I'm six months post-surgery and have been doing resistance training using my gym's weight machines for several months. However, I haven't made any progress -- I've been stuck at the same reps and weight resistance on all the machines for months. I've tried to up the weights by small amounts but haven't been strong enough to utilize them. I fatigue at the same number of reps, too.

Yesterday my nutritionist advised me to increase my carbs because I'm on a very low car diet. She said I need to do this so my muscles can get stronger. This terrifies me because I don't want to stall or, worse, gain back weight.

I'm older (60) so maybe that is part of the cause. But if anyone else has had similar problems -- or knows of a possible solution -- I'd love to hear about it.

Ok Dont panic you are not out to get stronger just tighte or are you looking for muscle gainr - I am 52 and just started cross fit and got real educated quickly. My trainer said you will not get much stronger but will tighten up. You may have to switch your routine to develop the strength routine.

My kid is a cross fit competitor and i just asked him, He stated regardless of age you can get stronger - but you need to switch to a Strength program and resistance is not it

3 hours ago, Prestonandme said:

I'm six months post-surgery and have been doing resistance training using my gym's weight machines for several months. However, I haven't made any progress -- I've been stuck at the same reps and weight resistance on all the machines for months. I've tried to up the weights by small amounts but haven't been strong enough to utilize them. I fatigue at the same number of reps, too.

Yesterday my nutritionist advised me to increase my carbs because I'm on a very low car diet. She said I need to do this so my muscles can get stronger. This terrifies me because I don't want to stall or, worse, gain back weight.

I'm older (60) so maybe that is part of the cause. But if anyone else has had similar problems -- or knows of a possible solution -- I'd love to hear about it.

First, Follow your professional’s advice.

You are doing fantastic. We all have our starting fitness level. Glad you are in the weight room to build muscle. I’m female in my 50’s it can be done and it’s never too late in life, right? ?

I have some questions for you.

• You are six months out, how many calories and carbs are you consuming now?
• How many calories do you burn working out?
• How often to you train?
• Are you working with a trainer or have access to staff at your gym for some advice on weightlifting and diet?
• Did your dietician give you a new carb goal to hit? Were you instructed to start eating your maintenance phase diet?
• Are you ready to move into maintenance diet to support weightlifting? or do you want to eat in weight loss phase to lose more?

Only my experience from my first year out. (What works for me may not work for you)

Weight loss phase, my fitness routine included cardio and weightlifting. I greatly improved my strength and fitness level. However, I did lose muscle with rapid weight loss. (Part of it was due to exercising on low calories)

Adding carbs may feel scary at first, Its normal to feel this way transitioning to maintenance.

I didn’t add carbs until I got close to goal and a higher fitness level. (sounds like you are close to goal) It has been easier to gain strength and muscle going into maintenance diet. My maintenance instructions are adding low glycemic carbs. (whole grain, plant based, sweet potato, brown rice, nothing white, processed with added sugar) I stay within my new maintaining calories and carb range.

I’m now five years out, I distance run and lift. I hired a sports medicine dietician to help me fuel my body correctly.

I wish you the best in hitting your fitness goals,

Jennifer

6 hours ago, Healthy_life2 said:

First, Follow your professional’s advice.

You are doing fantastic. We all have our starting fitness level. Glad you are in the weight room to build muscle. I’m female in my 50’s it can be done and it’s never too late in life, right? ?

I have some questions for you.

• You are six months out, how many calories and carbs are you consuming now?
• How many calories do you burn working out?
• How often to you train?
• Are you working with a trainer or have access to staff at your gym for some advice on weightlifting and diet?
• Did your dietician give you a new carb goal to hit? Were you instructed to start eating your maintenance phase diet?
• Are you ready to move into maintenance diet to support weightlifting? or do you want to eat in weight loss phase to lose more?

Only my experience from my first year out. (What works for me may not work for you)

Weight loss phase, my fitness routine included cardio and weightlifting. I greatly improved my strength and fitness level. However, I did lose muscle with rapid weight loss. (Part of it was due to exercising on low calories)

Adding carbs may feel scary at first, Its normal to feel this way transitioning to maintenance.

I didn’t add carbs until I got close to goal and a higher fitness level. (sounds like you are close to goal) It has been easier to gain strength and muscle going into maintenance diet. My maintenance instructions are adding low glycemic carbs. (whole grain, plant based, sweet potato, brown rice, nothing white, processed with added sugar) I stay within my new maintaining calories and carb range.

I’m now five years out, I distance run and lift. I hired a sports medicine dietician to help me fuel my body correctly.

I wish you the best in hitting your fitness goals,

Jennifer

Hi Jennifer, I wonder the same thing in your experience because i workout 6 times a week and i have NO energy... What amount of carbs did you eat and calories did you have when you started working out (but while you were still trying to lose) and not on maintenance?

5 hours ago, Serengirl said:

Hi Jennifer, I wonder the same thing in your experience because i workout 6 times a week and i have NO energy... What amount of carbs did you eat and calories did you have when you started working out (but while you were still trying to lose) and not on maintenance?

Good morning.

You are three months out, right? I hope all is going well.

Trust your professionals (all plans/instructions are different) Ask if you should change your food plan/add carbs to support your current fitness level. They will need to know how many calories you currently eat, training schedule, and how many calories you burn per training session.

You asked “What amount of carbs did you eat and calories did you have when you started working out (but while you were still trying to lose)

I made no changes to my dieticians’ weight loss phase diet. I exercised (cardio and lifting) 5 to 6 days a week.

I had great surgery restriction. I was able to consume around 900 calories at three months out. 1000 to 1100 calories at five/six months out. My energy felt better with higher calorie ranges.

Hope you find what works for you.,

Jennifer

Post surgery, everyone is on a low carb diet.
I asked.my crew about the same thing. Their concern was still to make sure I got enough protein, or to even increase my protein. Before you radically change your diet, make sure you have your protein squared away. If you are protein deficient, your body will get it from your muscles.

I gave this some more thought,

Assuming you are not especially fatigued at the end of the day or other days, and you get enough sleep, and your nutrient balance is correct for your post-op diet, and you are of course drinking the more than the minimum amount of water, I would say your exercise regimen is more exercise related and not diet. I wish it was as easy as "eat more carbs, lift more weights," but its far more complicated than that. Nutritionists are not athletic trainers, and neither are athletic trainers nutritionists. If hitting a wall when weightlifting if the only thing of note (no other non-normal post op feelings or notes), then I believe your issue is more directly relate to the gym than an overall carb or calorie intake. Ask the gym operator for someone to get advice from, they either know a knowledgeable trainer that works at the gym (not all trainers are knowledgeable) or a client you can ask questions to.

Post-op, you have a heavier than normal protein diet, because you are on a very low calorie diet, and that makes your body want to draw a higher proportion of calories from its ready muscle. So, you should bump up your protein. Post-op unknowingly put myself on a keto diet, low, very low carb and higher fat, because I was very lean meat oriented and string cheese for snacks. I didn't hit such walls. But no one just adds 5 lbs of weights to exercises every week, or even every month.

Your body needs water to process, everything. Whatever amount of water you are drinking now, add to it. I was drinking about 80oz a day, and I learned that was not enough for me once I lost alot of weight - 80oz could not support a run every other day without severe shin splints.

Now, to your weight lifting. Without knowing what your regiment is, STOP! take a break. Take a 2 week break. Don't worry, your weight loss is far, far more dependent on what you eat than weightlifting. Go for walks instead. Use that time to make sure you lifting right, and lifting with the right form. If you are lifting everyday, it may not be fatigue, it could be pain. You MUST NOT mix up muscle groups back to back. For example, you should not be doing a lat pull down on a monday, and then a deltoid on a tuesday. They share the same muscle group and they are share common muscles. Triceps and biceps are similar, they should be done on the same day, so the shared muscles between those exercises can rest on the off days. You need a rest day for them. Google some suggest workout patterns. I spent 4 months in physical therapy because a "certified" trainer let me do chest press-shoulder-press-incline press everyday. I learned the hard way... not to trust a trainer. I broke my shoulders down, and threw one out fencing, and then later threw the other out trying to grab my dog.

If you are lifting every other day, you might need an extra day to recovery. Recovery is super, super important. You do not build muscle mass at the gym, and never will. It happens after you leave the gym, when your muscle fibers go about repairing themselves. Perhaps, being new to lifting, and being older, you just need an extra day. Also, 6 months is TOO LONG to be doing the same thing. Do different exercises in different orders. If you are doing bicep curls, do hammer curls. If you are doing chest presses, do incline chest presses. or more ideally, mix them all up. Doing the same exercises too long will put you into a rut. Make sure you're not doing too many of the same group. Doing 3 sets each of shoulder, incline and chest press on the same day is the same as asking to be admitted for a physical therapist to fix an impinged shoulder.

When you leave the gym, that is the best time to eat. Your muscles are craving fuel, and so is the rest of your body, its the best time to absorb food. Also, it wouldn't hurt to have a snack before you go to the gym either. Just also make sure you are hydrated before going to the gym.

Back off the weights. Start doing less weights and see how your reps go. When you do sets, you might need a longer rest time between them. Your fatigue might be related to lactic acid, and you need extra time to flush some more of it out.

Warm up your muscles before lifting. You might need to stretch, or do a lightweight set before you do your main sets s a warmup.

Edited December 23, 20196 yr by wjgo