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Major Strength Reduction...



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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.

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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. :)

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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. :)

post-20464-13813658317808_thumb.png

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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! :)

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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.

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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. ;)

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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.

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

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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!

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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!

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

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