# Hurt shoulder - can't do upperbody workouts.. NOW WHAT??!



## nadirmg (Sep 29, 2007)

Two weeks ago i hurt my shoulder and was told by the Dr. to lay off the upper body workouts for several weeks.  Fine, I can accept that.  But meanwhile what do I do with my diet?  I've started running almost every day I work out (about 3 times a week) - but my workouts are limited to legs, some back, and abs.

Here's my stats and the BASIC gist of my diet.
Sex: Male
Age: 26
Height: 5???5???
Weight: 134
Goal: Decrease BF to 10% while increasing muscle mass - i


Calories: 2512
Fat: 68g
Carb: 270g
Protein: 209g

Here's the deal.  Since my accident my weight has gone from 135 to 139.  Before I was STEADILY at 134-135 - I always weigh at the same time every day.  Is this because I haven't been working my upper body?  Until two weeks ago I wasn't doing much with my legs, so maybe the gain is because I'm gaining lower body muscle?

I realize keeping the muscle I've gained in my upper body is pointless if I can't lift.  I'm just trying to figure out if I should toss the diet and do low-cal until I can start lifting again.  Also, why would I have gained 4 pounds.  How do I keep from putting on more pounds until I can lift again AND still keep a good diet??


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## XFatMan (Sep 30, 2007)

It's not all that bad, I think. You can still work your legs, which is the largest muscle group.

Well, at your weight, 2512 calories makes for around 18 cal / lb of bodyweight. That is in the bulking range if I'm not very wrong here. You could drop cals to maintain your weight (around 13 - 15 cal / lb). If you watch very carefully where you're going with that and do your cardio job, I think you can get away with hardly any fat gains. And then, you're 26, so getting back to where you left off shouldn't be that hard at all.


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## Mystik (Sep 30, 2007)

i almost hurt mine to on that blasted chest fly machine.


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## getbig33 (Sep 30, 2007)

hurt my shoulder over this past summer---sucks--cannot lift over my head anymore---only machine chest workouts as well--have tendinitis and a shoulder impingement--too much lifting heavy shit over the head---plus lat pull downs--my size is shrinking---any thoughts?


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## nadirmg (Oct 1, 2007)

13-15cal/lb would be 1800-2000 a day...
isn't that more of a cut than maintenance?  especially when i'm still working my legs and doing cardio it seems (rather i would hope) i wouldn't have to go down to such a low caloric intake.

really though i've already been thinking about dropping it down to there anyway.  i just wanted some confirmation that i should be doing that.  should i focus particularly on dropping protein, fat, or carb calories?  or all proportionally?


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## XFatMan (Oct 1, 2007)

Maintanance means that you neither gain nor lose fat. If you are gaining fat, then it's not maintanance anymore. You can up your cardio or lower your calorie intake to get that under control. I'd prefer cardio, such as rope jumping because it can make you burn as many as 1000 cals in an hour.


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## nadirmg (Oct 1, 2007)

Ok, thanks XFatMan.  I'll make sure I always hit the cardio.

I've got another question though...
Until I hurt my shoulder I wasn't really doing my legs that much.  Now, I'm doing lower instead of upper body workouts.  So, does my diet really have to change?  Or does upper body burn more fat than lower body?


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## IRONBULL05 (Oct 1, 2007)

Neither burn more calories bro.Its in the intensity of your workout.


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## KelJu (Oct 1, 2007)

nadirmg said:


> Two weeks ago i hurt my shoulder and was told by the Dr. to lay off the upper body workouts for several weeks.  Fine, I can accept that.  But meanwhile what do I do with my diet?  I've started running almost every day I work out (about 3 times a week) - but my workouts are limited to legs, some back, and abs.
> 
> Here's my stats and the BASIC gist of my diet.
> Sex: Male
> ...





No no no! Don't think that if you don't lift for a few months that you will lose your upper body strength. I injured my shoulder 3 months ago, and had to stop doing pressing movements for almost 2 and a half months. But, I worked hard on my legs, and pulling movements while my shoulder healed, and it only took 2 weeks to get right back to where I was. If you eat right and continue to train hard with the movements you can do, your body will hold onto much of the muscle in areas you can't work. 

Just take this time to work on some lagging areas that you normally didn't have room for in your training program.


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## nadirmg (Oct 2, 2007)

KelJu said:


> No no no! Don't think that if you don't lift for a few months that you will lose your upper body strength. I injured my shoulder 3 months ago, and had to stop doing pressing movements for almost 2 and a half months. But, I worked hard on my legs, and pulling movements while my shoulder healed, and it only took 2 weeks to get right back to where I was. If you eat right and continue to train hard with the movements you can do, your body will hold onto much of the muscle in areas you can't work.
> 
> Just take this time to work on some lagging areas that you normally didn't have room for in your training program.



Kelju, thanks for the encouragement.   It has totally sucked not doing any upper body stuff at all.  Doing just legs 3 times a week doesn't really feel like working out...
Hmmm, I'll have to see what movements I can do.  Was it trial and error for you figuring out what stuff you could and couldn't do?


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## nadirmg (Oct 2, 2007)

XFatMan said:


> It's not all that bad, I think. You can still work your legs, which is the largest muscle group.
> 
> Well, at your weight, 2512 calories makes for around 18 cal / lb of bodyweight. That is in the bulking range if I'm not very wrong here. You could drop cals to maintain your weight (around 13 - 15 cal / lb). If you watch very carefully where you're going with that and do your cardio job, I think you can get away with hardly any fat gains. And then, you're 26, so getting back to where you left off shouldn't be that hard at all.



Fitday says that I need 2500 just everyday, and if it's a workout day then I need as much as 3000.  But XFatman, you say this is in the bulking range?  Can you tell me where you got your numbers from?  I want to check this out because I'm really not trying to bulk so much as I want to add LBM.


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## XFatMan (Oct 3, 2007)

I got those numbers from this sticky: http://www.ironmagazineforums.com/diet-nutrition/21113-guide-cutting-bulking-maintenance.html

The numbers need to be tested for each individual, but they're very accurate as a starting point. Í've applied them to myself and they worked with very tiny changes.


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