Fiddleman

Slept on back at first for a week and then on side after returning home the next week. It took about 3 weeks until sleeping on stomach. For the first few nights in hospital, sleeping at all sucked. Too many nurses, doctors and beeps in the middle of the night, plus you just feel cruddy. Sorry to be blunt, but that is the truth. I have had some insomnia in the last year every few months, but nothing that could not be handled with a sleep aid or a little melatonin. My recommendation is to sleep as much as you can in the first week to help the healing process along. Continue to try and get 8-10 hours a night until you feel yourself again. For most, this could be anywhere from 6 weeks to 6 months. It all depends on your energy levels and how well you heal up inside. Take it easy and let people around you wait on you for the first month. Good luck!

Others are mentioning cost of their trainer, so here is mine. My trainer costs 750 for 18 training session (most affordable way to do it). We train together 2 days a week, so that works out to be 42 dollars an hour or about 333 dollars a month. Worth every penny. In the fall time, I will be purchasing open gym at 150 a month and will have had almost a year of cross fit personal training. I feel I will be ready to go head to head with the athletes that are in the gym (can't wait!!!) There is 20-30% discount from that monthly open gym price if I purchase 3 or 6 months in advance, respectively.

I would like to ask a question on this thread that relates to balance of hormones and shifting the body into fat metabolism. It is related to this thread topic and response above, I promise. A lot of health stores sell a product pair called Dim and DHEA for shifting the balance of sex or anabolic hormones in men towards more optimal Protein synthesis. Dim is short for diindolylmethane and DHEA is short for dehydropiandrosterone. Long names, I know. Both hormone precursors are naturally produced by our bodies or can be extracted by the body from cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli and cabbage. Dim and DHEA supplementation works by freeing up the available "free" testosterone and reducing bad estrogen in the body in order to develop more "manly" characteristics and improved protein synthesis. Many elite athletes uses these supplements to get their body into optimal conditioned form. I have read that DHEA can be a precursor to either testosterone or estrogen metabolites and has a certain probability of metabolizing into either. There are good forms of estrogen and bad forms of estrogen. The good form of estrogen is needed by both men and women to support the shift of body composition to more muscle rather then more fat. Bad estrogen does the opposite which causes the body to store more fat and, in men, leads to other undesirable "womanly" Characteristics. It seems like a gamble as to which metabolite is going to form after the treatment of sex hormones with DHEA. Dim is used to reduce the bad estrogen levels in the body. A lot of weight gain can come from too much bad estrogen in the body. For men, 400-500 mg dim is recommended for increasing fat metabolism and promoting weight loss / lean muscle. Maintenance dose of dim is 100-200 mg. Recommended dose of DHEA is 100 mg. Given my short description on natural hormone therapy above using Dim and DHEA, why would DHEA be recommended at all in combination with dim if there is a chance of the outcome being good estrogen versus bad estrogen metabolites? Why not just use a recommended Dim dose alone to increase the availability of "free" testosterone in the body. Is there a clear advantage of using both Dim and DHEA together? From my initial understanding, the answer is no to the above questions. I would love to hear an opinion from someone else.

Love the responses! This is valuable information. Thanks both!

Itsme, thanks for the warning. Very much appreciated. I do not feel comfortable with trying to supplement the RDA with this product because not only your warning on potassium, but also the very high dose of magnesium one would hit. I will probably return it given it is not going to help effectively. Per the food link I posted above, I am going try sourcing my potassium and magnesium requirements directly from food. Probably the best foods will be salmon, spinach, bananas, coconut Water and white Beans. I eat a fair amount of salmon now so am happy to hear that it is going to be a strong contributor to potassium requirements.

This link has some really useful information on foods high in potassium. http://www.healthaliciousness.com/articles/food-sources-of-potassium.php The herbs listed in the first row at the bottom appears to be the clear winner for most nutrient dense punch. However, you would have to eat like a bowlful of herbs. Lol. Bookmark this page for future reference if you are wondering about the best sources of food for potassium. And whey powder is on that list too. You know we all drink Protein shakes so this should be an easy source for most!

I need a trainer who is an expert and authority in their technique and has a coaching style that is both motivational and fun. I need to be challenged in a progressive way so my goals will be met. I want to be able to click with my trainer and they need to listen to what I have to say if I am going to be working with them long term. So far I think my trainer has been stellar and has met this criteria since I have been working with her for the last 7 months. I look forward to 2 workouts a week to keep breaking one PR after another and a chance to put my all into a training session. I like to be challenged and literally each workout is unique and challenging. Hope this helps.

I just read that potassium RDA is 4700 mg for adults and magnesium is 420 mg. Given a post op history with cramping when working out hard (3x so far), I decided to buy a supplement called potassium and magnesium 250 from GNC. Has 250 mg of each per capsule. The problem is that if I take many of these during the day to hit potassium RDA, I will OD on magnesium, which I am certain cannot be good for your neurological system. Does anyone know if 4700 mg of potassium is really required? My goal is to prevent cramps or any nerve issues (zaps as I like to call them). My Multivitamin has 100 mg of magnesium and no potassium. I will eat banana occasionally in the morning and/or some coconut juice (400 mg). Both good sources of potassium, but still magnitudes below the RDA. I try and eat broccoli which is a good source of magnesium when we are having it for dinner, but typically only get 1-2 ounces before hitting satisfied point. 190 mg of potassium and 6% RDA magnesium in my recovery shake. Otherwise I do not eat much else that contains magnesium and potassium.

If anyone has been following my posts, one the topics i post frequently about is my struggle with flexibility and mobility as well as general back soreness / stiffness. I have been trying yoga for a long time (6 months) with no real strides. I stretch a lot before warming up and after cooling down for a workout. I also have purchased a couple of excellent books on the subject of flexibility and mobility titled " genius of flexibility" and "supple leopard." I am starting to work through both books and they are going to help, but it will take a while to absorb the information and put it into practice. I like the supple leopard is written by a Cross fit expert and it is considered a bible in the athletic circles. I also use a great roller (TP roller ) for getting knots out of my muscles every day, but it does not really help with general stiffness. However, despite months of trying to gain flexibility I still struggle with a simple activity like bending over at the waist and putting my palms on the ground without tons of resistance from my hamstrings. In fact, I cannot do this. The best I can do is touch the ground with my legs slightly bent. For the life of me, I am noble to keep my legs locked straight and touch the ground. Yoga moves continue to be challenging because of this body stiffness. I think a majority of this stiffness and soreness comes from decades of poor posture in both the sitting and standing positions. I have been a computer person for 30 years professionally a software developer who works long hours for the last 15. I need a miracle because lack of flexibility and mobility is holding me back during my workouts, especially my cross fit workouts that involve lifting heavier weights. It is not a strength issue, but a mobility issue for me on several of the typical lifts. It is a bit frustrating because I try and use good posture today when working out, yet struggle with basic mobility due to my past chair sitting. I want to be supple like a leopard. Today, I spent about 30 minutes laying on a product known as bed of nails today, making sure my lower back was getting good exposure to the acupuncture. Usually I was on it for 5 minutes at night time, but today I wanted to see if 30 minutes makes a difference. I also used the pillow to apply acupuncture to my neck region and upper shoulders. Afterwards, the tightness was completely gone from my lower back and butt region in addition to my neck, shoulder region and rest of back. Another thing I did prior to laying down on it was drink some BCAA. I do not know if it helped, but perhaps the BCAA worked with the acupuncture to send BCAA goodness immediately to those tight muscles. Usually I do not take bcaa before using the bed of nails. Don't know, it is a theory. Can anyone validate that? After i got up, I bent over at the waist, legs straight and put my two palms flat on the ground with no resistance from my lower back and hamstrings. Yes! It is a miracle. I am not not into traditional acupuncture (nor may you be), but wanted to give this bed of nails product a try to see if it would work some magic. indeed, it has. You can find bed of nails at bed bath and beyond or you can order it or generic products like it from Amazon. I got a generic product because cost was 35 instead of 120+. Same type of product, just without the brand name. Maybe this will help you also with flexibility and mobility as it has helped me. I plan in continuing to dedicate 30 minutes a day to elongate the pain free flexibility duration, and with enough time, perhaps the stiffness will be permanently eliminated. Here is hoping to that!

I am currently drinking synth 6 as a recovery shake, muscle milk lite as a breakfast shake and gold standard casein as a bed time shake (real food at other 4 "meals"). All can be found at Vitamin Shoppe. If you are picky about flavors, as I am, you might need to order them online. I like to have cake batter, cookies / cream and double chocolate for muscle milk lite, synth 6 and gold standard, respectively. Note my tastes are more towards sweet, but I love them every day. You can usually find less sweet or fruit flavors by looking in one of the health stores ( vitamin shoppe is my preferred place) or at Amazon ( sells literally everything).

Really great idea. I have been think about wearing compression to hold everything tight when working out and also to flatten out a little bulge around my belly button until it is eradicated with fitness. I also like the idea that compression garments might eliminate the need for a TT if it indeed helps the skin bounce all the way back in problem areas ( for me, again, is right around bely button in addition to high up on the inner thighs). No one sees those places except my wife and I, but I look at it every day, especially in a sitting position, wondering "when?"...

Ha! If you ever get "too good" at squats and lunges you are doing a-ok in my book. I love both exercise now where I could never do them preop. In addition to adding weights, also try adding jumping into the movements, getting air. For squats, explosively jump from lower sumo squat position, getting air, before landing and lowering into lower sumo squat position. For lunges, explosively push up from bottom lunge position and jump into the air before landing on opposite foot positions. I believe this is like adding weight because as you accelerate off the ground, you are engaging a lot of muscles and increasing your effective weight by resisting the pull of gravity. You can make it continually harder by increasing the explosiveness or the amount of vertical air you get ( both requires greater force which requires your muscles to contract more).

Typically, I work out 5 days a week and then take rest days on Saturday and Sunday. I am still somewhat active on Saturday, but do not do a formal strength training workout most of the time (this weekend an exception).. On Sunday, I typically do not do anything more then stretching, yoga, walking or a warmup type workout. I have not had any problems with this approach to resting, but I am wondering if it is ideal. Sometimes I feel like I do not need 2 days of rest every week. Furthermore, I think back to back rest may also be compromising my muscle growing process. Don't know, but it is a theory. I eat very well in terms of every couple hours focusing on the right type and amount of Protein and do use Protein shakes, creatine and BCAA supplementation religiously from wake to bed time. I never get a day with even moderate soreness. No overtraining yet. Furthermore, I am going to need to start consistently training 6 days a week of pure cross fit in the fall to prepare for regional Cross fit tryouts in summer 2014. Some posts I have read in the forum suggest resting on Friday and Sunday. My trainer also suggested this when I asked her this last week. The only issue, and it is kind of personal, is I like to workout on Friday to break up the workday which tends to be about 12-15 hours of computer work. What do you guys think? Give me some pros and cons about why you choose different days for rest. Also, what do you guys do differently in terms of supplementation and activity on your rest days? I tend to scale back creatine and BCAA intake on rest days, but still eat about the same except for fewer carbs. On workout days, I intentionally carb up before working out to give my muscles the proper nutrition in order to avoid fatigue too early in sets.

Yesterday, I tried to do the same body weight workout above on the grass instead of on the floor with the DVD trainer. Two things I noticed: 1. The grass in the yard I was in was slightly sloped and very uneven. This made the workout more challenging. 2. I tended to take the reps a lot faster, instead of pacing. The form suffered at times and I lost the ability to successful complete all the intervals to end before muscle fatiguing (for example, on the bouncy push-ups). 3. Focus was compromised So there were some advantages and disadvantages to performing the workout outside on the grass. Besides not having the excellent trainer to keep me in pace and motivated, I fatigued too early and my focus deteriorated. Interesting. I think that is why I like a trainer with me when I workout, even if it is one on a DVD. Just food for thought. What do you guys think?

You might consider exercises like 1 or 2 legged hip extensions. Sit on the ground in a L shape with back straight, legs straight. Lift one leg off the ground and push up off with the other foot until your hips are parallel with the ground. Pause for a few seconds and come back down to l shape. you are supporting your weight with your hands planted on the ground with fingers facing toes. when you come back down, stop about 1/2 an inch above the ground and repeat. I think any pushup or plank variations would help. Keep your core very strong and stable during these exercises with your butt tight. For pushups, try to go slow up and down, pausing at top and bottom to hold tight for a few seconds. Again, pause 1/2 an inch off the ground and hold your cheeks tight. Any exercise that has you thrusting your hips upward and squeezing the cheeks or and core exercise will strengthen the butt. You definitely want to feel the burn in your entire core as you do these. Air squats or sumo air squats are excellent for strengthening your upper thighs and behind. For a challenge, you might try star jumpers. These are like sumo squats, but when you come up you want to get air and stretch out your arms and legs like a start before landing again in the sumo position with back straight and butt out. This is a definite butt strengthener and will give your whole core a workout. Try and do sets of 8 or timed set of 20 seconds with 10 seconds between each set. Lower back into sumo squat position , arms in from touching the ground before repeating. These also give you a good cardio workout in addition to strengthening legs and core. I was flipping through the Pinterest fitness forum over the weekend (1st time) and noticed a number of workouts people posted on creating dream behinds. You might want to look there. I also heard Jillian Michaels has one or more DVDs just for targeting butt and core if you like her type of training style.

Mark, BTB, Around, Tally and many others- I cannot begin to express my appreciation for you guys taking the time to consistently provide high quality information in the fitness forum with regards to lifting and supplementation. For guys that are newer to the fitness and bodybuilding scene, this information is invaluable. Being 6 months into this type of fitness, I consider myself a newbie. however, I am glad that every day is a new day to increase understanding about the body and the role that fitness and supplementation has on it.

Yup - I've been eating ostrim from before surgery a year ago. Good snack.

Thanks! We look forward to getting our goodies.

I've enjoyed a book and DVD set called "be your own gym." This will get you into elite fitness relatively quickly without having to buy any weight equipment. It is based on a 3 phase set of workout routines that progress from beginner to advanced. I have just completed the last advanced routine today and look forward to the body weight exercises to maintain strength going forward. Consider this approach, but be warned, it will challenge you. I really appreciated the workouts are short (20 minutes) and the trainer comes from a background of training over 1000 elite special forces with the same types of workouts. As it is progressive, you will get really strong in a manageable approach by spending about 3 weeks on each phase for a total of 9 weeks. I never get tired of listening to the trainer as he speaks very clearly and articulately. I also appreciate that he takes the exercises as a speed where form can be perfected.

I ordered som teriyaki Ostrim (12.5 months post op) and my wife ordered a bunch of things ( she is 3 weeks post op). I like that you could pay with pay pal. Howling does a ground shipping order take to arrive? I am in WA.

Yup - they are super duper fabulous! My surgical center had done quite a bit of research on which protein powder is the best for patients and nectar was the top pick. Vanilla bean is also a great flavor for mixing in with other things. One mix you can do with the chocolate truffle is to make a butter finger flavor. Add together a scoop of chocolate truffle, a tbsp of dry SF butterscotch pudding, 8 oz of milk, a tbsp of pb2 powder and a pinch of expresso powder to accentuate the chocolate flavor. Delish!!!!