Lifting Post Hernia Repair

[atw_abn]

I had an inguinal hernia repaired (left side) in December 2016 and the other side (right side) repaired last week.

My doc said no heavy lifting for 6-8 weeks. No arguments from me.

My question for you guys is this: how should I start lifting when I come back? Part of me wants to just do the SS progression over again starting with just the bar and adding 5lbs every workout. I would imagine that in about 6 months I'd be back to where I was before this injury.

Does this sounds reasonable? Am I being too cautious, i.e. a pussy?

Any thoughts/experiences/etc would be appreciated.

[I_iz_a_fatass]

You don't sound like a pussy. You sound like a guy who's had an invasive surgical op and would like to avoid another one.

I had a dual orthoscopic mesh repair and was told to start lifting when I felt like it with the sole restriction, "Stop if anything hurts". Pretty good advice, that. I think he was a crossfitter. Surgery was on a Thursday, I was lifting lightly on the very next Tuesday, and was able to squat again 13 days post op.

What *you* do depends on the type of repair and how you feel mostly. I think going back to "just the bar" is probably a little far. Hit LP like you would as a novice but make bigger jumps.

[Aaron Montgomery]

I had a mesh triple hernia repair (l/r inguinal, umbilical), done in December 2012. My surgeon told me I could start lifting after 3 weeks. But I didn't feel like touching weights again till after 2-3 months. Speaking anecdotally (not scientifically), I recommend doing various "ab" exercises (ab wheel, hanging leg raises, etc) as soon as you feel up to it. Initially I had pain at my surgery sites even while doing chinups, just from the stretch at the bottom. I think there was scar tissue or something that caused me pain for several months, concerning enough I had a ct scan done of the surgery sites. Everything was fine, and after a month or two of doing random "ab" exercises I could move my torso around without any pain whatsoever.

Now my surgery sites feel fine when lifting, and I use a good quality belt because my beltless "core" strength isn't what it was pre-surgery. The only exercises I avoid are cleans because they make my surgery sites hurt. Oh, and if I excessively lean back on the OHP my surgery sites hurt.

TLDR; lift when you feel like it, get a good belt (https://generalleathercraft.com/prod...lt-by-pioneer/), and stop an exercise if it causes sharp pain in your surgery sites. Don't be afraid to make 10lb jumps the first few weeks on LP if you start with really light weights.

[ColoWayno]

I would get back to the lifts after a week or so even if it just means starting with the bar and doing very limited reps. If something hurts too much, give that lift a couple more days rest.
You want the healing process to accommodate movement as much as possible.

Add volume and weight slowly at first. After a couple weeks you can accelerate your progress a bit and do an expedited novice type progression.

[atw_abn]

Thanks for the input/personal experiences.

I am a military officer and have taken a strength-focused approach to physical training for my job. As a result, I've gotten a lot of shit from marathoners/CFers/triathletes/etc. about lifting too much and not doing "tactical" training like running/metconz/etc. The fact that I consistently max my APFT has been sufficient to keep most of these people quiet; however, this set of surgeries has been the confirmation some of my friends have been waiting for that strength training = bad.

So, thanks for the encouragement to take things slow and to listen to my body. It is appreciated.

[Aaron Montgomery]

My surgeon said that I was genetically predisposed to get hernias, and that if I had never weightlifted, I would have still torn them open from sneezing or coughing eventually. I never understood why the military equates being a good soldier with running ad nauseam.

[atw_abn]

My surgeon said that I was genetically predisposed to get hernias, and that if I had never weightlifted, I would have still torn them open from sneezing or coughing eventually. I never understood why the military equates being a good soldier with running ad nauseam.

My doc told me the same thing.

My experience as a Soldier (with 6 deployments) is that the most running you're going to do on average is probably 50m-100m every couple of days. You will, however, be wearing +80lb of gear every day. I think being strong is more important than how fast you can run 2 miles. But...that's just me.

[Ryan Arnold]

I think being strong is more important than how fast you can run 2 miles. But...that's just me.

I concur wholeheartedly. And yes these things are genetic so yes lifting probably brought it out, but it would have happened eventually no matter what. Probably better to get it out of the way now and get back to getting strong. I had an inguinal hernia repair 3/10/16. Feel free to check out my log as I documented it all there. I think I squatted 11 days post op and competed in Powerlifting 6 weeks post op. As mentioned earlier, just start when you're ready but this is one of those things where its a little better to "make" yourself heal rather than "let" yourself heal.

[atw_abn]

I concur wholeheartedly. And yes these things are genetic so yes lifting probably brought it out, but it would have happened eventually no matter what. Probably better to get it out of the way now and get back to getting strong. I had an inguinal hernia repair 3/10/16. Feel free to check out my log as I documented it all there. I think I squatted 11 days post op and competed in Powerlifting 6 weeks post op. As mentioned earlier, just start when you're ready but this is one of those things where its a little better to "make" yourself heal rather than "let" yourself heal.

I saw your log; very encouraging.

I think I'm going to just focus on walking, stretching, etc for one more week and then get back under the bar. My wife is NOT HAPPY about this decision, but she'll get over it.

[Ryan Arnold]

I saw your log; very encouraging.

I think I'm going to just focus on walking, stretching, etc for one more week and then get back under the bar. My wife is NOT HAPPY about this decision, but she'll get over it.

Yeah my sister had some serious objections when I told her I was going to start lifting. The docs display a completely unnecessary amount of caution in their recommendations probably based on the .00001% chance you hurt something coming back too soon - they might get sued. But I researched this a lot and if the repair fails that means that the surgery was not performed correctly - it doesn't have anything to do with post op activity. Once that mesh is in there its done. One thread a guy talked about how his doc said you can actually lift 3 days after if you want - its just a matter of pain tolerance. Once the repair has been done properly there seems to be almost no chance of tearing/re-occurrence. The mesh needs a little time to acclimate itself to your body but that only takes 3 days.