does having braces affect your exercise routine?

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#1 Post by **PIMPmyTEETH** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 6:36 pm

funny, the more i think about getting braces, the more things come up that concern me...

not that this is a HUGE thing, but i'm wondering what others have experienced.

i lift weights and i'm wondering what effect having braces will have on my weight training. for one, i'll probobly be eating less calories. thus, i won't have as much energy. i'm assuming that i can expect to lose some muscle mass as well. does anyone have any personal experience with this?

my thoughts are that i'd probobly be consuming lots and lots of shakes. maybe some banana, strawberries, milk, and vanilla protein powder. enough of those ingredients and you could make yourself a pretty calorie dense, but not unhealty, milkshake!

also, when your teeth are sore, is it hard to lift?

#2 Post by **Joel-** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 6:43 pm

I lift weights too, and I don't think I've lost any weight since getting braced 11/6. In fact, I think I've managed to gain a little bit of weight. I haven't been working out as much as I used to, though. I still think it's easy to get enough calories--my teeth only hurt for 3-4 days and then I could pretty much eat most foods after a week.

#3 Post by **lionfish** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 7:16 pm

I can't speak for weightlifting. However, braces has had no impact on my swimming regimen. I still work out in the pool 3-4 times a week, with no ill effects.

BTW, I eat as well as I did before braces.

#4 Post by **smile2006** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 8:06 pm

I think like anything you adjust. I mountain bike, road bike, run and occassionally lift weights and stand on my hands (I'm an old gymnast and still need a handstand now and again). I find that a little ache in the teeth doesn't impact my activity level. If anything, it's like working out when you are a little sore, you feel better afterward mouth and all!

Take a couple Advil and hit the gym is my advice!

#5 Post by **SDFD TSchott** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 10:13 pm

No issues for me and lifting weights in fact we have to workout at least 3 times a week at our firehouse so its nothing new for me. They like to keep us firefighters in top notch shape. We also have lifetime FREE membership to 24 hour fitness

SDFD TSchott

#6 Post by **PrincessMelody** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 11:46 pm

I play hockey and have not found that braces has made any impact on my playing. I work out at the gym as well and again don't find it impacts anything. If you take plenty of Ibuprofen you will find that the pain gets minimized.

As far as what you mentioned that the more you think about braces, the more that they concern you... if you don't let braces interfere with your life, then they wont. I live my life as normally as I ever have. If anything, having braces has made my life better. I am more adament about cleaning my teeth than I was before. I also find it giving me a boost of confidence because I don't care what people think about the fact that I have braces. I feel that if they think anything less of me because I have braces, then I don't want to have anything to do with them anyways. You should get braces purely for the fact that you want to change the way your teeth look. Don't let yourself get freaked out by the thought of how they might interfere with your life because they won't. Just think of how wonderful your teeth will look afterwords.

You seem like someone that is concerned about their health since you workout, and watch what you eat and how many calories you consume. Most often the problems you have with your teeth that you want to correct are also impacting the health of your teeth. I have some crowding in my lower teeth which has caused me to not be able clean them as well throughout the years. Getting this fixed now will mean these teeth will be better taken care of and I won't lose them later on. Many of my family members that have the same problem as I do, lost those teeth because they could not take care of them.

#7 Post by **cmm1280** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 3:59 pm

I go to the gym 5 days a week. Braces has not affected lifting weights or working out AT ALL. Even the first few days I was in them, my weight training was unaffected.

Also, only the first few days you might have a problem eating harder foods and right after adjustments. After about day 4, I was back to eating everything I did before (only having to break up big pieces)

Best of luck to you!

#8 Post by **bip** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 7:49 am

The only thing I noticed with lifting and braces is that I clench my teeth differently during lifting. I hasn't affected the amount i lift or anything like that. I did loose a small amount of weight in the beginning (a few pounds) but unless you are competing I don't think that would have any drastic effect on your muscle mass. I myself do not compete but have a friend that does and she eats a much more refined diet than I do. I would think that might be the only instance that someone would lose enough mass to be concerned. I did rely more on my protein shakes the first few days, but also tried really hard to force myself to get used to eating. Once I got used to eating with the braces, the weight came back on (for better or worse

) and things evened out.

#9 Post by **grinning** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 8:14 am

I haven't found that braces affected my excercise routine either. I am a runner and I only found that my lips get a little drier than they used to. Nothing a little chapstick prior to the run doesn't help! I also haven't noticed food consumption to be different after the first couple of days getting used to the braces just being there. The only reason I may not eat is that I really don't want to have to clean them out!