I could tell you stories for hours non-stop. Pediatricians are the worst. COVID19 Factors We Should Consider/Current Events
But let's hear from the rest of you.
Member
Doctors
Rip,
Currently dealing with three of my clients who have been ill-informed by their doctors about strength training.
Two pieces of advice were "Don't deadlift more than 25 pounds", "Don't deadlift more than 110 pounds". Both pieces have been ignored by my clients.
In a third case, doctor has told my client to only do moderate weights to "not cause inflammation" (she has supraspinatus tendonitis), to do "rotator cuff exercises", and to go down on her deadlift weight so she doesn't get sore in her hips (which - more than anything else - is a recovery issue).
Client would obviously believe her doctor than anyone else.
I am curious to know how you've dealt with such situations in the past where your clients were ill-informed by doctors - and where it was challenging to make them understand the importance of building up their strength, rather than following unfounded claims by their doctors.
Thanks
TMPHBITEU
I could tell you stories for hours non-stop. Pediatricians are the worst. COVID19 Factors We Should Consider/Current Events
But let's hear from the rest of you.
Member
I think some people can be convinced if you explain that doctors give advice that first and foremost covers their own ass. If there is an established pattern that they know will keep them out of legal/professional trouble, they will push people into that pattern, regardless of how effective it is. They're just doing what is "safe". Of course, before explaining, you might want to cover your own ass and make it clear you're not offering medical advice.
Other people are going to obey their doctor no matter what, 100% of the time, and there is nothing you can do about it.
TMPHBITEU
Yes. The medical industry depends on the 105s. Can't be helped.
Member
My doctor advised me to always "breathe out as you're lifting".
I could see from his physique (land whale) that he knows a great deal about strength training and promptly ignored said unsolicited advice. Despite eschewing this medical fact, I am surprisingly still alive. I now have a different doctor.
Looking forward to other lifters' experiences with their doctors.
✓ Member
If you find the answer to this question, I suggest you bottle and sell it. If you go into a doctor’s office and bemoan a broken television, odds are they’ll have an opinion on how to fix it. In my experience training people, they’ll take the word of a doctor - or even worse, a physio - over anything else, even their own experience. If they went in for a specific issue (I.e. knee pain), you’re fucked even if it’s unrelated. If they don’t trust their own experience over the word of a doctor, you’re going to be pushing that rope uphill and just move on.
Member
I've had juvenile arthritis since I was 7. No one ever mentioned at any point to try to lift weights, ever. They forbid sport practice for a few years and then gave me the green light for soccer and swimming, with an emphasis on swimming because "it trains the whole body and you are lighter in the water". Needless to say soccer was a failure and luckily I realized I could do this lifting thing with much higher levels of safety for my joints and actually get something useful out of it.
I have heard from a couple people that their young doctors advised in favor of lifting weights and getting stronger, in a very broad way. But this is probably the exception to the rule.
Except for my arthritis, I never had to deal with doctors in my life and I hope by the time I will have to, doctors won't be so full of bullshit as I've heard from this forum
Member
Give the man a medal!!!Originally Posted by irongeek
Member
While this doesn't apply to lifting, to does apply to doctors not knowing what the hell they're talking about.
Uncle Sam moved us back home finally and I decided to "find a doctor." Found one within walking distance and set up a physical appointment. During the appointment, he decided to go over nutrition. On his screen, the POS USG nutrition pyramid. He started "You should be eating 4-5 servings of vegetables a day. How many do you eat?" I stopped him there, said I'd like to start this relationship out honestly and said: I don't eat like that. What followed was his shock that I eat my first meal of the day at 10:00 to 11:00. And it mostly consists of animal products. And my second (and last) meal at 6-7:00pm and again, mostly meat with a chance of salad or maybe potatoes.
Of course he pointed to my blood panel as a concern for him. Note that my total cholesterol was over 200, but my HDL was 72. My glucose that day was 108, which was marked high, but every other measurement was in what medical science apparently considered ideal. He started talking statins. I said, No! He expressed concern again, based on my diet. I said: OK, set me up for that heart MRI thing (CAC: coronary artery calcium test) and if I get any score other than zero, then I'll talk to you about statins.
He sets me up and I go see the cardiologist. He looks at my blood panel numbers and seriously asks me: Why am I seeing you? I explained what his colleague was concerned with. He laughed, revealed to me that he's a "low-carb eater and runner," and set me up for the CAC. You guessed the ending: I got a zero. I'm looking forward to my April physical when I get to see the original doctor again.
When I told this story at work, fully half of my colleagues were shocked that I'd question my doctor. And that there is the problem with US medicine. Doctors are not infallible and patients have rights.
Oh, and the original doc did tell me I was overweight. Because I'm 5'8" and I weigh 180 pounds. And because the NIH site says I'm overweight based on their BMI calculator. Sorry doc, I've been calipered before and got 17%. The BMI calculator is BS.
Member
I'm obese too. At 5'7" ~ 190 lbs. A recent ortho visit had a BMI warning on it. It was an automated report. The doctor said nothing about it, and the nurses dismissed the warning when I told them I didn't FEEL obese. "It does that to everybody." (my paraphrase)
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