BFS and Strength Gains: Experiences

[antman]

Diagnosed with BFS almost a year to the date. Started heavy lifting about 10 months ago. Since then, I've experienced pretty solid gains in strength and have seen significant increases in my bench press, squats and deadlifts, without any noticeable effects to my BFS symptoms. As a matter of fact, my overall twitching is at an almost 2-year low. HOWEVER .... as of just 3-4 weeks ago, just about any exercise seems to be detrimental to my physical well being. Specifically, I've had what feels like ulnar nerve issues in both forearms and hands, with elbow pain, tingling and numbness, flare -ups in my upper neck at the base of my skull as well as stiffness and soreness. These latest symptoms followed anything from my routine lifting workouts to riding my bike to painting my deck.So I'm not sure if it is possible for my body to all of a sudden become averse to exercise, but now I'm reluctant to workout, in fear of things getting worse. It's a real catch 22 for me, since I thought weight training and moderate cardio were actually helping, until recently.I'd love to hear anyone else's experience with weight training / exercise or theories on a possible link (good or bad) to BFS. Thanks.

 

[physicsmon24]

Take a couple weeks off to see if you may have an injury that can be healed with rest. From your symptoms, sounds like carpal tunnel or cubital tunnel syndrome. You could also have a compression of a disk in your neck that can cause nerve pain that extends down your forearm and can cause numbness in certain fingers. Just take a break and see if the symptoms subside, then take it slow to see if you can get back to normal workouts without the same pain. If the pain comes back, you should probably see an ortho.Take care,Vince

 

[IndustriesLumber]

I would second Vince's opinion. It's probably not BFS related.I'm 15 months into BFS and I work out a lot. I was swimming 2 x 2km per week for 5 months on top of jogging and weights. 2 months ago my shoulders started hurting and even sticking my arm out straight hurts after a minute or so. Of course I was thinking why do my shoulders pack it in now and is it because of BFS but after laying off swimming for a month I see improvement. I probably did rotator cuff in my shoulder but of course at the time in the back of my mind I was thinking is this something to do with my constant muscle twitching.One catch for those of us with BFS that excercise intensely is we tend to get concerned when we get injuries..........whereas before BFS we would just know we have injured ourselves somehow and need to rest.Take it easy for a bit and see an ortho + sports physio if you don't get any improvement.

 

[antman]

Just got a Medial Epicondylitis (aka Golfer's Elbow) diagnosis yesterday on my right elbow. May have nothing to do with my BFS. I appreciate the feedback above. So far, a week of rest has really helped. Now I have to be careful getting back to lifting.