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Thread: Surgery for Leg Length Discrepancy

  1. #11
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    I just don't see the point in adding 40lbs to my body, 97% of which would be fat. I have hit an absolute wall with any kind of strength gains and I am certain it is related to my discrepancy. It is not an issue with form or diet. There was a period of time I trained in a large caloric surplus and still saw very marginal strength gains which I think were primarily attributed to the pure anabolic affects of the food I was eating.

    Mark I realize that you have a very advanced understanding of biomechanics and that is why I value your input highly, but I disagree with a lot of your dieting advice, but that's here nor there.

    If I didn't have the discrepancy I would have no problem slow bulking up to 180-185 and staying lean in the process. And that's the key, I want to stay relatively lean, its healthier, it looks better and in the vast majority of applications it's more useful to be light with a lot of power.

  2. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by ursian1 View Post
    I am hesitant to up my body weight. I used to weigh 180lbs at one point. I decided I would rather be leaner and more athletic. I dropped 20 lbs of bodyweight (to 160) and saw very marginal losses on my strength, I think all my lifts went down about 10-15lbs.

    I honestly think if I went into a huge caloric surplus and gained weight the only muscle I would be putting on would be from the anabolic affects of food and not my workouts. Also the discrepancy affects your entire body not just your legs. I have noticed that my lats are different sizes as well and I think my arm lengths are affected because my shoulders are tilted. The human body adapts to the discrepancy by shifting certain areas to keep the head level. My shoulders are slightly shifted to one side. So I believe it negatively impacts my upper body as well. It creates imbalances in every part of the body.
    Sorry, but 5'11" 157lbs is extremely skinny. I know, I was once 6'0" 150lbs. You can easily get to at least 200 and be lean and "athletic". I know I look 100 times better now at 230 than I ever did at 150.

  3. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by ursian1 View Post
    I just don't see the point in adding 40lbs to my body, 97% of which would be fat.
    Jesus. Fuck. Go away.

  4. #14
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    Ok, this is getting off topic. Any advice more advice on the LLD / surgery would be helpful. I appreciate everyones input so far!

  5. #15
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    If you don't want 97% of weight added to be fat, don't live on cigarettes and KFC. But even that would only be 75% fat. I think you can eat better than that.

    I strongly doubt you've hit the end of your strength gains. I train a person who can pull 255, I doubt you have less genetic potential than a 67yo woman with a history of herniated discs, osteoarthritis and high blood pressure. If you insist on being built like a swizzle stick then this will inhibit you, yes. But you could nonetheless get stronger.

    12 months ago at WFAC I pulled 225 at I think 175, last week I pulled 395 at 198. For the time spent no SSC would consider those results good, but they do nonetheless show to you that you can do more. Again, just as fucked-up physically as you, probably more I'm guessing. And 44yo. When I was 12yo a doctor wanted to put bolts in my spine, I said no thankyou. Go look up Lamar Gant, he had bigger balls than either of us.

  6. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by ursian1 View Post
    I am hesitant to up my body weight. I used to weigh 180lbs at one point. I decided I would rather be leaner and more athletic. I dropped 20 lbs of bodyweight (to 160) and saw very marginal losses on my strength, I think all my lifts went down about 10-15lbs
    Not quite, according to your post from 2014:

    Quote Originally Posted by ursian1 View Post
    My current lifts are

    Bench: 240
    Squat: 250
    Deadlift: 310

    ... weigh ~175 (dry) @ 5 11". I am not trying to really gain size at this point. I just want to maintain my weight, gain muscle and lose fat.
    Funnily enough in that old thread, you also claimed perfect form but were found to be squatting high in the (now private) videos you posted.

    And also just as you do here, you whinged about Rips' diet advice, which actually does work, no matter how many times you claim it doesn't.

    You've spent the last 18 months (at least) getting skinnier and weaker. Of course you'll be in pain.

  7. #17
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    If you want to be taller rather than shorter I know there is leg LENGTHENING surgery, where they break the offending leg, insert metal spacers, and let it regrow the distance in between. Some short people add several inches to their height doing this, I think there is one guy who went from around 5'8 to 6'2. All things being equal that seems like the better play although I don't know how it compares for your problem in any other manner.

  8. #18
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    I have a femoral LLD as well but let me first say your diet point of view is fucked up. You'll lose months or even years of progress until you'll realize that you won't gain any significant amounts of strength if you're not gaining weight. What you will also realize after you've decided to put on some weight, is that it is much easier now to lose the excess bodyfat at this point if you wish so.

    Regarding the femoral LLD I've experimented around with a slightly staggered squat stance and it feels much better to me that way. Try a bodyweight squat in front of a mirror and put one foot slightly in front of the other and notice how the knees track. Then put the other foot slightly in front and redo the process. You will definitely be able to see a difference in symmetry between the two. Go with the one that looks better, put on some weight and try to find your ideal stance (i.e. how much in front of the other you have to place that foot) by how it feels to you.

    I didn't feel much of a difference when deadlifting or powercleaning but I might have to experiment some more. Since the knee angle is quite open already anyway, shimming might be more productive on those lifts. I do use a staggered stance on the press 2.0 as well though because I can definitely get more ROM on the hip extension that way. Putting the "wrong" foot in front actually feels really fucked up when pushing the hips forward. I feel a lot of tension on the hip flexor area of that leg, the glute of the other leg and my whole body wants to rotate which reduces the ability to bounce back. Putting the "correct" foot in front feels much more balanced than even a neutral stance and allows to push the hips more forward as well as I already said. Weirdly enough I tried to press with a shim and I was much weaker but that might be because my body just wasn't used to it.

  9. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by ursian1 View Post
    I recently went to an Orthopedic doctor who diagnosed me as having a leg length discrepancy. He took standing x-rays and measured the tilt in my pelvis and roughly estimated that one of my legs is 17mm or .67inches longer than the other.
    Standing x-rays are not the best way to evaluate leg length. Foot and ankle mechanics (for example, fallen arches), knee problems, pelvic rotation, etc., can give the appearance of leg deficiency. A scanogram, which measures the actual length of the femur and tibia, is the best approach.

    I'm not saying you don't have a true leg deficiency, but even if you did, it may not be responsible for your chronic back pain. If you do, I'd just go with the lift in my shoe.

    Regardless, good luck.

  10. #20
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    starting strength coach development program
    I have scoliosis, a LLD and that's just what I know of after finding out by accident when visiting an orthopedic surgeon for an on the job injury unrelated to my spine.

    I asked him, a surgeon who worked for various pro sports teams in Miami, whether I needed to consider surgery of any sort or chiropractic care.

    He told me to continue lifting weights and dismissed the other ideas. (Which was my intention all along in any case.)

    I'd be damned if I would opt for elective surgery to shorten an appendage when a simple insert might be all that was called for to provide adjustment and possibly alleviate pain.

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