Questions for WLS People-What does your surgeon recommend for strength training?

I posted this in the main board, but didn't get too much feedback.  My surgeon does not recommend strength training for the 1st year post-op, which I 100% disagree with.  I've always been an active person so I can't wrap my head around his recommendation.  His reasoning is that it will slow weight loss.  Please share your stories.  I'm only 8 weeks post-op, but I've been back in the gym for 4 weeks and I'm feeling great.  I go 5 times a week, 60-85 minute step class 3 times a week and 30 minutes on the elliptical with light strength training (2 sets of 20) twice a week.

Thanks!

My surgeon recommended walking, etc., at first, then after the one year appointment he wanted me to start strength training. Guess there must be something to it!

Jenny

I didn't ask and he didn't say. I started working out slowly at 3-1/2 months out but wish I would have sooner. I say keep any muscle you can b4 you lose it but I'm not a doctor.

I totally disagree with him as well.  My doc said 6 weeks after surgery I was cleard to lift weights.
I wish I had gotten on it as soon as he cleared me.  I lost so much strength focusing on cardio and dropping the weight.  Now 2 years later, It is so much harder to get back to the gym and lift weights as the progress and improvements are so slow.

It would have been much better to have been trying to maintain my strength as opposed to trying to regain it now.

It can slow the weight loss some, but actually I saw it slow when I started running as well.  What also happened is with the increased exercise routines, I found that my desire to eat and my hunger levels increased.  Your body has to have the fuel to run.

It sounds to me like you have a good program in place.  If you continue to do a high volume of lower weights you will maintain muscle tone as opposed to bulking up. 

But you have to do what is right for you and take into consideration your doctor and his program are telling you.

Good luck,

Scott

6-8 weeks is the standard for incisions to heal unless you have complications or exceptions.

Lifting weights and exercise will cause you to lose less weigh initially.  Not exercising will also cause your weigh loss process to cannibilize your muscle mass, especially if you do not get in sufficient protein.  People get sick and get bed-ridden and over time, lose weight as well as strength and stamina,..because of lost muscle mass.

Exercise will tighten and tone your muslce and help you fell and look better than mere weight loss alone.  But some are more able than others, some are motivated to exercise than other and we all have our own situations and cir****tances

While I never got as light and small as I wanted post-op, my only regret is I haven't exercised more and harder.  ( An issue I am working to correct.)   Due to exercise, I lost inches when the scales weren't moving.  I had 3-8 week stalls or plateaus but keep wit hte program.  I had to increase my protein intake, then my iron, then B-12 and finally potassium as I got more active to balance my engery with my fatigue but it all works.

I am healthier now, have more strength, endurance and feel more alive and have a more active lifestyle because of exercising post-op and being around others that exercise too and do active things.  Its a great new life.

Don't exercise it will stifle you weight loss,...that is so lame!

Use wisdom and go get'em tiger.

My surgeon said I would be cleared to do anything I did pre-op at 6 months out.  I had an open DS & plenty of guys have kneeled on my stomach with no ill effects.  It actually didn't hurt one little bit, just irritating that something so simple should be so damn effective!  I've also done some strength training (not that hardcore, I must confess) since December - again, I was fine.  I'm two weeks shy of 1 yr post-op.

Thank you for the feedback into what your surgeons' have said.  Because I think I'm more active than others at my stage, I decided to up my protein.  The goal was 60-75 grams a day, I now get a minimum of 75 grams, sometimes around 95 grams.  In terms of strength training I'm not doing anything heavy at all, just trying to rebuild strength and avoid losing additional muscle mass.  I feel like I'm already on a slippery slope with being obsessed with what the scale is saying and I would much rather judge my success on how I'm feeling and how my clothes are feeling.  I can already tell that I'm eating completely different and I'm still consuming between 600-800 calories a day. 

My surgeon recommends 2 day of cardio and 2 days of strength training for 45 min. each every week as a basic minimum.

Most people lose some muscle mass while losing weight. If you strength train, you may still lose some, but you'll be stronger in spite of this. (There's an article in the fitness section of OH that talks about this.)

Recommending to wait a year to start strength training, IMO, is focusing on the numbers and not on your health. If you strength train, your body will take up less space (so you'll fit into smaller sizes) and you'll be healthier and stronger no matter what the scale says.

At my one month post-op appointment, my  surgeon released me to go to the gym.  He told me exercise was essential.  When I asked him how much, he told me to listen to my body.  He said my energy level would increase as my activity increased (I still had low energy at that point), and he was right.