Post-Surgery training...Where to start? (kinda long)

[cops25]

Hi all. Been lurking for a few weeks, taking in many good tips, but I have a question...here is the background:

Up until last year, I was working out consistantly at the gym...making great gains (6'0, 230lbs), having a blast...until...
While on a car stop, I got whacked by a car. A few weeks later, I started getting severe pain, leg numbness,etc. It got to the point that I stopped woking out. Fast foward to today, I had surgery, all seems to be doing well (PT twice a week, do the excersises at home every nite, and they let me hit the machines now)...I did lose some weight (post sug was 210, I'm back up to 218 now) and alot of size, which plays hell with your mind, but I can work past that.

The question in all of this is, what back excersises should I start out with? Doc says I can return to full duty in 6 weeks, I'd like to shoot for four, and I think getting back to the weights is key (Doc thinks it kept a bad situation from being worse in the first place), but I dont want to cross the line and screw it back up (I wont be doing deadlifts for awhile). Doc is not real "bodybuilding savvy", so he didn't really specify any excersises, So I'm hoping to find someone here who's been there. I'm really psyched to get back to hitting the weights, and look foward to blowing away my prior gains

Sorry for such a long first post...I'll be quiet from now on

 

[JLB001]

What exactly did you have surgery on? You don't want to push yourself too hard until you have the full clear from your doctor.

Until you get that, you may want to just clean up your diet, maybe try some walking outside to drop a lil of the added weight. 8 lbs isn't that much and can be lost before you begin lifting again.


And I almost forgot...Welcome to IM!

 

[cops25]

Trimmed a disc, and a laminectomy (made the hole bigger) on three of the vertibre.

I've been watching my diet, and walking like mad (1 week after surgery, I started walking to the corner and back...looked like an incontinent old man)
At PT, I started the machines about two weeks ago...I couldn't beleive how fast my muscles responded...Definately a confidence booster. The therapist is suprised at how fast I'm moving along. I still have a little soreness in my left muscle, but the Doc said that's normal, as they have to pull all of that away to get to the bone. I've cut out the painkillers, and only take Motrin when I first wake up.

 

[dalila]

Cops if I were you I'd probably look up a good sports medicine dr. someone who knows both injuries and training.... show them your medical history and let them advise you about exercises you could do at this time....

I used to get bad pains in one of my knees, went to see a very famous orthopedic surgeon around here, who was also clueless abt exercising and he told me NOT to lift weights, NOT to run, use elliptical trainer, do step aerobics or WEAR HEALS FOR GOOD!!! I asked if I should perhaps stop walking as well, and never went to see him again... I mean some of them are good drs. but sometimes they go overboard in their attempt to eliminate ANYTHING that could remotely hurt a patient!

 

[ALBOB]

Since you had work done on a disk I'd recommend staying away from any bending type exercise unless they are EXTREMELY light until it's completely healed. Having had knee surgery myself I know how anxious you are to get back into fighting form but you have to go slow. If you push it too hard you run the very real risk of re-injuring yourself. In the meantime you can do pull downs or machine rows where your chest is resting against some sort of pad. These types of exercise will work your lats very well without putting stress on your spine.

 

[cops25]

Cool...thanks. That's bascially what they have me doing in PT (cable excercises), that and machine leg lifts and extentions.
I went down to the Gym today and signed up, and worked chest/tri/shoulders (but kept it on the conservative side), and I cant tell you how happy I was...I think the euphoria you get with the pump is more addicting than any drug . While I was there, I met a guy who had the same surgery two years ago...doing squats. We talked for a bit, and he told me how he got back into it (basically what Albob recommended), and now I'm more rarin to go than ever (just gotta tell myself over and over: Take it slow).
I think getting back into it will help healing (mentally), I've never been one to sit around, and being told to stay on the couch sinks you to a low that noone wants to go to.

Hopefully soon I can start trying out some of the tips I've found on here...mucho good advice.



Thanks all,
Cops