I had surgery October 1 and since 1 week postop have not walked or done any form of exercise. I could make up plenty of excuses( I have moved,work 60 Hr weeks, -b12 levels low) but anyways I'm not here to make excuses or be judged. I don't want to waste this opportunity I have been given. Where should I start? How much? How often?

I think the best place to start is walking. Start slow so you don't over do it and walk every day: rain, snow or shine. If you make it part of your daily routine you will miss it if you don't walk. Good Luck.

You're six weeks post op already? If that 's correct, then you can start with any type of exercise you like. I know, most of us didn't like any exercise before, so my recommendation is to start with walking. Walk more today than you did yesterday. Try walking from your door to the end of the driveway, or to the house next door. Add a little bit more each day, one house, two houses, three houses until you're walking around the block. Add a little more each day. Start today lifting some small weights. I started out with 2 pound weights, doing 10 reps each of a few basic arm exercises: bicep curls, tricep kick backs, front arm raises and skull crushers (hold your arms straight above your head with the weight in your hand, lower and raise your arm to complete one rep).

I couldn't walk from my front door to my car without being out of breath pre-op and I literally started out walking up and down my hallway, then around my apartment building. Now, 15 months later, I do 45 minutes on the elliptical at least 3 days a week. I still life weights and I'm "only" up to 10 pound weights, but I have a full routine I do several times a week. I have bicep, triceps, thigh, and stomach muscles that are VISIBLE. A little at a time adds up quickly.

Good luck!

I also agree with the walking suggestion. Prior to surgery when I walked I was kind of like the Big Bad Wolf, you know, a lot of huffing and puffing with no real results. Once I felt good enough to start walking, I found that even just the little amount of weight I've gotten off that my joints didn't hurt, I wasn't getting as out of breath, and that I had a lot more energy. I went from walking to the end of the block to a mile a day in no time.

Excellent suggestion - walking is the best exercise for many people, but especially when just starting out!

If you live in the north you are faced this time of year with dark, cold and perhaps rain or snow... which can be discouraging. I live in the pacific northwest where we tend to embrace the "there is no bad weather, just wrong clothes" philosophy so that doesn't bother me. I have a headlamp I can wear for hands free lighting ( 2 dogs to walk!). Even so, I still kinda like the comfort of a warm gym.

In Feb, about 2 months post op I joined my local ymca. It is actually more expensive than many gyms, but it is very "all size and family friendly" and besides the gym equipment has really good group exercise classes. Even at my heaviest, I felt pretty good there. They have what they call 101 classes which are classes for people just starting out or have some physical limits. That was a confidence builder before jumping into the classes with the skinny people. I started out with twice a week Water aerobics plus easy does it elliptical and weights. There are also treadmills and you can watch TV while doing your walking on the treadmill - just bring your own headsets.

Water aerobics doesn't get the credit it deserves. The resistance of the water helps build strength, the bouyoancy helps protects your joints and if you have a good instructor you get a nice combo of aerobic, strength and stretching. I don't do it often anymore, but for many months it was my staple work out and i highly recommend it. Our class had a couple of guys in it, and many fit women too - it was called power water aerobics and you could do it easy or you could do it all out and get a hard workout depending on your fitness level.

Anyway, I commend you for checking it out. You may hate it at first, but after a few weeks of working out it will start feeling so good. I don't know if it makes you lose weight much faster, but i assure you it helps you look better and feel better and be healthier as you slim down.

I bought a treadmill and put it right in front of the television. I record my favorite shows but then only allow myself to watch them while I'm walking on the treadmill. I started with 15 mins and am now doing 20 mins a day 3 weeks out from the surgery. I have been having low energy problems since the surgery. Believe it or not, I was struggling to do the 15 mins after the surgery but, after a few weeks, the 20 mins fly by. I will probably add another 5 mins next week.

I think the best place to start is walking. Start slow so you don't over do it and walk every day: rain, snow or shine. If you make it part of your daily routine you will miss it if you don't walk. Good Luck.

I certainly agree to this, walking is first exercise to do and I think the safest exercise to any surgery we may have. Of course, we should know our limit, after you are done walking, you can do a minor physical activity eventually

Count me as another person who endorses walking as a way to start. One of my motivations has been my Fitbit, it's almost like a pedometer and it sinks up with your computer. It records the number of steps in a day along with the number of flights of stairs you climb. For me, it was motivation to try to get to 5000 steps a day and then to 10,000 which I don't always make. Walking was a great way for me to start and recently I joined a gym and made it a priority to spend money on a personal trainer once a week. After all, I spent money to have this surgery to get healthy so why not continue to spend money on myself to get fit.

I started off by walking a mile or two outside when I was 3 weeks post op. My advice to you is to just start with walking but it's easy for me to say because I don't work. I couldn't imagine working 60+ hrs and then having energy to exercise. Maybe you can try working out before work. When I worked that was the only way that I could fit in exercise. I also prefer the fresh air of the outdoors so I've strictly been walking outside and can't imagine being confined to a treadmill. I started jogging last week and it feels great. I live in Colorado and it gets pretty cold here but once you get used to walking outside the weather isn't really that bad and once you warm up you actually start to sweat. Good Luck

ETA: my favorite walking partner is my dog. She never complains about how slow or fast I'm walking. She also never makes up excuses on why she doesn't want to come out with me when the weather is cold. I put on my Garmin, heart rate monitor, MP3, workout outfit and I walk.

HI,

If you want to develop strength then I recommend Starting Strength 3rd edition from Mark Ripptoe.

First of all there is no use in going into programming and exercise theory here, most of the people reading this are not athletes and those who wish to be, would better served reading a exercise physiology textbook or simply finding a coach(note: not personal trainer) in their given sport, Even then the athlete would probably eventually end up reading SS(it's that popular) due to other recommendations.

Secondly, it teaches full body multi-joint movements which is the staple of any decent strength training routine.

Thirdly, even with the worst routine a beginner can develop muscle and strength because his biology just isn't at the level of an athlete who has ten+ years of proper training. The neural and simple adaptions that occur are very basic and will take time regardless of type of training and over training hardly ever occurs in this state either. At least with SS you get a good foundation to leap off of, and at the same time put on some good amount of muscle. Then after 6 months to a year you can start a good routine.

The only argument in this book I would be his nutritional requirements. Although squats and milk might work well for a teenager, it doesn't work good for a adults, especially a post obese adult who has already impaired glucose and lipid metabolism, impaired hormonal response and metabolic regulation. Also a person with GSV will not able to handle the caloric surplus he recommends but they can probably find ways around it(ex caloric dense food) if they want too but since adaptions come easy for beginners this shouldn't be a big issue. I also would recommend you talk to your doctor about Protein requirements(they will probably increase on such a routine)

Update. ... I have started doing leslie sansone's walk at home dvd's. And im going to start incorporating free weights today

I started walking during my breaks and lunch at work. I live in WI, so it's pretty chilly here now but I just bundle up and about half way through my 1.25 mile walk, I'm very comfortable.

Walking is the BEST workout to start.

Cdscott89......find any physical activity that somehow motivates you or has the possibility of motivating you and start there (ex: hiking, playing Wii, sex, riding a bike leisurely, dancing, lots of shopping at the mall, cleaning the house more, playing with your kids/nieces/nephews etc) . That will give you physical activity and hopefully you will enjoy it and get fulfillment from it and want to progress to some type of activity that is a little more cardio or resistance training involved. If not, at least you are doing some type of activity, which is better than nothing. Sometimes the hardest part for people is just getting started or showing up. Just try to make whatever it is fun and enjoyable and that will be what makes you WANT to do it, not HAVE to do it. Good luck and hang in there and make the most of this tool we've been given. Keep us posted........

I really like the previously recommended book "Starting Strength" by Mark Rippetoe. But I do not think it is for every one here. In fact, it's probably not for many people here. It was really designed for young aspiring athletes. If you want to get into resistance training but have no idea where to start, a better book is "New Rules of Lifting." There is also a "New Rules of Lifting For Women" for the ladies. Very good instruction and well laid out but simple workout plans for beginners.

I started off by walking a mile or two outside when I was 3 weeks post op. My advice to you is to just start with walking but it's easy for me to say because I don't work. I couldn't imagine working 60+ hrs and then having energy to exercise. Maybe you can try working out before work. When I worked that was the only way that I could fit in exercise. I also prefer the fresh air of the outdoors so I've strictly been walking outside and can't imagine being confined to a treadmill. I started jogging last week and it feels great. I live in Colorado and it gets pretty cold here but once you get used to walking outside the weather isn't really that bad and once you warm up you actually start to sweat. Good Luck

ETA: my favorite walking partner is my dog. She never complains about how slow or fast I'm walking. She also never makes up excuses on why she doesn't want to come out with me when the weather is cold. I put on my Garmin' date=' heart rate monitor, MP3, workout outfit and I walk.[/quote']

Where in Colorado are you? I'm here to in Aurora. I have no drive when it comes to exercise, I know I should be doing it...

I really like the previously recommended book "Starting Strength" by Mark Rippetoe. But I do not think it is for every one here. In fact, it's probably not for many people here. It was really designed for young aspiring athletes. If you want to get into resistance training but have no idea where to start, a better book is "New Rules of Lifting." There is also a "New Rules of Lifting For Women" for the ladies. Very good instruction and well laid out but simple workout plans for beginners.

Hi, Thank You

You're probably right.

I recommend Starting Strength for a couple reasons.

1: During dieting phases, lean body mass loss is big issue for those getting lean, and resistance training is the best way to deal with the maintenance of it and/or in addition with complicated diet setup with maconutrient cycling with regards to nitrogen sparring.

2: Muscles are cells containing their own genes for coding their own little Proteins, and proper gene expression occurs when a stress(exercise) induces a adaption(transcription, translation, and coding of these proteins to their proper products) and that is based upon specificity. I figured Marks program, essentially a progressive overloading programming setup, could apply the proper stress to induce adaption people here are looking for which is more muscle and strength without boring them with exercise physiology and theory. It already has the proper lifts to setup them for advance training later too.

I mentioned the above with specificity in mind.

Either way newbie adaptions occur regardless even with the worst training setup, and it can come quick or it can come slow but it has to come first before a more advance setup can be used.