Eye Doctor Told Me to Not Lift Weights…

[Rasheed]

   Eye doctor told me to not lift weights because in my left eye, I have -2 myopia and astigmatism. She did not explain what exercises to do, basically she told me to not lift anything heavier than 10 pounds (even that only sitting and laying down). She said running is okay but running does not build muscle.

• Any advice, what to do? 
• Can I lift weights?
• How can I build muscle?
• What form of exercise to do for muscle building in this situation?

[Raptorsin7]

Just now, Rasheed said:

   Eye doctor told me to not lift weights because in my left eye, I have -2 myopia and astigmatism. She did not explain what exercises to do, basically she told me to not lift anything heavier than 10 pounds (even that only sitting and laying down). She said running is okay but running does not build muscle.

• Any advice, what to do? 
• Can I lift weights?
• How can I build muscle?
• What form of exercise to do for muscle building in this situation?

Go speak to another eye doctor and compare their perspectives.

Learn about if other people have cured myopia and astigmatism and do what they do.

It seems unusual that an eye doctor would tell you not to work out, but I don't understand your situation.

[Leo Gura]

Sounds fishy.

[Rasheed]

Honestly, I had the same reaction. I feel like this lady who told me this does not understand working out that much.  I started researching this topic on the web but there were no clear answer. At the same time I am thinking: Every single person who lifts weights, has perfect eyesight? That’s unlikely…I don’t know. Probably have to ask other doctors aswell….

[Loving Radiance]

@Rasheed Do you want to try out Bates method for myopia? I never stuck with it, so your report would be amazing to read.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cZN3ESTzOI

Quote

1. Stretch & Yawn (Stretch whole body and yawn the first thing in the morning)

2. Yogic eye movements (Stretch up your eyes and stretch them muscles)

3. Nose Drawing (Close eyes and imagine the tip of your nose drawing something)

4. Massage your eyes and face (Try to relax your eyes and muscles)

5. Palming (Rub your hands and put them flat on both of your eyes)

6. Long swing (Try to get some air and start swinging your whole body. Keep your head moving simultaneously along with the body moving)

7. Sunning (Get some sunlight and close your eyes facing toward the sun and relax. Don’t squint.)

8. More palming

9. Yoga and meditation (Try to relax)

10. Evening sunning

11. Night swinging (Do it slow this time)

12. Long night palming (Palm on your bed and put pillows on your elbow to relax. Palm long or to fall asleep)

REPEAT

Keep taking more vision practices and explore what you prefer or what fits into your schedule. There are other more methods than this video. Keep learning.

Never quit even if your eyesight got better. The principle of the Bates Method is to relax.

 

Edited November 30, 2021 by Loving Radiance

[Michael569]

1 hour ago, Rasheed said:

Every single person who lifts weights, has perfect eyesight?

nope, guys wear contacts to the gym  

Maybe lifting heavy ass weights where your head is about to pop could put too much pressure on the microvasculature of the retina (maybe) but I'd be sceptical that engaging in moderate levels of physical activity is detrimental. I'd probably also avoid doing a lot of handstand pushups and that sort of stuff. 

Eye health is determined to a large degree by genetic predisposition. And then also by screen time, lightning in the environment and potentially bad habits such as constant eye rubbing. In extreme cases, severe retinol deficiency could lead to premature blindness but that's not the case for the majority of people. 

It could be worth the investigation looking into what @Loving Radiance suggested. Bates method has a lot of self-reported claims by people all over the internet who say it has helped. I'd at least consider buying the book and reading it even if you never tried it. 

[Rasheed]

1 hour ago, Michael569 said:

nope, guys wear contacts to the gym  

Maybe lifting heavy ass weights where your head is about to pop could put too much pressure on the microvasculature of the retina (maybe) but I'd be sceptical that engaging in moderate levels of physical activity is detrimental. I'd probably also avoid doing a lot of handstand pushups and that sort of stuff. 

Eye health is determined to a large degree by genetic predisposition. And then also by screen time, lightning in the environment and potentially bad habits such as constant eye rubbing. In extreme cases, severe retinol deficiency could lead to premature blindness but that's not the case for the majority of people. 

It could be worth the investigation looking into what @Loving Radiance suggested. Bates method has a lot of self-reported claims by people all over the internet who say it has helped. I'd at least consider buying the book and reading it even if you never tried it. 

Thanks @Michael569

- Can 30 minutes of weight lifting, upper body and lower body, 4x per week, 4 sets of 12 reps for each muscle group, actually cause harm for eyesight? Obviously, I am not gonna lift so heavy that my eyes gets popped out.  

I still did some more research on this. Still did not find anything, 

[Michael569]

18 minutes ago, Rasheed said:

Can 30 minutes of weight lifting, upper body and lower body, 4x per week, 4 sets of 12 reps for each muscle group, actually cause harm for eyesight

I've never looked into the in-depth research on this topic to give you an educated answer but my intuition tells me you'll be fine. I know this is not a good enough answer but maybe consider getting a second opinion from another ophthalmologist.

One of the benefits of exercise, an especially outdoor one is that your eyes are always wandering and so you focus on different objects all the time, different distances, blinking is more rapidly and bringing more moisture into the eyes, all of which are beneficial. 

[Rasheed]

@Michael569 Thank you.

[Rasheed]

I received this message from ATHLEAN-X

(Obviously nothing confidential to both sides, so I kinda feel free to share. If not, obviously I will delete it.)

 

[Hardkill]

I am certainly no doctor, but that really doesn’t add up. Why exactly would weight training be detrimental to your eyesight unless you actually were diagnosed with another certain eye issue that would preclude you from weight training at all. There a plenty of highly experienced and strong weight lifters I’ve known who were glasses or eye contacts. In fact, I myself have had some degree of astigmatism and myopia for several years, but have done consistent weight training for several years. My eyesight has never been negatively affected at all by any kind of weightlifting exercise when I lifted light weight with high reps, moderate weight with moderate reps, or heavy weight with low reps with all kinds of dumbbell exercises, barbell exercises, and machine based exercises that I’ve done. The only thing that ever happened to my eyeballs was when a portion of the white of one of my eyes bled from years of repetitive strenuous heavy lifting exercises including heavy barbell squats, heavy barbell bench press, heavy barbell deadlifting, heavy OH Press, heavy dips, heavy pull-ups, etc. It didn’t affect my eyesight at all and other experienced and advanced weightlifters said that it’s not a big deal when something like that happens. 

However, I would still get a second opinion from another eye doctor on this matter in order to confirm whether the first doctor who told you this is wrong or wrong about your specific situation with your eye. 

Edited December 1, 2021 by Hardkill

[Rasheed]

40 minutes ago, Hardkill said:

I am certainly no doctor, but that really doesn’t add up. Why exactly would weight training be detrimental to your eyesight unless you actually were diagnosed with another certain eye issue that would preclude you from weight training at all. There a plenty of highly experienced and strong weight lifters I’ve known who were glasses or eye contacts. In fact, I myself have had some degree of astigmatism and myopia for several years, but have done consistent weight training for several years. My eyesight has never been negatively affected at all by any kind of weightlifting exercise when I lifted light weight with high reps, moderate weight with moderate reps, or heavy weight with low reps with all kinds of dumbbell exercises, barbell exercises, and machine based exercises that I’ve done. The only thing that ever happened to my eyeballs was when a portion of the white of one of my eyes bled from years of repetitive strenuous heavy lifting exercises including heavy barbell squats, heavy barbell bench press, heavy barbell deadlifting, heavy OH Press, heavy dips, heavy pull-ups, etc. It didn’t affect my eyesight at all and other experienced and advanced weightlifters said that it’s not a big deal when something like that happens. 

However, I would still get a second opinion from another eye doctor on this matter in order to confirm whether the first doctor who told you this is wrong or wrong about your specific situation with your eye. 

Thank you, really helpful.

@Loving Radiance Would just 15 minutes of palming exercise be enough for the Bates Method routine? 

[Loving Radiance]

@Rasheed Remember, I never had any results with this as I never committed to it. Better ask people on reddit. Maybe watch a video or twice about palming in particular and the specifics might get mentioned.

From my layman pov:  Just take as much time as you need till the eyes & surrounding tissue are filled with warmth and feel relaxed.

[Rasheed]

@Loving Radiance I watched video about palming. My question was about: Maybe just 15 minutes of palming is enough for Bates Method by that I mean just do palming…What I concluded from the videos is that palming is like main thing there…

I asked same question on bodybuilding forum, let’s see what kinda answers I get there if any  

[JohnnyAb]

I've had a similar problem and I've been bodybuilding for around 7 years now. I don't have myopia but hyperopia. Any form of exercise definitely affects the eyesight but usually momentarily (in my case) and since I started PhD my eyes are doing more lifting than I am. 

So, two things:

1. Diet - a lot of resources, people fixed way bigger eye issues just with diet, often combined with low-intensity exercises like yoga. Made much difference in my case as well but it was a long time ago. I've also noticed some great 'eyesight endurance' improvement after I stopped eating meat (but that might be because I started eating loads of other nutritious stuff instead).

2. Still gazing - basically, every morning+evening sit and set an object 1-1.5m from you and just gaze at it for 7 minutes. You can up the time with progress. I usually light a candle. Don't blink, and if you have to, do it very mindfully. You might get irritated at first and tears will be coming out. Still, blink as little as possible.

The good thing is you don't have to do it every day for the rest of your life. I haven't done it for months now and my eyesight is better than ever WHILE HEAVYLIFTING 4 days a week (well it's more of a functional training these days but still involves heavyweights) and spending mad hours in front of books/screen.  

Give it a try even without training at first, then incorporate workouts and see if it makes any difference.

I've coached a lot of guys with similar issues and it all always turned out for the better, you'll be fine too ?

 

 

 

[Rasheed]

45 minutes ago, JohnnyAb said:

I've had a similar problem and I've been bodybuilding for around 7 years now. I don't have myopia but hyperopia. Any form of exercise definitely affects the eyesight but usually momentarily (in my case) and since I started PhD my eyes are doing more lifting than I am. 

So, two things:

1. Diet - a lot of resources, people fixed way bigger eye issues just with diet, often combined with low-intensity exercises like yoga. Made much difference in my case as well but it was a long time ago. I've also noticed some great 'eyesight endurance' improvement after I stopped eating meat (but that might be because I started eating loads of other nutritious stuff instead).

2. Still gazing - basically, every morning+evening sit and set an object 1-1.5m from you and just gaze at it for 7 minutes. You can up the time with progress. I usually light a candle. Don't blink, and if you have to, do it very mindfully. You might get irritated at first and tears will be coming out. Still, blink as little as possible.

The good thing is you don't have to do it every day for the rest of your life. I haven't done it for months now and my eyesight is better than ever WHILE HEAVYLIFTING 4 days a week (well it's more of a functional training these days but still involves heavyweights) and spending mad hours in front of books/screen.  

Give it a try even without training at first, then incorporate workouts and see if it makes any difference.

I've coached a lot of guys with similar issues and it all always turned out for the better, you'll be fine too ?

 

 

 

Thanks. Interesting exercise.

[Loving Radiance]

@Rasheed Well yeah, it seems to be the main thing with all the other exercises. Please tag me @ when you give a report on the eye sight even if there's no change.

[Arcangelo]

@Loving Radiance

Thank you!