pain the Nuffield Joint Pain programme seems very good but my condition meant I needed more specialised 1:1 help than they could give me. Most Gyms have a trial period. It is my intention to find a physio to assess me given my condition and this might suit you. I am trying to use the free referral route but it is really slow to get and even harder for the focus to be on gym exercises. I may have to pay! If you can buddy up with someone or work with a group it will help. Have you tried the good boost programme? https://www.goodboost.ai They seem to be mostly water based exercises but they do gym type too. I got a really helpful email suggesting I look at their chair based exercises for instance. I found the water exercises great but it is difficult getting to the pool. They have a free app and it is supposed to adjust the exercises to you using ai. Hope this helps.