Help! Thighs are dying!

[Jezzabelle360 84]

I'm 2.5 months post op gastric bypass. I'd been going to the gym every single day, sometimes 2-3 times a day. (It's become my new way of dealing with stress and my new social thing to do besides going out to eat with friends) Tuesday I met with a trainer because I was cleared by my Dr. for core workouts but was told to really ease into it. I was completely transparent with the trainer who told me he'd known and worked with other people with my predicament and that I'd be fine. I told him I had a lot of atrophy and was pretty sure I was malnourished and dehydrated often but that I was working hard on it. He had me stand on some scale thing that you hold the handles on and it sends some electro type pulses through you to separate the Fluid from bone muscle and fat and stuff so it can read how your weight is distributed throughout. There's something in it that also reads your inflammation level and he said I had the highest he'd ever seen and also called a co-worker over to check it out and said congrats, you're a winner. After getting on the floor with him after the first set he had me do of squats I knew something was wrong. My legs immediately felt like spaghetti and I could barely stabilize myself. I told him it didn't feel right and he just said you're fine you can have 10 seconds and then did it again...so I did because I hate liking like a wimp (stupid pride) and again and again and lunges and ab excersise...i haven't been ale to walk well since. My legs keep going out from under me and I've nearly fallen down a few times just walking and at work (I stand all day and cut hair). It's Saturday morning and I woke up still in that day after kind of pain. I mean, I've worked with a trainer before and I know the pain but it's NEVER come on that quick and it's NEVER lasted this long or intensely. I swear I'm not being dramatic or whiney. I'm a little worried and not sure what to do. Plus I'm upset because it's now keeping me from working out anything besides my upper body which I can't do every day so I go to the gym and just sit somedays so I don't get out of the habit of going. If I'm being honest I'm really pissed at the negligence but I can't do anything about that and want to let it go so how do I make my legs feel better so I can start working out again??? Sorry about the long rant to anyone who actually made it through. (My own solution thus far is to add GENEPRO to everything and try harder to get more fluids in) my friend says he's going to give me something called map pills but I don't know if I cantake those.

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[KCgirl061 1,529]

My friend is a runner and takes something from GNC to help her muscles recover after long runs. It might be those map pills... I don't quite remember, but if you went to GNC or a similar store you could get some guidance there.

For dealing with the inflammation in your body, you could combat that with CBD oil. It is great for reducing inflammation and I use it for just that - keeping my sore, aching back from screaming for ibuprofen which I used to pop like tic tacs before my surgery.

You simply may not be getting in enough calories to be exercising that intensely. I think this is an unpopular opinion and I may get some push back on here but I buy into Dr Duc Vuong's theory about why you should NOT exercise for 6 months after surgery. After trying to exercise early out post op and being too exhausted to function at work I gave it up. When I later came across Dr Vuong's video about exercising it made a lot of sense to me:

Edited June 1, 2019 by KCgirl061

[Healthy_life2 8,319]

1 hour ago, Jezzabelle360 said:

I'm 2.5 months post op gastric bypass. I'd been going to the gym every single day, sometimes 2-3 times a day. (It's become my new way of dealing with stress and my new social thing to do besides going out to eat with friends) Tuesday I met with a trainer because I was cleared by my Dr. for core workouts but was told to really ease into it. I was completely transparent with the trainer who told me he'd known and worked with other people with my predicament and that I'd be fine. I told him I had a lot of atrophy and was pretty sure I was malnourished and dehydrated often but that I was working hard on it. He had me stand on some scale thing that you hold the handles on and it sends some electro type pulses through you to separate the Fluid from bone muscle and fat and stuff so it can read how your weight is distributed throughout. There's something in it that also reads your inflammation level and he said I had the highest he'd ever seen and also called a co-worker over to check it out and said congrats, you're a winner. After getting on the floor with him after the first set he had me do of squats I knew something was wrong. My legs immediately felt like spaghetti and I could barely stabilize myself. I told him it didn't feel right and he just said you're fine you can have 10 seconds and then did it again...so I did because I hate liking like a wimp (stupid pride) and again and again and lunges and ab excersise...i haven't been ale to walk well since. My legs keep going out from under me and I've nearly fallen down a few times just walking and at work (I stand all day and cut hair). It's Saturday morning and I woke up still in that day after kind of pain. I mean, I've worked with a trainer before and I know the pain but it's NEVER come on that quick and it's NEVER lasted this long or intensely. I swear I'm not being dramatic or whiney. I'm a little worried and not sure what to do. Plus I'm upset because it's now keeping me from working out anything besides my upper body which I can't do every day so I go to the gym and just sit somedays so I don't get out of the habit of going. If I'm being honest I'm really pissed at the negligence but I can't do anything about that and want to let it go so how do I make my legs feel better so I can start working out again??? Sorry about the long rant to anyone who actually made it through. (My own solution thus far is to add GENEPRO to everything and try harder to get more fluids in) my friend says he's going to give me something called map pills but I don't know if I cantake those.

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***BIG RANT***

2.5 months out are you training to compete in something??? or to lose weight???? Did you tell him your workout goals???

Am I reading this correctly?

How many hours a day? Why is he having you workout every day and some of it returning to the gym for 2 to 3 times each day? No rest days? Look into building muscle...It builds on rest days. I would love to see if he is certified. and what type. ACE or ACSM? Your trainer may have worked with other patients. Ask what type of education he has in bariatrics. Majority have none.

https://www.bodybuilding.com/content/make-the-most-of-your-rest-days.html

Only you can gage if what your experiencing is normal DOMS or needs medical attention.

None of us here are medical professionals. I don’t give medical advice. Trust your professionals. Check in with your Dr. for medical issues, dehydration or unusual inflammation. Dehydration is nothing to mess around with.

You are 2.5 months out. We all start out with a lower fitness level and work our way up.

I would caution against upping your calories this early. The last thing you need it to sabotage your weight loss. Talk to your dietician for nutrition advice due to increased work outs. Give them your calorie burn and your workout schedule. They will advise you if you need to change up your diet plan to support your workout, May advise you to seek a different training program.

Many of us here are competitive lifters, power lifters, and endurance sports, I am a distance runner. - If you choose to become an athlete look into a sports medicine dietician -

[Frustr8 7,886]

All sounds like excellent advice, personally I would steer clear of that dude, he may be Okay but he sounds like a mean sadistic bundle of exercise flesh who doesn't care how much pain he is producing or how he may have set you back instead of helping. But that is my opinion !

[justmetj 421]

I agree with KCgirl061 and Healthy_life2...very good advice. Also you said you think your malnourished and dehydrated a lot. That's where you can focus your efforts until you become able to progress to working out.

[Jezzabelle360 84]

I'm not trying to increase my calorie intakein trying to get the 64g of Protein in a day that the Dr told me to. I'm doing 30-45 mins of cardio a day plus about 5 days of weight training just to keep lean muscle and I only asked ffora personal trainer for one time for 1 hour to Shiite me how to use some of the equipment and have good stance so I wouldn't hurt my bank which isn't at all what he did! He had me doing a bunch of stuff I told him wasn't what I was looking for. No I'll never go see him again. Just trying to ease into the weight lifting stuff and I think he was just kind of an ass. I go to the gym a couple times a day because I like to start the day off with a little cardio and mid day or evening I like to go back and lift or get in the pool and aqua job. No one is making me. I'm looking for things to do that I enjoy and don't revolve around food. I have a 3 yo and I can bring her with and drop her at the daycare or she can come swimming our whatever. It's just a place that I feel really good about myself at and can beingmy kid.

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[summerset 5,261]

3 hours ago, Jezzabelle360 said:

I'm doing 30-45 mins of cardio a day plus about 5 days of weight training just to keep lean muscle.

Too much training on not enough calories won't preserve too much of anything. It's a surefire way to run yourself into the ground in the shortest time possible.

How old are you? Were you used to that much exercise earlier in your life already? How much exercise did you do a year or two before the surgery? Are you already a more advanced lifter so you need a 5 day split program instead of doing strength training two or three times a week?

Quote

I'm 2.5 months post op gastric bypass. I'd been going to the gym every single day, sometimes 2-3 times a day.

You're 2.5 months post-op and exercising this much. Sometimes even more than one exercise unit. And no rest day as it seems.

Forget any stuff you've ever heard about supplements, inflammation levels or whatever. The reason your legs are giving in is that you're simply doing too much work for your fitness level and energy intake (you're 2.5 months post-op and that alone means you're still dealing with a lot of physical stress).

[Frustr8 7,886]

And I do hope you get better, your 3 year old needs you, you want to do the Mommy things for her not work yourself into a frazzle. Ease back a little, do no more than your body easily let's you, you have the rest,of your life to slowly recuperate . Don't do yourself a hurting you cannot get better from. I have had arthritis since I was 25 and I am now 73, take it from me, You DO NOT want to be in pain the rest of your life, did that because I have fought it. and there are days when I thought I might mentally crack, now the Advil I was popping like M&Ms to stay on top of it, turned on me , tried and nearly succeeded in chewing a hole,through my stomach and my jejunem , the first part,of my small intestine. Been fighting the Good Fight to heal them rascals since last October 12th, and there is still a threat that if they don't heal with medication. alone I may still face more surgery. And I had hoped, hope against hope, that my RNY was going to be the LAST SURGERY I would ever need! So you see, the jury is still out for ME!

[mousecat88 2,279]

Giiiirl. 5 days of weight training is excessive at 2.5 mos. I have been working with an amazing trainer for 4 months. He is a 7 time State champion power-lifter. I do weight training/HIIT TWICE a week, a spin class, and a yoga class. I am about to add an additional spin class. I am 7 months out. He says this is perfect. I also said I was going to do spin class right before yoga and he said that is too much and unnecessary for a single day. You need time between HIIT and resistance training for your muscles to heal. And there is NO WAY you're getting enough Protein to support the kind of exercise you're doing. My bariatric dietitian AND the trainer both said I need to be at 100g of protein per day for the stuff I am doing - and it sounds like you are doing much more. Your body will just devour itself, including those muscles you're working on. My trainer also wants me at 100g of carbs per day (although he isn't getting that just yet, lol). It's great that you love exercising, but orthorexia is a thing and can be a replacement for overeating so just be careful. And maybe find a new gym or a new trainer... dude sounds like an a*****e.

There has been two times in the last four months that my thighs or calves hurt so bad for about 3 days I could barely walk. But it was new exercises and when I was doing it, I wasn't struggling. So now he and I work around it. I actually tried the calf exercise again on Monday after a long hiatus, and have no issues this time. Nothing you do should ever cause actual pain.

Edited June 5, 2019 by mousecat88

[mousecat88 2,279]

Rants aside: Get a massage roller (with minimal bumps) and push down as hard as you can to stretch out your muscle fibers. It is painful when you are doing it, but they work phenomenally. They sell them on Amazon and also at Walmart, 5 Below, etc. You can also use a foam roller at the gym or buy one, but I like the handheld massage rollers.

[mousecat88 2,279]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FP1SXLM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I have this one. I love it.

[wjgo 272]

5 days a week of traing is hardly excessive. Nor is 7 days, if you are doing it right.

When you go to the gym, you need to group your muscles together that you are doing to use. Like leg day, back/biceps, chest, shoulders and triceps are three different days, and you can have 2 days between each day or combine two of them together for three days. They need to be grouped because so many muscles rely on other muscles. A shoulder press is pushing the same muscles that the back can use. You need a rest day for the entire muscle group, of at least than one day. I go to the gym 6 days a week, two day rest between each group. On the rest days, your muscle tissue that was broken down, is being rebuilt. Don't keep breaking it down of you will suffer an injury.

That aside, your trainer was a dumbass.. obese people should not start with body weight exercises in my opinion. There are two many machines that can be used with light weights, or even light dumbbells. There are also cable machines that can be use in place of machines and dumbells. Cable machines are my favorite because you can use them to better approximate real life movements for specifically c activities like sports.

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[wjgo 272]

There is a lot of info on the net about working out. I suggest first getting the book, Strength Training Anatomy with all the pictures. It's full of info that you can use at the gym.

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[mousecat88 2,279]

On 6/12/2019 at 12:38 PM, wjgo said:

5 days a week of traing is hardly excessive. Nor is 7 days, if you are doing it right.

Dude. 5 days per week just 2 months out from surgery is extremely excessive. It is PHYSICALLY IMPOSSIBLE to eat enough carbs and Protein to sustain that type of rigorous exercise she says she does.

[wjgo 272]

Dude. 5 days per week just 2 months out from surgery is extremely excessive. It is PHYSICALLY IMPOSSIBLE to eat enough carbs and Protein to sustain that type of rigorous exercise she says she does.

It's not impossible! I did it. Training can be whatever you you want. One does not have to be hurling heavy weights. High rep low weights would be great to maintain muscle tone. You still need a recovery time though. I would not waste the surgery's fastest period of weight loss until hunger returns... It might not return for a year or more....One can make up Protein easily by adding Protein Powder to meals. Carbs are more difficult Will need to squeeze in an extra meal. Or do a ketogenic diet. Eating lean Protein meats and cheese is generally low carb and sets one up for a ketogenic diet. I put myself on a ketogenic diet without even trying. Lean meats and cheese for Snacks. When I wanted vegetables, it was sweet peas because good Fiber, carbs and Protein. My Protein bars I would eat would have a good carb content, low sugar and low fat. Be creative.To be clear, I am saying going to the gym even every day, is ok. And by that, I mean once a day, and giving entire muscle groups enough rest days between training. If she is going 2-3 times a day, I don't know what to say, may it's cardio, maybe it's treadmilling, one can do brisk walks more than once and and everyday. She really did not elaborate. I know I can go to the gym, do my "leg day" and later on run a 5 or 10 k, because I am not running hard, just jogging along. Running is something that can be done almost everyday, if one spreads out at least one rest day in the week.

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