I'm about a month and a half out of surgery. I went through a week of flu and a cold for another week in that time so my exersize has been sub-standard.I tried some push ups today, 2 only and on my knees! I also could only squeak out 12 knee bends. I haven't been this weak in distant memory.

I am concluding that I have lost muscle tissue in my weight reduction, a substantial amount. Having been treated with testosterone-killing Lupron during my fight with prostate cancer in 2009-2010 I may be dealing with the residual effect of that, too. Also, I am 63.

I am confident that I can overcome this and get my muscles back with proper diet and diligent strength training.

Any tips from those in the know would be appreciated.

I'm no exercise guru, but I have had great results with just slow, steady exercise. I've been doing an exercise routine that includes high reps, low weights (to build arm muscle), walking/exercise bike (for cardio and leg strength), and a killer ab routine I found on metafilter, for obvious reasons. My energy level and strength have increased completely out of proportion with the amount of work I've been doing, which shows that I had been sadly neglecting exercise before surgery.

I literally spend half an hour three times a week working out. I'm working to increase that to half an hour per day, but I make lots of excuses to avoid it, too! LOL

Hopefully one of the gurus will chime in on this and give better info than I can.

It's the next day after the exercise and boy am I tired! I can see this is going to take a while. No overdoing it, though, I keep telling myself.

Looks like you are doing great, Lissa. My exercise plan differs from yours in that I lean toward heavier weights, fewer reps. My reasoning being that prolonged exercise depletes my energy too much. But for now all my weights are light weights and I just do what I can.

I am not the guy I was in my 20's, I gotta remember that.

Here is a pic from my bodybuilding days. Sorry for the Hans and Frans face.

Hubba Hubba, Gman! Check out those biceps! What Hans and Franz face? Yeah, I got the reference! I agree that your exercise routine is probably going to be pretty different from mine, since I'm aiming to NOT have those biceps that look so good on guys! I want the strength, but without the ripped look.

I went with a friend to a strip club recently and I was truly impressed with the muscles those girls have while still looking soft and feminine. THAT's the look I want when all is said and done. Yes, I know I'll never look like a stripper, but I don't want to look like I could arm wrestle the "Ahnold" either!

Sounds like you already know what you should be doing, from prior experience. Keep it up! And yes, it's totally expected to lose some strength post-op. No matter how hard you work at getting in protein and being as active as reasonably possible, you are guaranteed to lose some muscle mass as you are dropping pounds.

Hubba Hubba, Gman! Check out those biceps! What Hans and Franz face? Yeah, I got the reference! I agree that your exercise routine is probably going to be pretty different from mine, since I'm aiming to NOT have those biceps that look so good on guys! I want the strength, but without the ripped look.

I went with a friend to a strip club recently and I was truly impressed with the muscles those girls have while still looking soft and feminine. THAT's the look I want when all is said and done. Yes, I know I'll never look like a stripper, but I don't want to look like I could arm wrestle the "Ahnold" either!

I feel as though I walked into a private-type convo. Glad ya'll could meet each other here on this site.

LOL, Faddisc! No private conversation here, just sharing work out tips and experiences. I'm sure Gman's wife and my hubby would be upset if they thought anything untoward were going on!

My friend that I went to the strip club with is into competitive pole dancing as a hobby, if that makes any sense... nothing hinky about it. She keeps sending me You Tube links to the competitions, so we decided to go see it in person.

We're just friends, Faddisk. This isn't Jersey Shore.

Hey Gman, remember your body just went through major trauma a few weeks ago, you just got through dealing with a cold/flu, and you are literally on a starvation-level diet right now. Each week you'll be able to do more/harder exercise. It took me several months to build up stamina after my surgery and I think that is pretty common. You are doing great!

After my exercise the other day my abdomen was very sore. I was worried about having diverticulitus, a problem I have had in the past. The soreness went away, thank God.

I made some progress this morning, more knee bends, more push ups. I do a bodyblade and a kettlebell session as well.

It's a slow war but "We're going to win this battle!" >We We're Soldiers

220 and ripped here I come!

I'm sure everything is on the up and up here. I was just pickin at ya'll.