I recently had surgery and was told not to work out for a month. How much strength/muscle mass can I expect to lose, and what should I do to help preserve what I have?
Thanks
That would all depend on what kind of surgery you had. You need to be more specific if you expect any sound advice.
Well, I wouldn’t even consider any type of physical training. Simply not worth screwing up the healing process. You don’t want to end up back in surgery.
Personally, I’d follow the doctors recommendations as far as what to eat (i.e. kidney problem->low protein, etc). If he didn’t recommend anything, just keep your protein and calories fairly high.
Use this time to do some research for nutrition, training, etc. At least you can train your mind during this time. As soon as you come back to lifting, you’ll gain the mass you lost fairly quickly.