Had bariatric surgery and now you want to become a beast of physical fitness? Let’s use this are to share workout ideas, diet plans, goals and accomplishments!!!

About me... HW 356
Gastric sleeve - May 2016
CW 214 and 14% body fat

Lifts currently
Squat - 315
Bench - 205
DL - 405

Let’s get this going!!!!

HW - 345lbs

Current Weight - 260lbs

Height 6'5"

Age 40

Started off with the Strong Lifts 5x5 and moved over to Madcow 5x5 relatively early as I needed the increased recovery time on my calorie deficit. Currently eating 2000-2500 calories per day with a minimum of 200g of protein and usually around 100g of CHO. Not sure what my 1RMs are but here are my current working set 1x5 weights.

Bench 250lbs

Squats 270lbs

Deadlifts 365lbs

Overhead press 150lbs

Barbell rows 200lbs

I'm on week 6 of Madcow and so have 6 weeks left. Hoping to end with bench 270lbs, squats 315lbs and DL 405lbs. Not sure how much more I have left for OHP (I'd be happy to hit 160lbs) as it doesn't seem to want to move much...same for BB row and be happy to hit 220lbs.

Also started chinups (currently can do 3x3 with strict form and then move on to some band assisted) and weighted dips (adding 20lbs I can do 4x10).

I’m always curious about diet for those of you who are lifting heavy? On heavy lifting days my appetite is pretty ravenous and these are the days I’ll push 2500 calories. On lighter days and rest days I’m closer to 2000 calories. My main focus is getting over 200g of protein and my carbs are relatively low around 100g although I can hit 150g a couple times per week.

I just don’t know if this is optimal? I seem to be still gaining strength week after week so I assume my calorie and protein intake is sufficient. I’ve put on 5lbs in the last 6 weeks which appears to be muscle - waist size is the same and my chest and quads are clearly bigger. Bro science says I should be at 4000 calories if I want to put on mass. Bro science also says it should be impossible for a 6’5” 260lbs guy to put on mass and strength at an average of 2200 calories per day but here I am. Curious what everyone else is doing - especially some of the bigger guys my size?

No idea what my intake is but I eat a fair bit. On lifting days I tend to have a fair bit of carbs before working out as find that helps with strength and energy.

I do need to up my protein a bit though

22 hours ago, oldbriannomore said:

a couple of recent pics...

Nice! How long have you been at it for, they are some impressive arms ?

Surgery was April 2015. I started my journey in November 2014 though.

Some recent photos...weight 260lbs.

Bro science isn't good LOL. Focus on protein and waist size. I never bother with weight much anymore. I do close to 4k calories on heavy days now and 2500 or so on regular. I'm 6'6" . Just listen to your body. If your hungry eat, just stay clean. Great work fellas!

About me... HW 300+
Gastric sleeve - August 2016
CW 152 - haven't done body fat analysis in a while and haven't had plastics so I'm sitting around 28%
Age 57 - female

Lifts currently
Squat - 235 on the road to max at 250 in 2 weeks
Bench - I don't
DL - 235 on the road to max at 250 in 2 weeks
I take an Olympic Lifting/Crossfit type class 3x weekly. I lift to support my passion - fencing. I'm ranked 23 among US women age 50-59 in foil and headed for my first ranking in saber in my age group. I'm ranked 33 among women over 40 in the US in foil and #16 on the list for the Veterans World Cup Team (so 12 people have to get hurt or die before I can go.) I fence about 7-8 hours a week and compete almost every weekend.
I do reformer based Pilates for an hour a week and work with a personal trainer another hour a week. We are working on building my upper body strength which is lacking. I can't quite bench 100 pounds yet and can probably do a single overhead press of about 100, but not sure.

I'm soo happy to read this and impressed overall with where you started and where you are. It all sounds so encouraging[emoji2]

You guys are all killing it. In addition to the meet last weekend, yesterday i ran 2 laps of a Savage Race. What can I say... I like shiny things!

Finally managing to get enough calories in to see some gains ?? most days I'm around 1200 calories sometimes up to 1500....I have a lot of discomfort eating more than about half a cup of food, so basically eat all day! I cant keep protein shakes down so that sucks (my surgeon mentioned dilating my sleeve...ahhh no chance lol). I'm 9 months out from vsg and 34.5kg lighter. Would like to lose another 3-5kg of fat then focus on gaining more muscle (fill out my spare skin with some!). My bench is up to 50kg (used to be 70kg) and deadlift at 90kg (was 120kg+) so is a slow road, am also nearly 47 years old so that not helping ?? have added in Olly lifting for fun, and managed to box jump 75cm (30 inches) which felt great (did 40 reps just cause so happy I could but wow my calves on fire the next day lol). So this year my goal is to bench more than I weigh, and squat and deadlift 1.5 x my weight. I'm stuck on a 45kg clean and jerk but I think that is all mental cause I know I can lift more than that. Anyway, love reading your posts, hi from New Zealand ?

5 hours ago, belikewater said:

Finally managing to get enough calories in to see some gains ?? most days I'm around 1200 calories sometimes up to 1500....I have a lot of discomfort eating more than about half a cup of food, so basically eat all day! I cant keep Protein Shakes down so that sucks (my surgeon mentioned dilating my sleeve...ahhh no chance lol). I'm 9 months out from vsg and 34.5kg lighter. Would like to lose another 3-5kg of fat then focus on gaining more muscle (fill out my spare skin with some!). My bench is up to 50kg (used to be 70kg) and deadlift at 90kg (was 120kg+) so is a slow road, am also nearly 47 years old so that not helping ?? have added in Olly lifting for fun, and managed to box jump 75cm (30 inches) which felt great (did 40 reps just cause so happy I could but wow my calves on fire the next day lol). So this year my goal is to bench more than I weigh, and squat and deadlift 1.5 x my weight. I'm stuck on a 45kg clean and jerk but I think that is all mental cause I know I can lift more than that. Anyway, love reading your posts, hi from New Zealand ?

You're killing it! I've been lifting for 6 years now including during my heaviest pre-surgery weight. I lost a TON of strength with the 90lbs weight loss post-surgery but it's coming back. Squat and deadlifts have been most affected and I never used a weight belt before - there was plenty of adipose in my omentum to add support to my spin...now I feel "deflated" in the middle unless I can press my abdomen against a belt..lol.

My plan now is slow and steady! Looks like you're doing great! Keep up the good work!

On 6/23/2019 at 3:42 PM, NurseMichael said:

You guys are all killing it. In addition to the meet last weekend, yesterday i ran 2 laps of a Savage Race. What can I say... I like shiny things!

Loved your video,

What can a girl say, I also like shiny things

I do distance runs Half/full marathons and Mountain incline trail runs. I seem to be the contradiction in the weight room. Everyone says do less cardio. I need ideas on how to gain muscle and keep distance running. Diet advice would be fantastic.

My diet changes with what I’m doing, Carbs/calories increase on long runs. Fall winter I do less cardio and more lifting. I still struggling with letting myself gain weight. I need to get out of that mind set because I’m retaining muscle and not gaining any at this point.

On 6/19/2019 at 9:55 AM, oldbriannomore said:

about me:

HW-472LBS

CW-267LBS

I started lifting just to help loose skin and now I am a full blown iron-head LOL... bodybuilding is my thing although ill never compete due to midsection skin issues. I am happy overall and just focus on bettering myself. Glad to see all the hard work in this thread! Keep it coming!

about me:

HW-254

CW-133

Weightlifting competitions are out for me. I’m keeping it real at age 50. I will never see abs under my mid-section/loose skin. I am more than happy to have this fitness level. I hope to keep it going as long as possible. My goal is to be a bad ass 70-year-old.

I am 2 weeks post OP but have plans to resume lifting soon. I have a question regarding protein shakes. If our stomachs are much smaller then normal, can we actually absorb all the protein in a shake? Say my shake is 30 grams, am I able to absorb 30 grams or only 15 grams?

Nutrients aren't absorbed in the stomach. Food gets broken down in the stomach by the digestive juices, then it moves into the intestines. This is where absorption happens. That 30 grams will be absorbed no problem.