Strength training for hypermobility
Are you hypermobile? Unsure if you are because you’ve never heard this term before? Consider:
Are you pretty flexible?
Is it easier to perform specific ranges of motion and other stretching positions, but you can also feel really tight in other areas?
Does it seem difficult to build muscle or “feel” muscles working different exercises?
Have you been described as “double-jointed?”
Can you do some pretty fun/slightly grotesque party tricks with your body?
If this sounds like you, count yourself as one of the estimated 15-20% of the population with hypermobility. Hypermobility, like most things human-related, falls on a spectrum. You may have one or two hypermobile joints due to an injury or compensation pattern. You may be further along that spectrum and have a soft tissue disorder affecting your collagen, which will affect multiple systems in your body. Most hypermobile folks are in this middle section of the spectrum. You may be all the way at the end of this spectrum with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Having a soft tissue/connective tissue disorder is an inherited genetic condition, so that means it will not go away.
Think of your connective tissue (tendons, ligaments, and fascia) like the plastic rings around a 6-pack of soda. Those rings are supposed to be stiff and rigid to hold the cans in place. That is the job of the ligaments in our joints - they are supposed to help stabilize our bones. However, in a hypermobile person, the ligaments are more like when you stretch out those soda can rings, and they don’t have quite as much structural integrity anymore. Certain muscles will hold on extra tight as a result because they aren’t getting as much help from their ligament friends. And since our connective tissues run everywhere in our body in all systems, there may also be things like digestive disorders, nearsightedness, and a long time to heal from cuts & bruises that you experience as well.
Every hypermobile person experiences their hypermobility differently. While it is generally true that it’s harder to “feel” muscles working, it can take longer to recover in between workouts, and it can take longer to build more muscle tissue than a non-hypermobile person. However, hypermobile people will benefit tremendously from strength training. It stabilizes those bendy joints. It can actually decrease tightness in those areas that feel stiffer and more restricted. Building more strength also generates a sense of empowerment and independence as you feel more confident you can tackle the activities in your day-to-day life. Strength training can also help us cope with stress and anxiety.
But, because bendy joints and loose ligaments offer so many movement options, it’s also easier for a hypermobile person to get injured. This is why more basic/foundational exercises are beneficial at first. While we should all be working towards lifting as heavy as we can, “heavy” is an extremely subjective term. It will take a hypermobile person a longer period of time to increase the weight they can lift. We’re looking for a moderate amount of weight that you can tolerate but still feels challenging. It is also important for anyone starting a strength training program to ramp up and progress slowly to not overload at the beginning, which increases the risk of injury.
Hypermobile folks - you have muscles, which means you can get stronger! It takes a bit more mindfulness and patience since there is a steeper uphill climb with hypermobility, but this is not a reason to forego strength training. Any time you seek a new program/gym/trainer, ASK THEM UPFRONT if they have experience working with hypermobility. If you are met with confusion, please keep looking for someone with experience working with your population. You deserve to be understood, and you deserve to get stronger. 🏋️♀️