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Real Life Fitness Questions Answered

Kelly Marshall
Fitness Consultant

Posted 26 May 08

I have limited mobility right now - how can I burn calories?

Hi Kelly,

I'm 43 and in serious need of a Hip replacement, on crutches to get about but not able to do much because I also need a Carpal tunnel operation, - bit of a wreck at the moment!!! I sleep in spurts of 3-4 hrs and tablets make me tired most of the time. Can you give me some ideas of what I could do to burn calories, When I was able I used to walk, cycle and was pretty active even though big. I get bored quickly so it needs to be fun/amuse me.

Thanks. [:?]

Our expert says...

Hi there,

Well I think your situation requires, (to optimise the benefit), a specialist approach with a corrective exercise specialist, (the highest level of personal trainer in the fitness industry), as the extent of your restricted movements and pain would ideally need to be assessed in person on a 1-2-1 basis. This would need to be done privately but essentially only require 1 or 2 sessions with someone. You can locate trainers in your area using the search directory in the resources section of the website.

I can give some general guidelines but I do stress that I highly recommend you invest to ensure you approach the situation as comprehensively as possible.

Obviously you need to be active around your mobility restrictions and with wrist tendonopathy as well, the most likely possibilities for exercise would involve a seated position, (hip supported and rested) and use of the upper body but with the wrist kept fixed in a straight position. What you could try is an upper body circuit with very light weights, (i.e. bean cans), or none at all, where you perform certain arm movements in a continuous fashion, to target different muscles and increase the heart rate and calorie burning during that period of time.

For example, you could start with:

1) a bicep curl movement, (see example given in arms article on website under Kelly?s home exercise article section), followed by,

2) shoulder press ? where you start with your hands at ear level, (squeeze your shoulder blades together to give good posture), then extend the arms, reaching up with the arms towards the ceiling and lower back to the start position under control.

3) Overhead triceps extension ? with arms extended overhead, turn your forearms so your palms face inwards towards each other then bend at the elbow and lower the hands towards and then behind the head. Then extended the arms again towards the ceiling, ensuring you keep your elbows close together, (as if you were holding a basketball between your elbows), ths targets the back of the upper arm.

This simple collaboration of 3 upper body movements could be performed one after the other, 20 reps on each and each circuit completed 3-4 times in total. This will help blood flow around the body, tone the upper body and increase the heart rate, all without undue stress around your pelvis.

All of the aforementioned movement patterns can be performed with the wrists kept straight which minimises any stress on the carpal tunnel area and only light weights need be used, (if you use any at all), so again this should not cause you any excessive wrist discomfort.

A more complete solution would require, as mentioned, specialist attention to confirm what movements would be right for you, based on what you were capable of. It may also be possible to get you doing muscle activating techniques to help train and strengthen the muscles around your pre-op hip to help with recovery from the operation, but again it would require an assessment and 1-2-1 teaching and supervision.

I hope this has given you some direction and I hope you find it useful. I wish you all the best with your fothcoming operations.

Kelly


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