Working out after surgery

[RaptorChops]

I'm wondering if any of you guys did any type of exercise like a few weeks after your surgery. I know I can't do anything like lift weights and that but is there anything I could do in the meantime until I'm back 100%? I'm getting quite restless with not doing anything. Maybe squats?

[AndrewB]

I'm also curious about this, since my dysphoria has flared right before my surgery and I just can't bring myself to run in a binder anymore. I was going to ask my doc what she thought of running in a controlled environment (e.g. treadmill at the gym). You could probably get away with weightless squats (just don't use a barbell) and stuff like calf raises, done on a stair step. Lower-body workouts should be fine, especially if fairly isolated ones, such as squats, toe/calf raises, lunges, etc.

[RaptorChops]

Yeah probably legs would be the best thing to work on until I can do my chest since I got chicken legs

[HeyTrace19]

I started running again about 4 weeks after my chest surgery.  Also went to the gym to ride the stationary bike (not my favorite) and did all the leg machines.  I was cleared for swimming after my three week check up, but was really not able to do much arm movement yet at that time.  Did some deep water treading for the core and legs, though.  I was going out for regular, short walks right away after surgery...it helped to satisfy my need to move.

[genderirrelevant]

My top surgery is in 23 days. I'm not currently a certified fitness expert but I was in the past and I coach gymnastics now. I'm also the veteran of many upper body injuries including about a dozen fractured ribs. When in doubt go easier than you think you should for several months.

/disclaimer

You'll probably be OK for isolated lower body exercise pretty quickly. I'm planning to start with walking and stationary recumbent bike. I would avoid the treadmill because if you stumble you are likely to grab the handrails which would result in a sudden uncontrolled pull on your pecs. Better to be walking outside where you are more likely to not need your hands to recover balance. free-standing unweighted squats and toe raises should be fine. Hike uphill for more challenge. Be cautious about doing a stair workout because of grabbing the handrail. As you progress you could do an upright stationary bike but you should be feeling very well recovered before riding a regular bike. (This sucks for me because I hate driving.)

As for upper body strength training this is a good time to invest some money is a few personal training sessions and look for someone with rehab experience. I throw kids for living and I'm going to have to resist the urge to spot for quite a while. I'll need to do a lot of rehab weights before I can pick up a kid. I'll start with some Codman's pendulum swings:

and unweighted free weight exercises to go through the range of motion for a few workouts. When I add weights I'll start pathetically small (e.g. soup can) When I feel comfortable with whatever the minimum load on a weight machine then I'll switch to the machine for slow buildup of resistance without risk of losing control of a heavy weight. Probably around 3-4 months I'll look at returning to free weights but I'll cut my resistance way back until I know I'm in perfect control with no pain at all. I'm not going to push to failure on any sets for a very very long time.

I've never done much training in the water but I'll probably try getting into it more during recovery. The nice thing is you never drop a weight or get pushed beyond your range of motion.

That's my two cents FWIW. Good luck in your recovery!

[RaptorChops]

thanks for the insight all.

I've been using my row machine lightly for 20 minutes every other day. I have also been using my dumbell bars (no weights) to do some lighter versions of my usual routines and to just kind of get me back into the groove of things. Also doing a few reps of calf raises while holding 2 1/2 lb weights by my sides. I feel the burn and I guess that's all that matters right now.