United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Hey all!

I just found this board (never thought to look for one, really -- but I am really happy I did). !!

Okay, anyway -- I want to ask a question to all adults who have lived with obpi since birth: Have any of you come up with any "creative" ways to exercise/bulk-up your bicep or forearm in your injured arm? This isn't only a question for the guys, although I think (cosmetically) guys may care a bit more about this

I ask because my injured arm is visibly much more thin/frail, from the shoulder to the bicep, forearm and hand, and I'd really love to have 'equally' ripped biceps soon ! The problem is that I could never do bench presses or bicep curls; maybe resistence exercises...

Hope that this question wasn't too random; maybe all guys want to workout their biceps, huh??

Take care all!

-Johnny

Hi Johnny,
Just to warn you...If you plan to work your biceps also plan to work your triceps. Once you have an imbalance, it is really hard to correct. My biceps on my bpi arm is probably my strongest muscle just because it works better than the rest but to start maybe use a very small weight (I know it looks rediculous using a 2 lb weight in one hand and a 25 lb weight in the other) and do some curls. Or you could give your good arm a break while working your bpi arm because after a while the overuse symptoms begin to rule your life. If you want to add a small amount of resistance at a time theraband is great if you have access to it.

Other than that all I can think of is trying really hard all day to remember to try and do things with your bpi arm before you try it with your non-injured arm. Eventually your bpi arm will begin to just do certain tasks and develop strength just from being used. This has worked well for me.

Good luck bulking up!
Amy 22 years old ROBPI from MN

Hey Johnny,

There are all sorts of things you can do to help with your goal, in my experince. I try to make it my goal to overuse my bpi arm in general, since I know I'll never actually overuse it, it just gets me using it more often.

There are three major categories I work on when I work out my bpi arm: strength, endurance, and dexterity. The best thing I've come across was just to be creative. I find myself making pasta frequently, so I hold an empty pot with my bpi arm and it fill with water until it's too heavy to hold. After a while, I was able to hold it until it was full. At the grocery store, I try holding the basket for as long as I can with my bpi arm, and I wasn't at first, but can now do most of my shopping that way. A great exercise I just started doing recently is just opening and closing my hand in my affected arm for as long as I can.

I use a curling bar as well, and I use the same size weights on both sides, so the the good arm does get biggerthan the affected arm. Start out light, definitely. I started out doing 20lbs(10lbs each side) and over the corse of 2 yrs am up to 60lbs. You'll pretty much have to accept you won't progress as fast as most people, but that's the card we were dealt and can't be angry about it. I used to not be able to bench or do push ups, but now I taught myself how. I started off by just seeing if I could just hold myself up on the floor for a pushup, and I couldn't at first. But I kept try g every day, and after a while, was able just to hold myself up. Then my goal was to see how long I could do that, be it got better over time. Then I tried just holdng myself hoveri g above the ground an inch, and couldn't at first. Again, after time, I could at least hold the position. When that got easier, I slowly tried to lif tmyself. Same story, couldn't at first, but one day I was able to lift myself off the ground and do just one push up. All this took about 6 months from start to doing a pushup. I do about 30-40 a day now, and can do the bench press when I go to a gym. I went through a very similar process learning to a pullup. Now I'm trying to learn to walk ok my hands. I can almost do a handstand at this point. I'm at the point right now that I have become happy with. When I was I. High school, some kids used to be weirdes out by how disproportionate my arms were. Now, when itell people about my bpi, I have to show them my range of motion, and have them wrap their hands around my wrists to feel how one is smaller. It's really not visually notice able anymore. A close friend of mine was really surprised to learn about my bpi, because he said he always thought of me as a physically strong person. My left arm definitely looks stronger than it is. I'll take that for now. The best advice I have is to be patient and persistant. We're in now race to look a certain way by a certain time, and you do t to push your arm harder than it can handle. Consistancy has been more important to me than trying to satisfy my ego. The hard part is just knowing an enough is enough for the day. Push yourself, but also listen to your body if it's telling you you're doing more than it can handle. That's the hard part for me; I can't feel my muscle contract in my bpi arm like I can anywhere else in my body. The only way I know my affected arm it too tired, is when it just gives up, so I have to stop before that point.

I know I am longwinded on this subject, but I hope that sharing my experience may help. Sorry if there are tons of spelling errors, my computer is down, so I'm typing all this on the iphone, and it's a pain correct txt!

Chris 24/LOBPI

Hey Johnny,

Wow, you sound like you have the same setup as I do. Im 22, had BPI since birth. My right arm (BPI arm) is smaller from the shoulder down and lacks strength. I am very self couscous about it. I have been trying to lift the same amount with my non-affected arm but curling 10lbs is lifting paper, but 10lbs with my affected arm is pretty damn heavy. I've been kinda stuck at the same lifting weight with my affected side for months now, I can't get out. Even bench pressing, I usually lift 20-30lbs dumbbells but recently my affected arm's elbow started hurting from lifting too much so I only bench around 20-22lbs now which I still struggle getting up around my 10th rep. Muscle growth is slow, I can't really build much more muscle than what i have in my right arm. With that said, the only bad Im now dealing with is that by lifting, my non affected arm is getting pretty ripped up. Even my pecks are getting bigger, but the non affected side chest muscle is getting much bigger. The dude who posted above has an injury that doesn't affect the muscle growth as it sounds like his arm muscle progresses, but I don't think that the case with my injury....I would just recommend starting with super low weight and slowly progressing. You move up in weight, nice!! If no, hey, you will get awesome circulation and its a light cardio working for the body and heart.

Peace
David