Dr Vic Vuong

pneschich

Have any of you seen this surgeon's presentations? I've seen 2 and they were thought provoking and made a lot of sense. I watched one on why to not go to the gym. He seems like a shameless self promoter.

pneschich

His name is Duc Vuong. Darn autocorrect. His presentation made a lot of sense to me. He is on Facebook. His argument was that for the obese or obese minded it is punishment because weightlifting doesn't fulfill the goal . Our diet does. Our nutrition won't support the output for lifting for at least 6 months as well. Made sense. He also said don't sign up unless you can afford a trainer.

jcavanna2

I can see the merit in hiring a trainer - they will keep you going with variety and show you the right form. Best decision I did was to hire my trainer years ago.

pneschich

Did you have core weakness issues? His theory is that we have poor core strength and we need to work on that first. How long post surgery did you begin? I'm doing bodyweight movement exercises.

NicoleL874

I've had my trainer since 4 weeks post-op. It's expensive, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Like @jcavanna2 said, he helps so much with form. Early out, I wasn't lifting heavy, so it didn't matter as much, but now as I lift heavier, it's so important to avoid injury.

We didn't focus on core until recently. It's amazing how all the other exercises will affect the core without singling it out. By the time we actually started on core I was already holding a plank for 2 1/2 minutes.

I think the gym is absolutely necessary. The sooner, the better, in the early days post-op we are focused on building healthy habits. The gym is one of those. I believe if we get in early, and build that habit along with our food habits we'll be more successful. Clearly, I have no evidence of that, but it makes sense. I think people have to be realistic about it and carve out something livable, not spending 3 or 4 hours a day, unless you can see doing that every day forever. I was on that trajectory for a while and had to wildly swing to something I can maintain or burn out.

jcavanna2

@pneschich I have been working out for years, so long before my surgery, which was just over a year ago.

My core strength isn't great but like @NicoleL874 stated above, lots of different exercises work multiple parts at a time vs doing exercises that isolate just the core.

My trainer is awesome and I definitely do more now than when I first started -- plus it's nice to see the starts of triceps and biceps