Tremors, Motor Skills, Hysterectomy and Weightlifting

[Mark Rippetoe]

Spar, we know the Earth is not flat. Be calm.

[Simma Park]

Spar, we know the Earth is not flat. Be calm.

Sleep deprivation may be making me punchy.

But I've always enjoyed uterus lore. I should totally turn it into a children's book. The working title can be be Have You Seen My Uterus?

....oh wait, that could be misconstrued. Maybe Where Is My Uterus Today?

[tertius]

Sorry--I know we are To Speak No More Of This, but I am so tickled by this "theory". A uterus is--what--the size of a small pear? If that amount of space were actually that much of an issue, then our guts would be in danger of collapsing under strain every time we moved our bowels, wouldn't they?

You mean yours don't? And here I thought I was normal.



I have a question about the tremor, both neurologically and in terms of strength.

If the tremor only manifests under what amounts to a reasonable load for this woman-- where there are a lot of contractile units involved--wouldn't increasing the strength of the muscles in question and so reducing the necessary recruitment for things like lifting a teapot actually improve the tremor? Assuming, of course that the source of the tremor is a disorganized recruitment pattern when large numbers of units are involved.

I mean, this is true of essentially everyone, really. It's just that it only appears when we are operating very, very close to capacity. I would assume the signal-to-noise ratio decreases as we age (and is exacerbated by sedentary habits and muscle wasting, and this is what is meant by 'benign essential tremor'), but it seems to me that reducing the recruitment necessary to perform everyday tasks would allow someone to largely bypass the problem.

Am I talking sense, or am I completely off-base?
A quick goog/wiki suggests I may in fact be full of shit, but worth shooting the idea out there.

[Michele Knaub]

This may be of interest:

The illustrious strength training advocate Krista Scott-Dixon has been publishing dispatches since 2009 from an Australian gentleman with diagnosed Parkinson's who has been combating his tremors with weight training.

He is called Shaky Man.

He does some amazing things in the gym, and also provides interesting perspective, reflection and links to relevant medical research to support his argument that resistance training not only does not harm his condition, but is helping it.

Here is the first installment (2009): http://www.stumptuous.com/shaky-man-in-the-gym

Part 2, "Keep On Shakin:" http://www.stumptuous.com/shaky-man-...keep-on-shakin

Part 3, "Trembling, but No Fear:" http://www.stumptuous.com/shaky-man-...ng-but-no-fear

[ColoWayno]

I've experienced tremors in my feet under two scenarios. The first is performing a piano piece in front of people. The first time it happened I was playing a piece from memory after not having played it for years in front of a 800-1000 of my closest friends. The foot that shook was the one I was trying to use for the sustain pedal. This requires fine control under an extremely light load. This has recurred, the more nervous I am the worse the shaking.
The second situation is operating a clutch in a high stress traffic situation. The same factors are involved, an insignificant load, fine control over a limited range, and frayed nerves.
My experience seems to jive with the commonly sited case of drinking from a cup... With the complication of stress being involved.
In my case relaxation techniques like deep breathing are helpful. In the case of piano playing, knowing the music, actually being good at it and getting over my damn self (I've played for 44 years) are my goals.
For driving now I just carry my glock in order to shoot my way out of stressful situations.
I think the weight lifting might help on a couple of levels, the first just making me a more confident human and (maybe) something to do with organizing recruitment.

[Jonathon Sullivan]

If the tremor only manifests under what amounts to a reasonable load for this woman-- where there are a lot of contractile units involved--wouldn't increasing the strength of the muscles in question and so reducing the necessary recruitment for things like lifting a teapot actually improve the tremor? Assuming, of course that the source of the tremor is a disorganized recruitment pattern when large numbers of units are involved.

If that is actually what is going on, perhaps. But both Parkinsonism and essential tremor are neurodegenerative, the former worse than the latter. Parkinsonism arises from degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the central nervous system. Training won't bring them back, it will only help support function that remains. The etiology of essential tremor is unclear (go read about it and behold the hand-waving speculative bullshit), but it also appears to be neurodegenerative.

We have data that says strength training improves mobility, gait and QoL in Parkisonism. But I haven't seen anything about strength training and tremor. It is interesting to hypothesize that improving neuromuscular recruitment will have an effect on the tremor in these conditions, but I'm not that optimistic, because in these disorders it's not about recruitment, it's about control. Again, however, I'm not aware of data on this.

And it's important to bear in mind that we don't know the etiology of tremor in this particular case.

[tertius]

If that is actually what is going on, perhaps. But both Parkinsonism and essential tremor are neurodegenerative, the former worse than the latter. Parkinsonism arises from degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the central nervous system. Training won't bring them back, it will only help support function that remains. The etiology of essential tremor is unclear (go read about it and behold the hand-waving speculative bullshit), but it also appears to be neurodegenerative.

We have data that says strength training improves mobility, gait and QoL in Parkisonism. But I haven't seen anything about strength training and tremor. It is interesting to hypothesize that improving neuromuscular recruitment will have an effect on the tremor in these conditions, but I'm not that optimistic, because in these disorders it's not about recruitment, it's about control. Again, however, I'm not aware of data on this.

And it's important to bear in mind that we don't know the etiology of tremor in this particular case.

Yes, I went and read about essential tremor right before I posted, hence the last line or two.

And it might be my imagination or selective memory, but I can't recall seeing very many fit, strong older people having tremor issues, unless they had a relatively severe disease like Parkinson's, or an acute event like a stroke. I can only recall seeing it in the frail elderly.

I know I am being very nontechnical with my signal-to-noise ratio analogy, but that seems to be a way to relate recruitment and control for gross motor skills. Finer motor skills, such as the example Wayno posted seem unlikely to be affected much. But I suppose it would matter to what extent the quality of the nerve signaling varies with intensity of recruitment. Hmmm.

As for a lack of data, I smell a suite of experiments to be conducted. Wouldn't you agree, Dr. Sullivan?

[Karl Schudt]

A data point on the hysterectomy: I got my wife to start SS because she was so weak after an emergency hysterectomy. She's done really well, without any ill effects of the missing uterus. BW 107, deadlift 165 or so. What could she do with that uterus, I wonder?

[tertius]

What could she do with that uterus, I wonder?

Bleed on a semi-regular schedule?