Surgery is done. Everything went well and I went for only local anesthesia. I was tired after the surgery and the day right after. Then it got better. Everyday is better and I am now 4 days post surgery and I am at work (office job). Limitation is don’t lift more than 15 lbs for 4 weeks and that’s about it. They told me 10 pounds before but surgeon told me 15 pounds is fine and I can lift my baby girl. Which helps a lot with the home dynamics and logistics.
I can start moving my body before the 4 weeks limit though. When pain is gone, I can start going for longer walks and maybe do some stairs, light weight (still less than 15 lbs) so the future is bright.
Plan is at least 2 weeks full rest. Then 2 weeks walking for physical activity. Stretching if I need to. After that, I start physio and will probably do a simple linear progression starting with only the empty bar (my partner have a 15 pounds bar, I will start with that) and add weight according to my physio feedback and how my body feel. No rush at all. Going slow is going fast in those kind of situation. You don’t want to cause a setback.
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I meet with the physio tomorrow. I will be able to start with a kind of plan. For the last week, I was clear to resume normal activity and lift more than 15 pounds. Normal activity in surgeon talk don’t mean lift 300 pounds lol. I have lift 30-50 pounds stuff with no pain. I tried a pull up and I am not there yet though.
In summary, the hernia reparation is now solid. However, if I don’t want a new hernia in the future, I need to correct my diastasis. Hence the physio. I need to re-learn how to use my core muscle to brace and correct my breathing because right now, my abs are split in two because my linea alba is weak. The physio will also point to me what exercises I can do for now. I guess it will be more of the same I was able to do while waiting for surgery.
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Excited to watch your journey from here dude!
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Thanks man! I can only see myself progressing from my actual starting point
I went to see the physio last Friday. My midsection is weak as hell but diastasis better than anticipated.
Yesterday session
- Lying leg raises, knees bent, one leg at a time 3 x 10
- Side plank, on knees, 3 x 35sec/side
- Bodyweight squat 3 x 10
- Hands elevated push ups 3 x 10 (I used the kitchen counter)
- BB Romanian deadlift 3 x 10 @ 15#
- Inverted rows, bent legs 3 x 10
For all of those exercises, I must focus on squeezing my pelvic floor muscles and engaging my transverse all while pushing air out slowly on the concentric.
Boring as hell! But at least I am now doing something and I can only get better.
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I have an umbilical hernia. It has been helpful reading through your posts. I have avoided surgery so far, but I am sure the time will come. Thank You.
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For when the time come, here is some info: I had pain for about only 5 days after surgery. Otherwise, the biggest inconvenient was not being allowed to lift more than 15 pounds for a month which meant I could not lift my 2 years old son. Other than that, I was doing my job, cooking, cleaning, all the normal stuff. It is not a big surgery by any means. Just limiting for a lifter.
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Today session
- Lying leg raises, knees bent, one leg at a time 2 x 10 (really having problems with mind muscle connection on this one, hard to concentrate on keeping the pelvic floor engaged, don’t lock my breath, lift one leg at a time, then start with the different leg on the next rep)
- Side plank, on knees, 3 x 40 sec/side
- Bodyweight squat 3 x 10
- Hands elevated push ups 3 x 10 (I used a barbell set at waist height in the power rack)
- BB Romanian deadlift 3 x 10 @ 15#
- Inverted rows, bent legs 3 x 10
Nothing else to report. Easy work.
Today session
- Lying leg raises, knees bent, one leg at a time 3 x 10 (muscle mind connection getting better)
- Side plank, on knees, 3 x 45 sec/side
- Bodyweight squat 3 x 10
- Hands elevated push ups 3 x 10 (same height)
- BB Romanian deadlift 3 x 10 @ 15#
- Inverted rows, bent legs 3 x 10
Did it as a circuit this time to save some time.
Today’s session
3 times the following circuit with no break:
- Side plank, on knees x 50 sec/side
- Hands elevated push ups x 10
- Bodyweight squat x 10
- Lying knee raises, one leg at a time x 10/leg
- Inverted rows with bent leg x 10
- BB Romanian deadlift x 10 @ 15#
Except for the plank, there is no progression for now. The goal is to learn to brace correctly which is mostly a skill thing. And I feel this is going better. I go back to see my physio in a week. Ab exercises will probably increase in difficulty and I hope she will give me the go to increase either weight or reps on other moves as it is easy as hell. First session I was sore though but right now, not at all and it takes less than 15 minutes. About a third of the session is spent planking.
Today’s session
3 times the following circuit with no break:
- Side plank, on knees x 55 sec/side
- Hands elevated push ups x 10
- Bodyweight squat x 10
- Lying knee raises, one leg at a time x 10/leg
- Inverted rows with bent leg x 10
- BB Romanian deadlift x 10 @ 15 #
Superset 1:
- Neutral grip pull ups 3 x 1 with light band around feet
- Lateral raises 3 x 10 @ 5 # per DB
Superset 2:
- DB Shrugs 3 x 10 @ 5 # per DB
- DB Curls 3 x 10 @ 5 # per DB
I added a little bit of work this week because I go to the physio only on Friday morning and this is some exercises she told me I could try once I am comfortable with the rest. Felt good to do some pull ups. Could have done way more than 1 per set but I started conservative and will add some reps quickly over time. Once I am able to do longer sets, I will probably be able to remove the band already.
Today’s session
3 times the following circuit with no break:
- Side plank, on feet, x 15 sec/side
- Hands elevated push ups x 10 (I dropped the height. I do them on a bench now)
- Bodyweight squat x 10
- Lying knee raises, one leg at a time x 10/leg
- Inverted rows with bent leg x 10
- BB Romanian deadlift x 10 @ 15 #
Superset 1:
- Neutral grip pull ups 3 x 3 with light band around feet
- Lateral raises 3 x 10 @ 10 # per DB
Superset 2:
- DB Shrugs 3 x 10 @ 10 # per DB
- DB Curls 3 x 10 @ 10 # per DB
Progressed from side plank on knee to doing them on my feet. My physio had told me that when I would be at the one minute mark to progress to harder variation as the goal is not time but progression in difficulty. I also did the push up lower as I felt my mid section was more than stable on them so I felt like increasing the difficulty. More reps on pull ups, more weight on DB exercises.
Still easy but I have a cold right now so I was sweating more than usual. I almost skipped this morning. I started training at 5AM last week since I realized it would be the only way now to get a training in with a baby and a toddler. But last night, I slept really poorly. We got hit by a windstorm here in Quebec with winds up to 75mph. I read on @T3hPwnisher log that he got hit by that too and his neighbor fascia got torn. Happened to my house too lol. I was able to remove the problematic section completely so it won’t disturb anybody while waiting for it to be repaired. I am glad I trained anyway since I am trying to establish that new habit of training early!
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Today’s session
- Airbike x 15 min @ really easy pace
- Neutral grip pull ups 3 x 2 with light band around feet
- Band triceps pushdowns 2 x 10
Training had to stop because my son woke up. I would not have do much more than that except for maybe another set of triceps pushdowns.
I went faster than last time on the Airbike and it was still easy. I still have that cold and those 15 minutes on the Airbike made me feel better.
No training this morning. Insomnia until about midnight and then the baby woke up at 2:30. I finally fell back asleep at 4:30. I normally wake up naturally between 4:30 and 5:00 but not this time. I woke up at 5:45 and had no time left to train.
I went to my physio appointment. She did not specified the first time but the PT exercises need to be done 4 to 6 times a week. I was doing them 3 to 4 times and still progressed. I will let go of the Airbike from now on and focus my time exclusively PT exercises and strength. I still made some good progress though and she gave me some progression and new exercises.
- For the knee raises, I will straighten the legs to increase tension.
- She added some deadbugs.
- She added some DB pull over to prepare for crunches and the like.
- She told me I could now add weight to squats (goblet style) and deadlift.
- She told me I could add overhead press but starting with DB one arm press so I don’t overextend my abs.
Today’s session
2 times the following circuit:
- Side plank, 15 sec/side
- 10 x Alternating leg lifts
- 10 x Hands elevated push ups
- 10 x Deadbugs
- 10 x DB pullover @ 10 # (focusing on keeping back on the floor and core control)
Then, side plank again on each side.
2 times the following circuit:
- 10 x One arm DB press @ 10 #
- 10 x DB Romanian deadlift with 10 # DB
- 10 x Inverted rows
- 10 x Goblet squat @ 35 # KB
Then:
- Neutral grip pull ups 2 x 3 with light band around feet
My son woke up at 4:00 and I had to see him a couple times. He felt back asleep at 5:15. I feared he would stay awake and I would not be able to train but I was ok. I still rushed through my session because I thought he would wake up again but he slept until 7:00 finally… no morning are the same.
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no morning are the same.
Chaos is the plan. Good on you getting it in!
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Yesterday’s session
- Side plank 3 x 15sec/side
- Alternating leg lifts 2 x 10
- DB pull over 2 x 10 @ 10 #
Really rough week last week. Sleep regression for the baby, toddler was sick, then baby was sick. I had 4 intense migraine episodes, intense week at work. I managed one other session like yesterday’s one on Wednesday or Friday.
I must shoot to at least do the PT exercises 4 times a week so when my mid section is ready I can at least restart a minimalistic plan like 531 Jack Shit or Easy Strength. This is the minimum to shoot for, the rest can wait. This is not a matter of energy but time. The PT exercises don’t use much energy but it does take some time I have trouble finding right now.
Last night was less intense, only one wake up (but I was up for nearly 2 hours) for the baby so there is hope.
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Today’s session
- Alternating leg lifts 3 x 10
- Side plank 3 x 15 sec/side
- DB pullover 3 x 10 @ 15 #
- Deadbugs 2 x 10
- DB One arm press 3 x 10 @ 15 #
- Goblet squat 3 x 10 @ 35 #
- Hand elevated push ups (on bench) 3 x 10
- DB Romanian deadlift 3 x 10 @ 15 #
- DB Shrugs 3 x 10 @ 15 #
- DB Curls 3 x 10 @ 15 #
- Pull ups 3 x 1 @ BW (no band!!)
- Lateral raises 3 x 10 @ 10 #
- Inverted rows 2 x 10 with bent legs
We have a gym at work and it was a rare day where I did not have any meeting at lunch time so I took the opportunity to do my PT and some easy lifts. Most of the training was supersets of 2 to 3 exercises to cut on time. Took about 35 minutes. I did some real pull ups for the first time today and had to do them at the top of the smith machine which does not have good grip. I had to do with what was available. Good for those PT sessions but no squat rack or bench (only the smith machine) so not sure I will do sessions there once PT is completed and I am clear to lift heavy. Good place for SE, E and HIC though!