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GYM AFTER SURGERY? LIFTING WEIGHTS?



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Hi! I have surgery on the 10th of this month and I am prepping all my things to do before hand so I'm fully prepared. One of my main concern is starting to work out again. I haven't been to the gym in over 5 years and I won't lie, I miss it! I just want to know when it's safe to start hitting the gym and when is it recommended to start lifting weights?

I want to lose all this weight first but also gain muscle. Any tips?

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check with your clinic - but for me, I was allowed to walk right away. At four weeks out, I was cleared to do everything but weights. At eight weeks out, I was cleared to do weights.

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My doctor said all restrictions for his patients end at 4 weeks... I’m a gym rat and can’t wait!

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Hi i am also looking forward to working out im a little over two weeks out but cant due to incision issues. Two of mine came open. Heres a pretty pic as an example. So i would wait to buy a plan to see how your incisions do first. This one had to reexcised today and hopefully it will heal up. The one i have at midline also opened and they put silver nitrate in it. Its painful to do some midline stuff and twisting. Some dont have incision problems some do just giving you the heads up on why to wait 💗

050EFF14-B703-4B60-A9B5-DB92EA2CAAC2.jpeg

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I started using weights about six weeks out, but lighter weights. Now at five months out the weights I use have gone up from 10 to 20 lbs, depending on what I am doing. Trying to keep things as firm as possible, and I found working out helps take off the lbs.

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On 9/6/2020 at 11:24 PM, catwoman7 said:

check with your clinic - but for me, I was allowed to walk right away. At four weeks out, I was cleared to do everything but weights. At eight weeks out, I was cleared to do weights.

I know this sounds stupid but everything except weights is like body weight exercises (lunges, squats, etc)?

Did your doc mention any walking limitations like no hiking/stairs? I hike in an area that has a lot of stairs -- like a 12 story building -- and I'm wondering if that will be limited. I will ask my surgeon but just wanted input on here.

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8 hours ago, TheRealPennyD said:

I know this sounds stupid but everything except weights is like body weight exercises (lunges, squats, etc)?

Did your doc mention any walking limitations like no hiking/stairs? I hike in an area that has a lot of stairs -- like a 12 story building -- and I'm wondering if that will be limited. I will ask my surgeon but just wanted input on here.

I was made to walk immediately after surgery (within an hour of coming out of the recovery room).

For two weeks I was on walking only, but no restrictions as to hills or stairs.

At my two-week follow-up visit I was cleared for anything that did not require weights or abdominal tension. So I could run, bike, and jump rope, but I couldn't row or do sit-ups. I was also allowed to go from 10 to 15 pounds weight max which allowed me to use a training barbell for some exercises.

At six weeks the restrictions were lifted. I spent 2-3 weeks getting back into things and trying to discover where my strength was (there's some loss but not as bad as I feared), and now at ten weeks am back into it, both manual labor as well as CrossFit.

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On 11/23/2021 at 5:35 PM, vikingbeast said:

At six weeks the restrictions were lifted. I spent 2-3 weeks getting back into things and trying to discover where my strength was (there's some loss but not as bad as I feared), and now at ten weeks am back into it, both manual labor as well as CrossFit.

Awesome! Thanks for the response. How are you doing with your macros/cals and exercise & weight loss. Some people say it causes stalls but everyone is different.

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On 11/25/2021 at 8:02 AM, TheRealPennyD said:

Awesome! Thanks for the response. How are you doing with your macros/cals and exercise & weight loss. Some people say it causes stalls but everyone is different.

I have a new nutritionist who jacked my intake way up because I was exhausted all the time. Currently on 120C 55F 120P for a total of 1455 cal daily. (There are ranges, this is the upper limit of the ranges.) I'm currently in a little mini stall but it's likely because I ate too much salty stuff over the holiday and am retaining Water like a freaking camel. I was down a little bit today and feel less bloated.

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. LeighaTR

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
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