Looking for advice to pass on to the wife. The girl is strong as fuck for her size. She has better upper body strength then most girls but has weak lower body. She never squats or deads or sprints for good reason as she has a metal rod fusing her lower spine the result of an old gsw.
The issue is that she put on some extra padding during and after the baby and now wants to lose it. She wants to start squatting and running but I think its a bad idea. I’m a personal trainer but my wife’s issues are beyond my scope. She does a lot of walking with the stroller and I think she should just be patient and keep up what she does. Any ladies, doctors or anyone that’s been here have any advice? Random family photo attached for no reason.
I don’t have any personal experience with having a spine fused like that. So sorry. I do have a daughter who had spinal fusion surgery from T3 to the pelvis last fall. She is in a wheelchair and doesn’t lift, so I can’t add anything on that front but it was a very painful thing to recover from.
I have come back from three pregnancies. Given what you’ve told us, I’d really get focused on dialing in her nutrition. Make sure there’s a gradual deficit that results in a pound or so of weight coming off. Nutrition is king really. Slow and steady with changes she can live with. Then I think I’d focus on machines, or other weight training movements that wouldn’t be risky for her spine. And as you said, walk with the stroller and be active as much as possible. Maybe break it up into three 20 minute walks per day if she has the time. If her doc thinks running is ok then cool. You always want to do what you enjoy because you’ll actually do it.
With regard to squats, that would make me nervous. I’m in the “not worth injuring yourself” camp so I tend to be cautious if there are other alternatives, but that’s just my uninformed opinion.
She ran and used to do a lot of weighted lunges before the pregnancy but obviously I feel like you do. I don’t want her trying to jump back where she was a year ago when she has more issues then most. Her diet is pretty much diald in except for the mandatory Hispanic church barbecues. But then I’m not watching that close so I might need to ask more questions on that end. Appreciate the response.
[quote]leith06 wrote:
She ran and used to do a lot of weighted lunges before the pregnancy but obviously I feel like you do. I don’t want her trying to jump back where she was a year ago when she has more issues then most. Her diet is pretty much diald in except for the mandatory Hispanic church barbecues. But then I’m not watching that close so I might need to ask more questions on that end. Appreciate the response.[/quote]
The mandatory Hispanic church barbeques sound awesome. Yeah, you should never give those up! The once a week indulgence is probably good for her mental health.
You are a trainer so you know all this, but for some people it’s simple stuff like cutting the morning muffin, or alcohol or soda out. By a gradual deficit, I meant 1 pound per week. I realize I didn’t specify that clearly above. If she isn’t dropping that much weight, then she doesn’t have a good deficit going. I’ve had good success getting a picture of what I’m really eating by using online calculators like fitday.com It’s free and can help you find your trouble spots.
Also, I’ve had a couple of friends who had problems with hypothyroid after a pregnancy. Something to maybe rule out if she starts suspecting that there’s a problem. Does she have a daily protein intake target to shoot for? An idea of what her caloric intake is on a typical day? Any idea about macros? If not, that’s where I’d start.
So after really going deep into it three different doctors are recommending thyroid surgery. Any thoughts on this. I want my wife healthy and at this point it appears she needs the operation not just to lose weight easier but to avoid cancer.
[quote]leith06 wrote:
So after really going deep into it three different doctors are recommending thyroid surgery. Any thoughts on this. I want my wife healthy and at this point it appears she needs the operation not just to lose weight easier but to avoid cancer. [/quote]
Dangit. So sorry. When I mentioned hypothyroid above I was thinking it was probably a long shot. Well, at least you are getting to the bottom of things and it is treatable. It may be a process of several months to get her back on track after. Finding optimal replacement levels seems to be a very individual process with some trial and error. Best of luck.
My mom had hypothyroidism, her thyroid was so enlarged it had actually caused a bend in her esophagus. She required surgery, they removed most but not all of her thyroid and she took synthroid pills the rest of her life.
She was approximately 65 years old when she had the surgery, she recovered very quickly and did well afterwards. Good luck.
