Limited in arm and shoulder lifting.

[WDSTK]

Due to heart condition, my cardiologist says I must limit my arm lifting to no more than 50 lbs. She says I can lift more with my legs and such but not (pull or lift) more than 50 lbs.. I am 64 years old, I do train in boxing and karate still and have noticed strength increase from just hitting the heavy bag. I want to increase my arm and shoulder strength so I can handle things heavy at home easily like the ladder or tiller or pouring concrete. Cardiologist says I can just do more reps with a lighter weight. I thought that would just add bulk but not much strength. I do not want bulk. Any advise on how to increase my arm and shoulder strength without going over the 50 lb limit? Oh yeah, watch what you eat. I worked out hard all my life but my bad diet has given me this future.

 

[Fahcough]

50 lbs is a decent amount of weight for reps. If you do alternating so you aren't holding both at same time. Also thinking dumbbells and not a barbell with no weight. Maybe an increase in core work will net some strength output, or at least stability under load.
That tiller must be a small single lane? I picture a garden plow 2 ft wide and that sucker pulls me when it digs in, easily over 50 lbs of pulling.

 

[WDSTK]

My tiller is a commercial mid tine (all the weight on the tines when tilling) and weighs 150 lbs. You have to push and pull it around a lot especially in corners and end of rolls. It does give you a full body workout just doing a small garden. May see if some of the judo guys in the gym would want to do my garden next time.

 

[Fahcough]

Get them to break ground and get the tines in the dirt. Then you can do the 2nd wave of just walking it through grinding up the chunks. That way it's still your garden you built Yard work can be more exhausting than the gym.

Any interest in resistance bands?

 

[WDSTK]

Need to clarify. It is 50 lbs total or 25 lbs each. I am a 260 lb guy and this is just humbling. On the tiller, the ground is broke but the weight of the tiller is a problem in cornering. I do have a 25 lb Honda Tiller I use more. I think I will use it this time for my garden. Will take longer but less chance of a heart attack. I do use resistance bands and that is a good idea to use them. Thanks for the replies.

 

[RedNeckJiuJitsu]

Definitely not fun if you're a strength guy. Just gotta focus on strengthening that heart. My grandpap had a heart attack sometime before I was born in '84. I think it was even while my dad was growing up. At any rate, he took a lot of walks as long as I can remember. He was in a car wreck in 2001 and the Dr couldn't even tell that he'd even had a heart attack, and normally that scarring is considered permanent. So definitely make sure to get really high rep stuff (it won't really add bulk if you're doing like 20+ reps, especially if you don't eat to add size) and cardio and get that ticker into good shape so you can enjoy the rest of your life and complete all God has for you here.

 

[DEVILsSON]

If you can do calisthenics, that's what I'd do. I'd do various push up variations, including with feet elevated to increase the load on the shoulders. I know you're a heavier guy so maybe start with whatever variation you can do. There's no shame in doing push ups even if you have to do them on the knees to start.

I'd look into doing bodyweight rows and chin ups. If you need assistance, you can get bands to help you.

You can do conditioning based workouts using a sandbag. 50 pounds does not always feel like 50 pounds when it shifts and moves.

If I had heart issues, I'd be researching berberine and resveratrol(or similar ones like pterostilbene) both of which help clear your blood vessels. Also creatine and D-Ribose help the heart. These are all easy to take orally.

If I had any type of heart dysfunction I'd be looking into running cycles of BPC157 and/or TB500. Both have been shown to repair cardiac cell function. These have to be injected subcutaneously and possibly for weeks or months depending on the damage. But there are anecdotal accounts of them reversing heart damage.

 

[Fahcough]

If I had any type of heart dysfunction I'd be looking into running cycles of BPC157 .

Never searched for this and it appeared in the recommended part of Amazon yesterday.