Working out Post OP

My name is Matt Maier and I am scheduled to have open gastric bypass surgery on August 31st. I plan on joining a gym and making it a part of my everyday life but I am not sure the best way to go about it. I would really like to "bulk up" but my first thought was to trim down to my goal weight and then hit the weights. Is this the right thinking? I know that the Dr said that a long term effect could be getting a hernea so I want to keep that in mind when I start on the new me. Any thoughts or insight would be very helpful.  Sincerely, "Big Matt" (Not for to much longer)

Hi Matt.   Congratulations on your decision to have surgery.    Regarding your weight lifting...   I started lifting again the day that my doctor said it was OK which after each of my 3 surgeries was approximately 5 weeks out.   The benefits of building muscle are many.   When you cut the calories (which the surgery is gonna do for you no matter what) without the exercise you are going to lose muscle as well as fat and unfortunatley when you lose muscle your body is going to become a lot less efficient at burning fat.    Most importanly, in my case, I contribute my minimal skin saggyness to my exercise routine and more specifically my lifting.    I've lost over 250 pounds and while I do have some excess skin around my belly as well as the unfortunate "old man saggy ass" syndrome, everywhere else on my body my skin snapped back into place.   You will always have a risk of hernias regardless of having the surgery or not.   Proper lifting technique is always important so if you haven't lifted before or in a long time you may want to hire a personal trainer for a few sessions to get them to show the ropes and some good lifting techniques.    Good luck with your surgery.    Chad.

There are two conflicting issues here. 1.  You don't want to wait until you reach goal to lift.  It is much easier to maintain muscle than build it, and you will lose a lot of muscle getting to your goal weight if you aren't doing some strength training to maintain it.  You could easily spend several years trying to rebuild what you lose in the first year after WLS.  Plus you will never have more energy that the time after you lose your first 50 pounds or so, so you should take advantage of it to train.  As for specific routines, you can search this forum and find tons of advice on that. 2. You are having open surgery, which requires a good amount of time to heal (and when the doctor says nothing heavier than ten pounds for the first X weeks, he means it, that includes the groceries or that thing in the attic you want, guys do hurt themselves with surprisingly little weight).  Don't do any weight lifting until your doctor authorizes it.  Even once you start lifting, be very careful of exercises that stress the lower torso muscles, at least for six months.  No weighted ab exercises, careful moving weights around.  That said, there are probably many exercises you can do that isolate away from the lower torso (preacher curls, tricep presses, leg extensions, leg curls, bench press if done with proper form, maybe pulldowns (be careful that you aren't stressing the abs bracing your legs against the pad during the lift, you'll see what I mean when you look at the machines).  Emphasize to your doc that you want to maintain muscle, and work with him (or a physical therapist he sends you to) to figure out the exercises that can be implemented as soon as possible and that are best for your conditioning.

Hi Matt, I was working out two weeks after my surgery, but mine was lapro, so as has been noted, you'll need more time. But I think you're right to want to get to the weights asap. I have had excellent results by trying to save and build muscle after years of wasting away under all the fat. I found a great trainer who helped me work into increasingly strenuous lifting by starting modestly, concentrating on toning, endurance, flexibility, and balance. I had wanted to go for the big guns, etc. right out of the box, but figured, okay, I'm paying this guy with a great rep. why not take his advice for awhile? I am so glad I did. I am stronger than I ever I expected to be at about a year out. Lots of little things I had not counted on are good surprises: improved posture, stamina, and (slowly) some definition showing here and there. I still have about 40 lbs to lose, then I plan to amp up the weights--a bit. But I am finding that I have had great results without injuries by mixing it up: a few weeks of heavyish lifting, a few of higher reps, changing routines, and now I've added medicine ball throws, assisted pull ups, and other bodyweight stuff. Whatever course you choose, consult a trainer, ask the real pros on this board (arberg, notdave, cb. etc. for advice) and go for it. You'll have a great time. Good luck next week.

Matt, I'm just joining in the Chorus of- “Don’t Wait Until the end…” Building, and toning what muscle you have as the weight drops Is the best way to hold onto as much muscle as possible. Start small and work up…. Now- Welcome to the Men’s Forum! Glad you found the place. Check out some of the Exercise Gurus here… There are quite a few who have gone from “Fluff to Buff.” Hollar out with any questions, thoughts, etc… There’s likely to be several with some experience to share. Best Wishes- Dx

 

Matt - I would agree with these guys, depending on what your surgeon says. You have to wait at least six weeks for the open wound to heal.  I had mine open, and I was actually made to wait two months before I was given a conditional green light to work out. I don't do much weight lifting right now to be honest.  I have some health issues that make that not such a good idea yet.   But, walking and swimming (well, floundering in the pool, I don't know how to actually swim) are really good for me.   Keep in mind that I was once over 650 lbs, so I already have a lot of strength, so for me I'm more focused on getting my cardiovascular system working the way it should.  I have lymphedema in my leg, so that's more important for me right now than strength building.  Cardiovascular and endurance are what I'm focusing on. I do, however, plan on getting into some strength training in the semi-near future.  It all depends on how things go for me over the next few months. So - as I said - wait for a couple months before any strength training - and i'd even give it an extra month just to be on the safe side since you're doing an open RNY.  That's a pretty big wound that runs really deep through the abdominal muscles and it HAS to have that time to heal, or you'll rip it open / get a hernia in it, and it'll get infected and be very, very, very bad.   Good luck!  Keep us posted on how it goes!

Matt, Welcome to the Locker Room!  Here's more than you wanted to know I'm sure... I started out with main emphasis on cardio and second on weight/resistance.  My goal in the beginning was to maximize fat-burning and to maintain what little muscle I had and begin adding some lean muscle.  I walked and walked and walked...then walked some more.  And in the weight room I worked on the Nautilus machines...lighter weights, high repetitions, multiple sets.  I know now that the building of lean muscle is just as effective at burning fat as cardio if done properly, but I'd still stick with my original strategy if I had to do it all over again.  The stamina and endurance gained by the cardio provided so many benefits to me making it possible to branch out and try new activities I would not have tried before. Regardless of what your plan is, the first thing you have to do is make the commitment and stick with it.  Work hard on those days you want to exercise and work twice as hard on those days you just don't want to be there. Best advice I can give anyone that's starting out, especially when they join a gym is to schedule an appointment with one of their fitness instructors or personal trainers.  It's important to get yourself familiar with their equipment and how to use it...not only the mechanics of the equipment, but proper form.  In doing so, they should walk you through the basics and give you a suggested plan of action to help you meet your personal goals.  The orientation also helps ensure that you are performing the exercises in the safest possible manner so you can avoid injury. Many times as well, with a new membership, the staff will conduct a personal fitness evaluation going over your weight, BMI, body fat %,  blood pressure, resting heart rate, etc.  This is highly encouraged as it helps you establish a baseline from which you can build on and you can better track the progress you're making.  Plus if the staff knows where your starting from and what it is you want to accomplish, they are more likely to check in with you periodically to see how you are doing...that little extra accountability is a nice benefit. When you have free weights,weight machines, pool, track, bikes, elipticals, etc, the possibilities are endless.  But basically, you want to focus on a combination of weight/resistance training and cardio-vascular.  How you go about that is personal preference. I've not provided much in terms of specifics - but everyone is different.  Regardless, based on your options, make certain that you find exercise you enjoy.  If you dread doing it, you're not going to do it very long and pretty soon that gym membership is worthless.  Starting out typically is not much fun...but stick with it.  Once you start seeing results your motivation will increase as well. Schedule that appointment with the trainer...get the plan together and attack it.  You'll be glad you did.  Finally, one word of caution - avoid the nutrition discussions with the gym staff!  As well-intentioned as they may be, the rules for WLS'rs often do not apply and following their advice can be counter-productive to achieving your weight loss goals.  Leave the food discussions to your nutritionist and/or surgeon. Best wishes Matt! Cards Fan "STEP OFF THE SIDELINES AND GET IN THE GAME!"