Hey y'all. I have my first appointment coming up since the ins. Company have their approval. I would like to make my recovery a little easier by getting in the best shape possible. I would like to know if there are any exercises that would be extra beneficial for me. I'm good with the treadmill.... Figure that's good for the ticker. I would like to incorporate some strength training. I would imagine core strengthening would be a good thing but, I carry lots of weight in my mid section. I'm just going to say it.... The girth in my torso makes it impossible for sit ups. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks!

If you buy resistance bands you can do strength training using your own body weight.

Everlast 14x Training Band

this is what I purchased.. it has 14 exercises pictured on the band.

Hope this helps. Best of luck!

Thank you so much Jackie! I will try this. I love that it's something I can do at home that won't take up space. Fantastic suggestion.

Hi there!

congratulations on your upcoming surgery! Exciting times ahead!

I understand wanting to get in the best shape you can preop. My suggestion is to focus on working your way up to the suggested minimum recommendations set out by health Canada, which are: 120 minutes of moderate cardio( which means you can say a few words, but can't carry on a conversation) per week.

This equals 30minutes/5 times a week.

plus a minimum of 2x30 minute strength training sessions per week.

for strength training at home, there are tons of workouts on YouTube ( lots using bands as mentioned above too) and if you use a smartphone or tablet, tons of apps.)

As for sit ups, I also carry most of my weight in the middle. But you don't have to do a full sit up, you can just focus on crunches, which means all you want to do is get your shoulder blades off the matt.

If that's still not feasible, Google around for gentle, hatha, standing or chair yoga, there are lots of stabilizing poses that will help strengthen your core.

good luck!

Thank you so much. You have lots of good information. I plan on using it all. As for the sit ups I was messing around this morning and it seems to be slightly easier for me to lay on the floor with my legs straight then lifting my legs in the air. I'm assuming that's working since I felt the burn. I'll look into that chair yoga.... Sounds intriguing. Btw I'm practically in tears over here with amount of support I'm feeling from people I've never even met. Thank you again.

Honestly, ANY exercise you can get in will be beneficial. Your abdomen will undoubtedly be very sore from the surgery, even if you've got abs of steel!

The best exercise is something you don't mind doing and are able to keep up. Walking is a great option, as is gentle yoga.

That is an excellent point. If I hate it I won't do it. You wouldn't happen to have the name of a good yoga video for somebody like me.... Not very flexible beginner.

I subscribe to YogaGlo, which is like Netflix but for yoga videos. They have a TON of beginner-friendly videos! They have one instructor in particular, Alex Frank, whose stuff is very gentle and easily adaptable for less-mobile folks.