I'm going to walk the mile event of the Flying Pig in downtown Cincinnati at the end of April and I need some help strengthening my triceps!

You might be thinking "damn, Brad, triceps have nothing to do with walking....... you must be more brain damaged than we thought!"

When I walk for any distance, like I will in this event, I walk with a walker, and I lean on it heavily when I push it, and my triceps get tired and are in so much pain that I have to stop every few steps to let the pain go away.

So, I'm going to go hard on my triceps in the gym for the next month and see if that helps me be able to walk it without stopping (or stopping a lot less).

I'm going to go over to the gym in a bit, but it's raining right now, and all the trainers will be gone by the time I get over there, so I figured I could see if anyone on here knows any good tricks to build up the triceps.

THANKS IN ADVANCE!

Here is the best advice I can give you on that. I'm not a body builder.

(03-23-2022, 03:56 PM)George Cantstandya Wrote: Here is the best advice I can give you on that.  I'm not a body builder.    

I obviously already tried that and was hoping for some things that people found to work well.

Damn, that's got to be difficult. Triceps aren't meant to do that. Best advice I can give you is try to simulate the event as much as you can during your training. Is there a track you can go to with the walker to practice? Assess where you're at the first day. Then build upon that. Little by little. Consistent. You vs. you. Progress, not perfection. And don't overlook rest. You need your rest to recover to prevent over training. Good luck.

Cable pull down 4x8 isometric (control the weight for 2 seconds on the come up.
Dips (u can do assisted if u need to or substitute w dips using a bench) 4x15
Skull crushers 3x10

That’s a little bit from my tricep days in the gym but I’m most definitely much younger lol

(03-23-2022, 04:07 PM)BFritz21 Wrote:

I obviously already tried that and was hoping for some things that people found to work well.

I was just kidding around.  I know Sunset is big into that sort of thing so maybe he can help you.  Other than that may I suggest some Reddit forums for more focused replies to your questions on various topics.  There are Reddit groups for just about every topic you can think of.  Usually you can ask a question, get quick answers that are fairly valid because the BS answers and replies are often down voted, or called out for being BS.  So the communities are curated by their own members.  That doesn't mean every reply is great but for questions on specific topics it isn't a bad place to start.  For example here is one that might be of help:

https://old.reddit.com/r/strength_training/

I only suggest this because this forum is primarily focused on the Bengals. So when asking questions unrelated to the Bengals or football other forums such as Reddit might garner more responses from people that are more involved in that particular topic.

(03-23-2022, 04:09 PM)oncemoreuntothejimbreech Wrote: Damn, that's got to be difficult. Triceps aren't meant to do that.  Best advice I can give you is try to simulate the event as much as you can during your training. Is there a track you can go to with the walker to practice? Assess where you're at the first day. Then build upon that. Little by little.  Consistent. You vs. you.  Progress, not perfection.  And don't overlook rest.  You need your rest to recover to prevent over training.  Good luck.

Yeah, I'm pretty good at ignoring pain and just pushing through it but it gets to be horrible. 

There's the football field with the track around it (I think they added a track) at the college I went to across the street but we just stuck to the gym. 

I'll obviously monitor and see how much easier it gets because I'm going to keep training but I'd also just like a way to strengthen them to make sure I'm ready.

As someone who actively coaches people with both strength building, and assisting with rehab from injuries, the best advice that I can offer to you is this;

Start dedicating time each day doing exactly what you are going to be demanding of your triceps on that day, walking using your walker. Build up the time and distance that you go each day, taking one to two days per week as rest days. You need these muscles to perform for endurance, no type or amount of traditional strength training exercises are going to get the job done like progressively increasing the time you spend asking them to support your weight on the walker. It will be tough at first, but those muscles will adapt to the work/load being put upon them.

(03-23-2022, 04:47 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: As someone who actively coaches people with both strength building, and assisting with rehab from injuries, the best advice that I can offer to you is this;

Start dedicating time each day doing exactly what you are going to be demanding of your triceps on that day, walking using your walker.  Build up the time and distance that you go each day, taking one to two days per week as rest days.  You need these muscles to perform for endurance, no type or amount of traditional strength training exercises are going to get the job done like progressively increasing the time you spend asking them to support your weight on the walker.  It will be tough at first, but those muscles will adapt to the work/load being put upon them.

I thought about that but, the only problem is, I don't have someone to go places and walk with me all the time. I'm usually pretty good but I do tend to lose my balance when I get tired. 

I could just walk around my place some and hope I don't fall, or I have a hallway with rails on the side that I walk up and back in (without the walker), but that will be a ***** and get very boring.

You're changing my whole new mode of attack! 

THANKS SUNSET!

I’ve got an idea, but you’re going to need someone to help you. (If you think this idea would even help you.)

https://www.adaptivemall.com/seemore/gaittrainers1.html

https://www.adaptivemall.com/inspired-by-drive-nimbo.html

https://www.adaptivemall.com/inspiredbydrivemoxiegaittrainer.html

Those are gait trainers. You may already be familiar with them. People build dip bars for their home gyms out of PVC pipe because it’s strong, lightweight, and affordable. Someone could build a frame out PVC pipe similar to those gait trainers. Lowe’s and Home Depot have quality caster wheels and wheels without casters.

https://www.rei.com/c/climbing-harnesses

Those are climbing harnesses. You could wear the climbing harness and suspend it from the side rails of the PVC frame with climbing rope, carabiners/snap link, and eye bolts, etc.

That can transfer some of that weight from your triceps to the harness, the frame, and your legs. While you’re still using your arms and the side rails of the frame for support just like you would with a walker

It’s not a strength/endurance problem; it’s a weight distribution problem.

(03-23-2022, 06:43 PM)oncemoreuntothejimbreech Wrote: I’ve got an idea, but you’re going to need someone to help you. (If you think this idea would even help you.)

https://www.adaptivemall.com/seemore/gaittrainers1.html

https://www.adaptivemall.com/inspired-by-drive-nimbo.html

https://www.adaptivemall.com/inspiredbydrivemoxiegaittrainer.html

Those are gait trainers. You may already be familiar with them. People build dip bars for their home gyms out of PVC pipe because it’s strong, lightweight, and affordable. Someone could build a frame out PVC pipe similar to those gait trainers. Lowe’s and Home Depot have quality caster wheels and wheels without casters.

https://www.rei.com/c/climbing-harnesses

Those are climbing harnesses. You could wear the climbing harness and suspend it from the side rails of the PVC frame with climbing rope, carabiners/snap link, and eye bolts, etc.

That can transfer some of that weight from your triceps to the harness, the frame, and your legs.  While you’re still using your arms and the side rails of the frame for support just like you would with a walker

It’s not a strength/endurance problem; it’s a weight distribution problem.

You're right!

I'll look into those! Thanks brother!

Change Hands.

I don't know how it works with a walker, but when you use crutches they should be adjusted so that your arms are locked out straight. This takes the strain off the muscle.

Seems like you would have to have a very short walker for that to work. So I doubt that helps much.

I assume that the wheelchair you've been using is a powered unit which does very little if anything for your upper body. Everyone I ever knew who used a conventional wheelchair had a very strong upper body..I dated a young woman in a wheelchair for around 6 months..she scared me when she got pissed off at me. She had linebacker arms..lol
It's something you may want to consider. It's not as easy, but keeping your upper body in shape beats letting it go to mush. 
Since my surgery last month I've lost most of my strength like it just went *POOF* all at once. As the old saying goes,  use it or lose it. I've experienced atrophy a few times in my life and it always takes longer to build back the strength that to lose it. 
It's really easy to forget about your muscle tone when you don't feel the need to use those muscles every day, but boy howdy you feel it when you need them..    
I'm getting the staples out today. Tomorrow I'm going to start working at building back the lost strength I've lost in a month. I'm figuring on 3-4 months minimum.. 

(03-25-2022, 02:38 PM)grampahol Wrote: I assume that the wheelchair you've been using is a powered unit which does very little if anything for your upper body. Everyone I ever knew who used a conventional wheelchair had a very strong upper body..I dated a young woman in a wheelchair for around 6 months..she scared me when she got pissed off at me. She had linebacker arms..lol
It's something you may want to consider. It's not as easy, but keeping your upper body in shape beats letting it go to mush. 
Since my surgery last month I've lost most of my strength like it just went *POOF* all at once. As the old saying goes,  use it or lose it. I've experienced atrophy a few times in my life and it always takes longer to build back the strength that to lose it. 
It's really easy to forget about your muscle tone when you don't feel the need to use those muscles every day, but boy howdy you feel it when you need them..    
I'm getting the staples out today. Tomorrow I'm going to start working at building back the lost strength I've lost in a month. I'm figuring on 3-4 months minimum.. 

I do use my manual wheelchair around my house but that only seems to help my biceps.

(03-25-2022, 04:48 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: I do use my manual wheelchair around my house but that only seems to help my biceps.

have you tried rolling around backwards instead? (pushing instead of pulling)

I did find this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPuL8F4I7k4

the Elastic bands he uses can be picked up from walmart pretty cheap..

Hope it helps.

(03-25-2022, 05:18 PM)XenoMorph Wrote: have you tried rolling around backwards instead? (pushing instead of pulling)

I did find this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPuL8F4I7k4

the Elastic bands he uses can be picked up from walmart pretty cheap..

Hope it helps.

I have not tried rolling backwards but that's not a bad idea!

And thanks for the video! I'm going to try some of those tricks now and definitely on Monday when I can get back into the gym!

I need to see if I can find any free weights!

What Sunset told you is the only thing that is going to help. Simply lifting weights isn't going to do anything other than possibly make the muscles bigger or tone them. That does nothing for the stamina you are looking for.

My wife works (well used to, as a nurse--she's a clinical liaison there now) for a physical rehab hospital and my niece works in the PT department, so i asked her just to confirm.

You have to do the exercises that put stress on those muscles and allow the muscles to gradually adjust to the added stress. 

(03-27-2022, 11:34 AM)rfaulk34 Wrote: What Sunset told you is the only thing that is going to help. Simply lifting weights isn't going to do anything other than possibly make the muscles bigger or tone them. That does nothing for the stamina you are looking for.

My wife works (well used to, as a nurse--she's a clinical liaison there now) for a physical rehab hospital and my niece works in the PT department, so i asked her just to confirm.

You have to do the exercises that put stress on those muscles and allow the muscles to gradually adjust to the added stress. 

Thanks brother.

This is helping me a lot. I've been walking around my place more and trying to put stress on them and then rest them to let them grow.

Hopefully I'll be able to do this!

You may want to see if you can get in a cardiac rehab program.. They'll help build up stamina pretty quick.. I gotta get back in cardiac rehab sometime real soon myself.. This big ass hole they dug into my hip kind of put me on the shelf for awhile..