Yesterday evening workout
E - LSS Running
- Run 5.00 km (about 3.1 miles) in 32:11
- Walk 1.70 km (about 0.62 miles) in 14:21
Lungs are finally back. No cough. There is still something going on with my sinus but at that point in time, it is probably just seasonal allergies.
That run felt so good! It was not on flat ground and I was not completely wiped which surprised me after a month of not running and going faster than my zone 2 runs from base building. I did some chins, push ups and squats during the last days but did not log them.
I was worried about my trip to Madeira where we planned for a lot of hikes carrying my son so this run brought back my confidence. We are leaving on Saturday and I don’t plan on training today or tommorrow. I’ll get back to it when we come back, at the beginning of June.
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I got back from Madeira on Monday. It was a really great family vacation with lots of hiking done up to 6000 feet altitude. Plane travel with a 15 months old toddler is a sport in itself. I don’t recommend especially as we started with a night flight. Our flight back was cancelled and the rebooked us on a flight to Lisbon, then to Toronto and then back to Montreal (1.5h + 8h + 1.5h) instead of the initial plan of flying to Azores then Montreal (1h + 6h). So, I took yesterday to unwind and take care of the house and stuff that happened during those 2 weeks.
All my previous coughing and that traveling + hiking got me though. For the last 7 days, I have what seem to be a umbilical hernia. I am going to the doctor on Friday to assess if this is really the case and what to do with it. I won’t lift heavy until then but will resume training by walking/running and doing some light work (bodyweight or light dumbbells). I have no pain but I have discomfort especially when I pick up heavy stuff or do some manual work like mowing the lawn yesterday. It did not prevent me from doing all the hikes I had planned in Madeira though.
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I just came back from the doctor office and indeed, I have an umbilical hernia. I need surgery but when will it happens depends on the hospital. Could be a few weeks, could be months.
In the meantime, like I thought, no heavy lifting but how heavy or light depends on me and how I feel. Pain = stop, light discomfort = continue with caution.
I will try to make a lifting plan with exercises that don’t create too much abdominal pressure but considering I train at home, it will be harder than if I was in a well equiped gym. Upper body should not be a big problem but any idea for lower body is welcome. I may also go for super high reps of squats, split squats and lunges. I did sets of 300-500 of those using only bodyweight during Covid and my legs were in great condition. Maybe something in the middle using the weight vest and a dumbbell in the goblet position could be ok. I will have to experiment. Running is ok but I will probably stick to zone 2 running (E).
So like I said, if anybody has some ideas on how to structure training around a home gym and also around the fact that I want to reduce abdominal pressure as much as possible, you’re welcome to comment.
FYI, my home gym has a squat rack, bench, incline bench, dip handles, multi grip pull up bar, dip belt, barbell, trap bar, plates, adjustable dumbbells, few KB, weight vest, bands, rings and airbike. I probably won’t use the ab wheel and ab mat anytime soon.
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I have an umbilical hernia. I am not at surgery stage. Machine crunches, crunches-crunches, sit ups, planks, etc. I was informed by my physical therapist they are verboten. The vacuum exercise he smiled upon. I also use an abdominal muscle stimulator. Is it effective? I do not have Frank Zane abs but everything seems to be holding its own. The vacuum, I think, is pretty effective. Pull downs I have to pay attention to keeping my midsection tight. Pull overs? Be careful with those. If you do them. There is quite a bit of info online. Just be careful.
Thank you so much for that answer. It gives me hope for my training while waiting for the surgery. I will look for more info because I met with the surgeon today and it was pretty vague what I can and cannot do in the meantime. After the surgery, the gameplan will be pretty obvious but before it’s like, don’t lift a fridge, you can do weightlifting but not to heavy. Like, how heavy do you think I normally lift?
Lunch workout - Upper body
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Press
5 x 45
5 x 55
5 x 65
5 x 75
5 x 85
I started to feel some pressure in my hernia at that point so I know to not go over 75 pounds for now. The previous sets felt fine. I plan to do volume on press or test seated dumbbell press instead. By seating, it should relieve some pressure on my abs.
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Neutral grip pull ups
3 x 3 x BW (166 lbs)
I started really low with pull up volume because even if I never feel them in my abs, there can be some good ab contraction. So I did only 3 sets of 3 and will wait to see if I feel fine after. I was feeling the hernia but not necessarily pressure or pain during the movement. I may use bands next time to remove some pressure and do more reps/sets.
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Dips
3 x 10 x BW
I did not feel pressure on dips. I will increase volume on these for sure. This exercise may become my main pressing exercise until surgery.
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DB Hammer Curls
2 x 12 x 20/hand
I have not train arms for a long time so I went easy. I don’t want to be too sore and will increase next training. Keeping these. Nice little pump.
Total time : between 30-35 minutes. Did not time it.
This session was all about testing. Not sure about keeping the press. I would have to go really light so I will test dumbbell seated press to see if I can better work my shoulders with those without puting pressure on my abs. For pull ups, I will test using a band but will also test chest supported dumbbell rows on the incline bench also. I would like to have 2 good back movement. Dips are awesome to I will keep them for sure and increase volume. I will also test the bench or incline bench. Incline will probably be easier on abs so I might test these first and keep them.
I would like to have 2 upper body sessions and 2 lower body sessions I can vary. I know lower body will have to be light work, high reps but I would like to keep some tension for the upper body.
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I tested a bunch of different exercises over the last days. I also evaluated different training/programming options. I decided to go Walrus style from Jim Wendler. My main circuits would be dips, inverted rows and split squats. Those don’t cause me any abdominal pressure, I can start with bodyweight and add weight via weight vest over time. I would have like to keep pull ups but I came to the conclusion they caused too much pressure on my abs/hernia. Leg supported pull ups are ok but kind of awkward to setup and execute I found.
So I will repeat the following circuit many times over the next weeks.
Walrus circuit
- 10 dips
- 10 inverted rows
- 10 split squats/leg
I will start with 3 to 5 circuits each time for about 3 times a week at first and then I can increase number of circuits, frequency and/or weight each time I feel like I am ready. It covers most of the body and I can progress for a long time on these. Conditioning will be walking and weight vest walking, running should be fine too and I will test Airbike slow ride for when it’s raining too much. I will rotate easy sessions on those 4 types of effort which will all stay zone 1 and zone 2.
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Lunch workout - Walrus circuit
3 times the following:
- 10 dips
- 10 inverted rows
- 10 split squats per leg
Total time: 8:30
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Lunch workout - Conditioning
Time: 22:01
I am not posting much because I just do the same circuit than last time 1 to 3 times a day so that side of training is pretty boring.
Today I kicked my own ass and went for a run. I have been wanting to test if it sits well with my hernia for a while. No problem on that side so I will of course try to keep at least one run every week. I went slow but not zone 2 slow. My zone 2 running is pretty slow and I wanted to test things without going too hard.
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Lunch workout - Conditioning
Time: 34:10
Mostly on trail (flat one). A section of the trail was flooded. Had to run in water/mud over my ankles for a few minutes then I had wet feet. It felt great because I am not spending a lot of time in nature as I was in previous year right now. Being covered in mud during my lunch break brought me back to my Kilimanjaro prep in 2022.
I have an appointment with a physical therapist for my umbilical hernia. It will help me orient my training while waiting for surgery and better prepare me for the post surgery. Post surgery, the surgeon told me it is recommended to not lift over 10 pounds for a month… I have a 17 month old toddler and a 22 weeks pregnant girlfriend (due in November) to take care of right now so this is not good news. They will try to get me a surgery date before mid-September because I explained my situation but I think it may be better for my pregnant girlfriend that I wait until she has recovered from the delivery and things have settled down with the new baby. Which means, I will probably have to live a long time with that hernia.
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I don’t really log my workouts. I have not done any strength training in the last 2 weeks. I am doing construction work in the basement (finishing 3 rooms including the gym, a living room and a laundry room) which means I have no gym. I will be able to put it back together in about a week. Tommorrow, I am seeing the physical therapist also, so I will know more about what I can do in strength training without aggravating my hernia.
Conditioning, I have done some runs, some hiking and some walk so at least there’s that.
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I just met with the physical therapist. Running, rucking, biking are all fine. For strength training, no bracing and no overhead movement. I should also stay light with lower body movement. I have a few exercises for transverse and breathing exercises to do to help keeping the hernia in check. No other ab exercises. So my first idea of weight vest squats, dips and inverted rows is fine with her. Some isolation with dumbells is fine too. At least I know now. I have a follow up in 3 weeks and maybe more exercises will be possible then.
Time to work on conditioning then!
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Sounds like time for more base building!
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Hell yeah! LSS runs, rucks and airbike on rainy days for conditioning and for SE, I might go with my own thing or use one of the SE template from the Green Protocol book which is based on the max reps you are already capable of doing instead of just giving a number.
I am looking to buy a Thule running stroller with 2 places to go run with my son (and the second one due in November when time comes). It will help me stay more consistent with running and rucking.
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Little update here. I have not really train at all in August. I shifted all my free time and energy to finishing the construction work we had started on the house. I decided to get done with it instead of it lasting for months. That meant no time/energy to train and my home gym was the storage area where I put all the stuff so I could work in the other rooms so no gym either… It was still physical activity at least.
Good news! The gym is now open since yesterday! I decided to train today at lunch and did mostly my physio exercises. I had done some of them and progressed a little but not as much as I wanted. Still made progress because my physical therapist told me I could add weight vest on squat and even hold weight in the goblet position. She also told me to test one arm press as I would lean to the side instead of stretching my rectus abdominis. She even told me to test banded pull ups as the band hold my legs and remove pressure from the abs. I tested all of these at lunch and they are all fine. I will need to work up in weight for the press though but at 10 pounds it was ok. 15 is too much right now but I am better and better at controlling my deep core muscle to hold the hernia in place so I guess I will be able to add some weight soon. For push up though, I think I will be stuck with doing them on my knees for some time because even doing them with my hands on a bench put too much pressure on my abs.
Still, it open up working up a pull up progression, a one arm press progression, push up progression, add some weight (vest and goblet) on squats, she gives me core exercise (transverse, oblique, pelvic floor… it’s weird but it works to keep my hernia in check) and I can do load of isolation. Add running, rucking and Airbike to that.
So yeah, new exercises are now possible and I am 95% done with my construction work, gym is available. I now have some work to do on my body!
I start a new job next week though which means more time on the road and will probably have to adjust the schedule a bit but this is balanced by the fact that my son is starting a new daycare a lot closer.
I plan on training a lot more in the next 8-10 the regain some strength and conditioning before baby #2 is born. I then plan a 2-3 weeks break to settle before resuming training. It worked great that way the first time.
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I don’t log training right now because it’s boring as hell but at least I am maintaining/not getting too weak while waiting for the surgery in January/February.
1st, I do my physio exercises. I progressed great and I am able to now do a lot of things without my hernia popping out as it was before.
2nd, I do that simple training:
- Day 1: 2 x 8-15 banded pull ups (to hold my leg and remove abdominal pressure), 2 x 8-15 dips. I keep 1 RIR and use a weight vest to add weight when I easily do 2 sets of 15.
- Day 2: 2 x 15-20 weight vest squats, 2 x 15-20 DB romanian deadlift. I go light on these and progress slowly by evaluating if my bracing and hernia are safe
- Day 3: 2 x 8-15 incline DB bench, 2 x 8-15 DB chest supported rows on the same incline bench, 1 RIR
- Day 4: 2 x 15-20 split squats with DB, 2 x 15-20 glute bridge. Light on these like the first lower body day.
I may add some high rep assistance when I have time, energy or just feel like having a good pump (curls, shrugs, lateral raises and the likes).
Running felt really bad with my hernia even if my physio said it was ok so I mostly walk. Lots of stroller walks with my toddler. In fact this is where I spend the most time on physical activity. My 4 training days are really shorts! I take 2-3 minutes between sets and it takes like 10 minutes but feels good and don’t put abdominal pressure.
My partner is due to deliver our second baby next week so that plan may be put on pause for a few days/weeks when we have the baby but it would be easy to bring that plan back quickly because those workouts are so shorts.
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Congratulations… I hope the best for your newborn.
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Thanks everybody. Baby girl is doing great. Oldest (almost 2 years old son) is something to manage right now though. Agent of chaos. Anyway, I managed to include some physical activity during the last 2 months, some light lifting, some walking/playing outside with the oldest while mom cuddle baby but no structured training.
Surgery is tomorrow, I already scheduled some appointment with a physio after a month. For that first month, I can’t lift more than 10 pounds. I guess my partner will have to do all the lifting for both our child. I’ll focus on recovery, walking and doing as much as I can in the house that don’t involve lifting the kids so my partner can breathe a little.
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