fibromyalgia and 26 years old male.

[tal]

been having fibro for the last 8 years. full body pains that actually started after weightlifting.
i joined the gym again a few times those years, but something came every time, pains/ilness and such.
i was very muscle oriented and didnt thing much about my health as a first reason.
now i had a change in my mind and i am looking at the bigget picture and looking for health.

im finally doing proper paleo and am paleo clean for the last full month.
i did a gym membership again, and asked my friend to teach me deadlift.
for now even with only the bar is kinda hard(do it for 10 reps) and because my pains started after gym i have some fears.
im not sure my body can deal with rm5 (or any rm) for now, and when i do try i get very very easily tired for a long period.
i also have some kind of a problem which i think is fibromyalgia related in my left shoulder, and even doing squat with just the bar, made my shoulder itch for more then a week later.
i thought about doing only 2 times a week strength training of low weight compound exercises, like 2-3 at first+ add pilated/yoga/feldenkrise 1 time.
im not interested in the muscle gain anymore as much as i am in the health and the making of a habit for the long run.

what should i do about the squat and the pain? what training and exercises should i do? when should i increase weights? i would appreciate any advice.
tal.

[Mark Rippetoe]

There are no lifters with "fibromyalgia". Get big and strong -- Be Somebody. It will go away.

[Paul1]

The cardinal problem in fibromyalgia is 'hyperesthesia', or heightened pain awareness. Exercise of all sorts is THE treatment because you begin to feel your body getting sore or getting tired because you've EARNED that fatigue and that pain. You start to recalibrate your awareness of your sensations, and in that sense it's a kind of biofeedback. You also sleep much more effectively, which is yet another problem faced by folks with fibromyalgia. Finally, there is a sense of joy and accomplishment in not just exercising but making progress, that is seeing yourself capable of progressively more than you had thought.

In the real world, in which I'm referred lots of fibro patients (because lots of them think they have an infection, though invariably they don't) i try to identify whatever physical activity they used to do or like to do. For a couple it's been lifting weights, but it's been everything from running to ballet dancing to marching band with the people I see... I think priority #1 is to get them to do something they are motivated to do. If you're motivated to lift, then just do it. If you're apprehensive about loading the weights on then do it slowly until you realize that a 50 pound squat doesn't bother you any more than a 45 pound squat, and hey - that's progress isn't it?

[TinyArnold]

...because my pains started after gym i have some fears...

Can you give more details? It would be interesting to hear how it all started.

[Tennisgolfboll]

By not lifting you are in pain and sick as a dog. And you go to the gym for a week and now you are not healed?

Wake up call. Doing nothing will destroy you. Lift that iron. For years!! and do it right, buy ss and pp. Follow a good real program and feel that fatigue and power.

Wake the hell up

[David Lee]

Look up the Brian Broke Legs story. If you feel this way at 26, wait until you're 46.

[Brodie Butland]

As I've said in a prior post, I taught a 65-year old female with fibromyalgia and an arthritic hip to squat--she could barely do 20 lbs squat on the first session, and bodyweight squats were fatiguing. If a 65 yo female can achieve a bodyweight squat within 4 months, you can in a much shorter period.

The only modification to the SS template we made was using the leg press for about three weeks to strengthen the full ROM, since the bodyweight squat was a little dodgy. We don't use the leg press anymore because she can squat just fine at this point.

Her symptoms have significantly abated. Though revealingly, they crop up if she takes a week off.

Point being...don't make excuses, just start lifting. And keep lifting.