Personal trainer vs surgeon's instructions

I went for my  5 month follow up apointment with my surgeon earlier this month. My surgeon said to not let my heartrate get above 120bpm and to do moderate exercise. Nothing vigorous.... doing so will keep me in the fat burning zone. Well, I joined a gym this month and bought some time with a personal trainer. She's telling me that I need vigorous exercise and have my heartrate at about 125-140 bpm. My surgeon did not have aproblem with me doing 30 minutes on the stationary nike, 60 minutes on the treadmill and 15-20 minutes on the elliptical. The personal trainer wants me to exercise only a total of 75 minutes each day 5 days a week. On the 2 days a week I'm with her .... its mostly strength training..... she doesn't want me doing any other workouts. What I have been doing is cardio about 100 minutes 4 days a week in addition to the 1 or 2 days a week I train with her. I've lost 11 lbs since starting this regimen in May. I think I'm doing well and don't want to cut down my workouts. I'm following what my surgeon advise. Should I listen to the personal trainer?

My thinking is that I put my life in my surgeon's hands when I had this surgery, and it doesn't make sense to me not to trust him with the aftercare.

Jenny

I would do what feels right to you. You are the one that will live with the results. Some Dr.s don't put much in to the aftercare or fitness / nutrition plans and some do. I would do some research into the trainer as well. I have looked into schooling to become one myself and the little research I did scared me. There are some courses out there that will certify you for not much more than the money you send to take the course. There are also legitimate courses and trainers out there too. Do some research with what works best and makes you feel the best. In the long run that's what will keep you going back to the gym anyway.

I talked to a personal trainer here at my office.  He said right now until I really lose a big chunk of my weight keep my heart rate around 130, which is optimal for fat burn.  He said if I get too much over that it can reverse the affects and really slow down the weight loss.  Those who have more weight to lose like 75-100 pounds your body will use the fat for fuel, and so you need to help it by burning that fat, which in turn will condition your heart to do more and eventually as you lose, you will find you can keep a more steady heart rate with more intense exercise.  

Which explains why for many years I have not really lost weight exercising as I thought well I am burning calories, but was not burning any fat.

You are still so EARLY in your journey. I agree with Jennifer.... follow your surgeons recommendations. They will change as you lose more, gain more strength and have a track record of good labs under your belt.

Work on burning the fat, getting more movement, and the rest will come.  Let your trainer know what your surgeon is recommending, and ask him/her to help you develop a plan to follow along with those recommendations.

Good luck and Take Care!

Kathy

So many people have a great misunderstanding about HR zones. First-that whole 220-age and % of that is a bunch of crap. To give everyone a number is a general guideline that might not fit everyone.

If you really want to follow your dr's advice and stay if the fat burning zone, then you'll neet to get a vo2max test-the ones athletes do. You'll wear a mask and everything and the test will last about 10 minutes.

You will find out a shizload of info. You will find your correct aerobic/fat burning/lactic acid zones.

I tried Maffetone how HR training once. I was trying to figure out why I couldn't keep my HR below 150. Well-duh...cuz my max HR turned out to be 213!

Anyhoo-sounds like you're doing great! Keep it up!

Your surgeon has bought into the "Fat burning zone" myth. I love my surgeon and he's smart about a lot of things other than surgery, but his exercise advice is only mediocre. I rarely pay much attention to it except for the basics.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure your trainer is much better. You'd think a trainer would be an expert in exercise but there aren't any standards. Anyone can call themselves a trainer and certificate programs (as mentioned above) vary wildly.

What you want to do is a combination of cardio and strength training. Each has a different purpose and you need both. The idea that you burn more fat by keeping your heart rate low is a myth. You burn more fat *at the time of exercise* if your HR is in a certain zone, but you will burn more fat *overall* if you burn more calories.

To burn more calories, you need to either increase the time or the intensity (i.e., a higher heart rate) or both.

Here's an article from Prevention that discusses the Fat Burning Myth ...

www.prevention.com/health/fitness/cardio/aerobic-exercises-a nd-fat-burning/article/9f3868f271903110VgnVCM10000013281eac_ ___/




Cassie