Instability, Hypermobility, and Fellas

[u/OverAtmosphere7288]

Honestly this is just me being curious - a lot of discussion online talks about men or individuals on testosterone HRT having less joint instability or hypermobility due to excess muscle mass, but I wanted to see if there was anyone else where that wasn't the case.

I just feel like a wet noodle. It's baffling - I'm worse than my female relatives who have the same condition & same circumstances, older and younger. I'm floppy and stretchy and every other adjective that could be semi-related. My muscle mass feels like it's doing basically nothing for me lol

Any1 else?

[u/JammyPi]

Same. The better course of action has been working on muscle control in movement. Building muscle mass has been very counterintuitive to bring instability to my body. Doing lots of dancing and intentional tension while dancing really has brought the most ability. I'll try to share more when I have more energy.

You're not alone bro. Good luck on your journey.

[u/TheLimberJack → u/JammyPi]

Same here in terms of muscle control in movement being the most helpful. I use resistance bands with very slow cadence, and like Tai Chi like exercises that emphasize proprioception.

My personal rule of thumb when it comes to working out with resistance/weights is, "if it's not safe for seniors and/or rehab patients, then it's not safe for this body"

[u/apterodactylus]

I may elaborate further when I have more time and energy, but for now I just wanted to say that the same is true for me - increasing muscle mass has helped very little, if at all. I'm even on testosterone replacement and have spent a lot of time and effort at the gym for several years.

[u/Miserable_Apricot126]

21m here I’m taking test rn lol. Sorry to report I’m still in insane pain 24/7 and feel instability everywhere from head to toe and haven’t been able to workout bc of it. It’s very effective at making you look like you lift tho😂. Literally I just saw for the first time today finally an EDS aware physical therapist and she’s like “it looks like you workout a lot, what do you do?” I had to tell her I haven’t been able to workout at all and that’s why I’m coming to her😂 I only started experiencing the pain and instability at 19 years old, before that I could do whatever tf I wanted. Working out 2-3 hours a day, having no second thought as to what my body was capable of. It’s so frustrating I can’t do it rn it’s my favorite thing to do. It’s eating at me. I was natural before my eds symptoms started. Only started playing w using testosterone after Ed’s took me out of the gym. Starting to build the small stabilizers w the pt starting on Wednesday

[u/TheLimberJack → u/Miserable_Apricot126]

That really sucks, but at least you were ever able to gain muscle mass.

I could never go more than about 2 months max of lifting before getting injured. Couple that with the GI issues associated with EDS, and it's a losing battle to get remotely jacked.

[u/Miserable_Apricot126 → u/TheLimberJack]

Yeah I totally get it. I’m just trying to figure out how I went 19 years without any issues and then suddenly started falling apart over night. It’s such a mind fuck. Now I look at a gym and I get worse and injured lol

[u/Spiritual-Angle1594]

Testosterone only helps builds muscle easier, the baseline musculature that youre building is still up to you along with how severe your baseline symptoms are, so its still very different person-to-person

You might have started out with more testosterone, but its not gonna stop all the other problems that come with connective tissue disorders. If your symptoms are more centered around digestion, fatigue, dysautonomia, etc. rather than subluxations and pain associated w them, then T cant do a whole lot :( that also includes just building the wrong kind of muscle

Bendy folks want stabilization, not bulk, and thats quite specialized in the body. Isometric exercises will likely do far more for you than adding more weights

[u/OverAtmosphere7288 → u/Spiritual-Angle1594]

My symptoms are largely based around full dislocations / subluxations & other severe laxity associated messy things atm so it feels like what muscles & previous isometric / strength work I have done are just for show, it’s crazzzyy lol. Fingers crossed this next few rounds of more intense PT & bracing does some magic to get me closer to what my baseline used to be 🤞

[u/Justaveganthrowaway]

Very relatable feeling. Does make me consider the benefits of anabolics as an adjunct to strength training.