Advice to anyone pre-op

[PAstudent 117]

If I could go back in time, I would have gotten a personal trainer and started lifting Before I had the surgery. Because I only really went hard on the weights post op, I don't really know how strong I was to begin with and if I'm just weak because of muscle atrophy or because I was always weak.

Also, take good and comprehensive measurements now! They'll really help when you to monitor your losses.

Any other good tips from anyone who has been sleeved?

[Meyer13 1]

Hi,

what do you mean muscle atrophy? Have your muscles atrophied after the surgery? And have you done any weight lifting at all before surgery? Usually it takes time to see major strides in lifts and sometimes it can be harder if you still have some extra weight to lose.

i haven't gotten surgery yet but hearing that you're concerned about your muscles scared me!

[Meaganmm 1]

This is a good idea. I'm just getting started -- surgery is probably about a month away. I should try to add some weights in, and I do want to take good measurements.

[KateBruin 344]

I started HIIT in February and it has become one of the most important things in my life. After my surgery on the 31st I'll probably stop by classes and just do the cardio so I can stay with my people. I'm worried about losing strength and progress so I'm going to consume about 150 g of Protein.

[Mhy12784 423]

Worrying about muscle atrophy is silly and ridiculous honestly. Unless you're a hardcore bodybuilder at their peak or end up with a feeding tube (which I have no idea why this would even happen) , expecting substantial loses in muscle mass isn't going to happen especially over a relatively short period of time.

Follow your diet, get your Protein, work out and you'll be fine.

That said there's nothing wrong with working out preoperatively before your surgery, in fact it's probably a good idea

Edited July 23, 2017 by Mhy12784

[PAstudent 117]

Sorry, I didn't mean to alarm anyone. I did not mean to imply "atrophy" in the extreme sense of seeing someone wasting away or with significantly smaller limbs (as you'd see with someone completely immobile for months on end). But more so with the extreme calorie deficits our bodies will be in, our bodies will try to conserve as much fat as they can and will try to use muscle for fuel. To combat this and also increase metabolism, both resistance and endurance exercise are recommended. Here's a good simple explanation: http://bariatric.stopobesityforlife.com/obesity-surgery/correcting-obesity/bariatric-surgery-side-effects/loss-of-muscle-mass/

You Will still have muscles and you will have the energy to do things postop, but the amount is mostly up to you with meeting protein/vitamin goals and how much resistance training you work up to.

We like to think that after surgery, all of the weight we lose is pure fat, but it isn't. One study found that in the first 3 months, patients lost about 45 pounds, made up of 41% lean body mass and 59% fat mass. The good thing is that by a year out, the weight they lost was 70% fat mass and only 30% lean body mass. I wasn't able to find their eating or exercise guidelines so make of this what you will.

[PAstudent 117]

On 7/22/2017 at 2:16 AM, Meyer13 said:

Hi,

what do you mean muscle atrophy? Have your muscles atrophied after the surgery? And have you done any weight lifting at all before surgery? Usually it takes time to see major strides in lifts and sometimes it can be harder if you still have some extra weight to lose.

i haven't gotten surgery yet but hearing that you're concerned about your muscles scared me!

Hi! I simply meant that our body would turn to breaking down/using our muscles as one of its main energy sources (in addition to fat) because of the extreme calorie deficit it will be in. I'm sure I have lost muscle, unfortunately, I never pushed myself to failure when I was lifting pre-op so I don't know how much weaker I am now than before. On the positive side, the surgery has definitely also helped me lose fat! Which makes it easier to do my 60 minutes of cardio 3-4 days a week in addition to my push, pull, and lower body resistance days.

Progress is totally possible post-op in terms of strength. I've been hitting the weights since I was 2 weeks post op and I've been able to increase the weights on all of my exercises by 5-20 pounds! I don't think it's likely that I'll put on significant muscle mass while I'm losing because the conditions necessary to gain muscle are pretty similar to conditions to gain fat (excess calories, but also with Protein and complex carbs). However, there are so vets on here who are much further out than I am who have shown some great gains!

[Mhy12784 423]

20 minutes ago, PAstudent said:

Sorry, I didn't mean to alarm anyone. I did not mean to imply "atrophy" in the extreme sense of seeing someone wasting away or with significantly smaller limbs (as you'd see with someone completely immobile for months on end). But more so with the extreme calorie deficits our bodies will be in, our bodies will try to conserve as much fat as they can and will try to use muscle for fuel. To combat this and also increase metabolism, both resistance and endurance exercise are recommended. Here's a good simple explanation: http://bariatric.stopobesityforlife.com/obesity-surgery/correcting-obesity/bariatric-surgery-side-effects/loss-of-muscle-mass/

You Will still have muscles and you will have the energy to do things postop, but the amount is mostly up to you with meeting protein/vitamin goals and how much resistance training you work up to.

We like to think that after surgery, all of the weight we lose is pure fat, but it isn't. One study found that in the first 3 months, patients lost about 45 pounds, made up of 41% lean body mass and 59% fat mass. The good thing is that by a year out, the weight they lost was 70% fat mass and only 30% lean body mass. I wasn't able to find their eating or exercise guidelines so make of this what you will.

Lean body mass doesn't mean muscle, it means anything that's not fat. Water glycogen stool digesting food are all included. Yes you'll lose some muscle but not much