60 minute pre-op requirement

[SoulGardener 101]

My dr requires patients to work up to 60 min a day of exercise before surgery. At 270 lbs and with spondylosis, that is pretty much impossible. My back gets so painful the next day when I try to increase time ..... I can do 30-35 min but just cannot get beyond that. Anyone else have this requirement and did it cause you problems from not being able to do it?

[Mr Alley Gator 263]

Mine did not also have never seen it - You sure he meant 60 min in a row?

[catwoman7 11,212]

never heard of a requirement like that. I agree with Alley Gator - if that's a requirement, I'd just break it up - so maybe 20 minutes 3x a day if he/she allows that (not sure why they wouldn't since I've read exercise guidelines that activity can be broken up into chunks)

[PolkSDA 116]

Never heard of such a high daily requirement. Preop and post-op, I was encouraged to get at least 90 minutes of exercise per week, ideally in sessions of 30 minutes or more.

[GreenTealael 25,336]

I agree with everyone, never heard of this before as a requirement vs a suggestion.

How will they know? Are you being given a fitness tracker?

If it is based on the honor system, tell them what they need to hear- that you are working your way up to the 60 mins over time. Perhaps try modified (chair) exercises/slow yoga or tell them about your limitations and ask for an exception.

[TheRealMeIsHere! 863]

As others have said, break up the 60 minutes.

Also, for your own benefit as well since exercise is crucial for long term success, you need to find something you can do that doesn't exacerbate the pain. Having ankylososing spondylosis myself, along with several other physical disabilities, and starting at almost 300 pounds I requested a script for PT to help find things that I could do at home without causing further damage or pain.

Best of luck on your journey

[Uomograsso 364]

Do what you can. Not sure if this will help, but there are some exercises you can do seated. During the pre-op seminar we went over some with a therapist. They even gave us a resistance band to use. Like others have said, break it up to smaller sessions. I could barely do 15 minutes in 2019, now I can go for 60 minutes with no sweat, literally.