Susan's Place Logo

News:

Visit our Discord server  and Wiki

Main Menu

Workout after surgery?

Started by Pictrig18, July 11, 2014, 09:48:29 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Pictrig18

I'm sure this has been discussed before but does anyone have any training experience or experience after surgery as to how best to workout? Like what kind of exercises, how often, etc.? I get lost when searching online - it seems there are a million options and opinions out there. Is cardio just as important as weight training or no?

Of course I want to define my chest more, but also work on my stomach and arms to prepare myself to be more confident when shirtless  8)

Any tips would be appreciated.
  •  

Kreuzfidel

Well, the first thing I would personally look at is where you stand in regards to body fat.  If you have some fat you could lose, I'd hit that first by cutting calories and getting your body fat percentage in the 15% range.  You can do this through diet alone, but a combination of diet and cardio isn't a bad option.

In regards to bulking, again start with your diet and learn what your BMR is and how many calories you need.  Look at HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) for bulking and combine that with appropriate balanced food intake (protein is a big part of this - check out bodybuilding diets, but remember that you'll need to adjust these to your calorie needs). 

As far as particular exercises, I would recommend a focus on your shoulders (lat and side raises, shoulder presses), triceps (kickbacks, presses), traps (shrugs and scapular retractions), lats (isolated rows, pulldowns, pullups), chest (good old benchpress) and obliques (sideplanks, twists, cable crunches, etc.).  Don't neglect your legs, though - you don't have to go crazy with them, but putting a bit of definition in your legs will help your overall "buff" look.

Don't expect overnight results.  A lot of guys get discouraged working out because they think that being on T will somehow give them immediate results.  Look at 5 to 6 months as a goal and if you get gains sooner, good for you.

If you want to bulk, be careful supplementing cardio because you don't want to lose your gains.  If you must, I'd reduce cardio (once you start trying to bulk) to one day a week.  You can use cardio in between your sets, though - for instance, if you're doing 3 sets - in the 90 second rest between sets, hit the treadmill or stationary bike. 

As for how often, you'll hear all kinds of feedback from what works best for individuals.  I'd start out with 3 days a week - keeping your workouts to about 45 minutes (no more than an hour) with about 3 sets of 8 reps each exercise.  If you want, you could even do one day for shoulders, one day for arms, one day for back, one day for legs, etc.  But each day, keep those sessions under an hour and remember to use less reps with more weight.

I would recommend waiting at least 3 months post-op before you hit the weights seriously.
  •  

blink

Check with your surgeon. Mine said to wait 1 month after surgery for cardio, and 6 months for heavy weight lifting. At 3 months post-op I carefully, slowly, started with very light weights and have kept it light, and have stayed away from any "chest" exercises to avoid possibly aggravating it. Looking forward to that 6 month mark.

There is an overwhelming amount of information out there, some of it unfortunately misleading. I found this guy's site recently, his advice seems solid and well-reasoned. If you want to "bulk" I recommend reading this page in particular: http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/bulk-and-cut/  but do check out the rest of his site, especially the "Myths & Nonsense" section for crap to avoid.
  •  

David27

My surgeon's instructions were light exercise at 3-4 weeks (cardio), heavy lifting at 6 weeks (weight lifting), and intense weight lifting training after 8-12 weeks (really trying to bulk up). 

I personally didn't start cardio until week 5 and started weight lifting at week 6. Initially my cardio capacity was about 75% and my lungs had trouble. At 9 weeks I've increased surpassed my pre-surgury cardio capacity. At 9 weeks my bench press is about 60% of what it was pre-surgery. I'm focusing my training for more endurance than for strength, so I probably could move the weight I use to, but only 1-3 reps.
  •  

aleon515

Quote from: David27 on July 12, 2014, 10:48:43 AM
My surgeon's instructions were light exercise at 3-4 weeks (cardio), heavy lifting at 6 weeks (weight lifting), and intense weight lifting training after 8-12 weeks (really trying to bulk up). 



Actually if your surgeon doesn't give you guidelines these sound good. Of course you should ask but the above sounds about right.
I never have done anything very intense but i actually stopped for 4 months. It did take a couple months to catch up but I easily surpassed where I  was.


--Jay
  •