Upper body workout (After surgery)

[Jeny]

You are using predominantly machines so the exercises I would recommend would be seated rowing, lat pull downs, and pull ups for the biceps, bench (chest) press, shoulder press and bench dips for triceps.
Being distracted by work I forgot to ask how often you train and what kit you have available. any guidance is good.

Difficulties you will have are serious because the damage is to both sides. Using machines is good in many ways regarding safety, but you could be working out of balance or unevenly without knowing it and the machine would compensate. Good news is you don't drop weights on yourself using a machine, that's useful.

Because your body won't tell you if you are causing damage you will have to be uber vigilant on technique and try to ensure the feedback you get is even both sides. I cannot guarantee there will not be damage to the skin etc. this only stretches 5% as it is scar tissue even less so. I had a bunch of scars removed years ago, club insurance covered it so I thought what the heck.
If there is any discomfort from the skin stop immediately, It will not stretch if you keep re-damaging scar tissue, trust me on that one. There is a strong chance that this will mean doing some of the exercises with limited movement, what those who don't know will likely call cheating, that is something that will change over time, better to do a useful half movement than damaging whole one.

Future warning. You will be building strength in limited movement. When this changes and you can do it all you will be weak in the area you haven't done and this will be annoying. Unfortunately it is a case of deal with it and work through the annoyance, something you will be used to.

I thought I'd take this to a new thread - apologies again for hijacking the other thread.

I use the resistance machines at the gym which covers as you've mentioned lat pull downs, and pull ups for the biceps, bench (chest) press, shoulder press and bench dips for triceps.

I am very careful as although the surgery was 18 months ago - I still feel that I need to be wary of stretching the scar tissue. And your spot on - some of the movement is limited with regards to how far I can push or how much I can pull. It certainly is a weird sensation of not being able to feel your underarm area. I just want to ensure that I keep working the muscles so they don't lose 'texture'?

I really appreciate your advice with all this!

 

[CrazyOldMan]

OK I am going to assume you are wanting predominantly for muscular strength endurance, with emphasis on endurance to give you the more toned look. As with anything where you want to avoid looking flabby there has to be muscle built, it can't be toned if it is barely there. As me and Goldfish have had to cover with a number of women, using weights is not going to make you look like Arnie after a sex change, it is something done by bikini models because their income is generated by having their bodies exposed and they know that only muscle with feminine covering looks good when wearing dental floss.

I know you aren't an absolute beginner but don't know your level so I'm playing it safe. There are two workout plans here one is a simple circuit which would be impractical at anything but the quietest time in a commercial gym. You can switch it from circuit of 3 x 1 x 10 to a more standard program doing each exercise for 3 sets of 10 if you would rather do whole body in each session. The other is a 3 day split centred around legs, back and upper front torso. There is some core thrown in to each, but that isn't on machines.
Range of motion is what ever is safe and attainable, it will come over time, don't rush it.
PRE (Perceived Rate of Exertion) is normally measure up to 10 where 10 is max you can do. Annoyingly this should be 5 to 7 no more. You already know this but in case anyone else reads this having had the same issue it's worth saying.

Circuit aim is 3 circuit 10 reps per exercise. Using BALS (Back Arms Legs Stomach) for balance, this is more accurate if thought of a Pull Push Legs Core but PPLC is less memorable.

Lat pull downs
Bench (Chest) Press
Leg press
Plank (1 minute or what ever is practical, 10 seconds beats 0 every time)
Seated row
Shoulder press
Squat jumps
Side plank (split time between both sides)

Intensity can be increased by adding weight, reps or circuits.

3 Day split, all have core. 3 sets of 10 on each

Legs
Leg press
Leg extensions
Leg curls
Calf raises (press if having to use leg press machine)
Plank

Upper front torso
Bench (chest) press
Shoulder press
Press ups (box, knees or straight leg)
Bench dips
Side plank (both sides)

Back
Lat pull down
Upright row
Seated row
Good mornings (without weight, just hands by head)
Kettlebell or dumbbell pass arounds, literally keeping arms straight and passing a weight around your body switching hands behind and in front of you.

Again intensity can be increased by adding weight, reps or sets. This is not designed to be dramatic stuff it is remedial and should be viewed as such. I know this is annoying, I've done lots of it. The good news is patience with this stuff works and given time you can join the rest of us in our world of random insanity.

Obviously the idea would be to do something like this for a few months and change it around. This avoids stagnation.

 

[Jeny]

Amazing!! Thank you so much. I've never varied my routine - some might say its boring, but it works for me. I've been doing since after my surgery for the lumps. After my back surgery - my routine changed dramatically....

When it comes to using machines - I've only started using them approx. 5 years ago. Before that - I ran and cycled that was it.

So now, my usual routine is running for 45 mins then 15 mins of resistance training. The gym is never ever busy (company gym) so the majority of the machines are free and I usually do 3 sets of 10 reps with Lat pull downs, Bench (Chest) Press and Shoulder press. I used to do the leg curls but then I started running a lot more and stopped them.

Although I cycle a lot, I only recently started going on the hill trails with my mountain bike and quickly realised that I've probably neglected my core.

My main concern are my arms - I want to ensure that the muscles remain healthy and toned.

At home on the day I don't go to the gym I do approx. 30 min mat exercises - planks, push ups etc. I remember after my back surgery trying to do mat exercises left me in tears - I couldn't do anything....I kept at it though and it took approx. 14 months to get almost back to normal. After the surgery to remove the lumps - I couldn't even lift a case of champagne!! Disaster!!!

I have patience and will keep working at it until I get back to some form of 'normality' As discussed before - I really try to listen to my body - however I am somewhat stubborn and will keep pushing the limits - safely!!

 

[CrazyOldMan]

As a person told I wouldn't walk twice, first time was very pessimistic, second quite convincing, both my hips had been wrenched out of place, knee damage had been fixed on site but the hips had to wait for hospital treatment. I cannot declare the route back was me being totally safe and sensible. I caused damage en route by being stupid and stubborn but the determination and arrogance won through in the end.
I set myself the target when they wanted to assess me for potential physio of standing unaided. Something I shouldn't have done but mentally had to. I was wheeled into the parallel bars, helped up holding the bars and took both hands off for what must have been less than a second. The pain was excruciating and there were tears and tantrums building up to it and after but it was worth it at the time.
Long term I have a weird little kink at the top of my squat movement now but otherwise most people can never tell. I build in strength and mobility to push the day when my body falls apart further away and fortunately I love doing it too.

Variation is so important, but it's hard to keep doing it sometimes, especially when you are doing well and know that changing it will take you out of your comfort zone. Being a bit stupid I am always trying to have all forms of fitness so even though my exercises have limited variety due to limited kit the style is often something I haven't done in years, so I am rarely in a comfort zone.

Resistance training will help your running and cycling more than most appreciate, and as someone who gained so much from ballet and contemporary dance I would say there is no such thing as underestimating the importance of core work. Most think of it as an aesthetic thing, nice flat belly or six pack. I can pull a six easily enough but my belly is not flat, my core has been built so sticks out, not as pretty as the beach body brigade but I can put a couple of hundred kilos on my back, and do stability work that no-one in their right mind would even try without issue. Somewhere down the line we all have to decide form or function I went for function.

Thing to be sure you do that I haven't seen you mention is flexibility work. Stretching after workouts will minimise aching, improve range of movement, avoid injury potential and there is something very nice about seeing someone's face as the person they expect to be a stiff old fogey can put their foot over head height. I know this will be limited by your scarring but it's incredibly important to do what you can.
I use mobility and flexibility to reduce aching then increased intensity to get the aching back. Yes, I really am that stupid.

One thing that is quite difficult when doing remedial work is keeping the targets fresh. So much time getting back normality tends to change what you think normality should be. My version was to set myself the target of a half ironman triathlon, a year after being told I wouldn't walk again second time. Not even remotely normal for me, I was a lousy swimmer, still not great now. I failed that one totally, but I did it the year after in a time the winner of the event managed to beat for the full ironman a few months later. That was where I got the idea of keeping at least one unrealistic goal in mind, they feel so good to achieve even when not in the original timeframe. Obviously I don't achieve many of them but as long as I keep in mind that they are unrealistic it works. It's also great to look back and see some of my old unrealistic targets that are now so easy.
I would recommend having set aims in mind as bench marks even if to keep them safe for remedial you don't have a time limit. These could include a full depth bench press on x weight or being able to do intervals at a set speed or run 3 miles in below half an hour, I remember you saying you are between 6 and 6.5mph average. Obviously there is nothing wrong with an LBD target either I have never met a trainer who didn't at some level want to look nice for someone even if only themselves.
Having these targets helps us keep motivated and encourages us to vary things around because we know it will accelerate progress toward that aim.

I don't do lifting champagne but as a big eater who likes Costco I would have to say not being able to carry the shopping would be a big deal. My stuff consists of bringing in multiple sacks of dog food, rice etc.at a level you aren't allowed to carry in the workplace. It's strange the way the abnormal becomes expected when you can just do it.

 

[Jeny]

I really appreciate your thoughts and advice. It is difficult for others to imagine what we can do in the face of adversity. Just with the right mind set and determination so much can happen. I love a challenge and it seems you do to!

I want to look at setting targets now that you've mentioned it. My routines are just built around working up a sweat really....strange how my mood changes somewhat on the days I don't go to the gym.

Stretching - now there's an issue - with my arms - I get these twinges and the dr says it is to be expected, however I am very very careful. So my stretching exercises are very limited in the range of movement. I do want to increase the strength in my arms - desperate to get them to a working level. Again a working level is dependant on what you want to achieve - I just want to be able to do things like lift my bike safely onto my roof rack without having to disturb my husband or a passerby!

 

[Wayne98]

This makes sense completely basically its about how you maintain your physique especially after this kinda things like you have mentioned surgery,After a while keeping yourself away from activities like this is fine for the body but slowly slowly getting back to it can work.Just maintain your diet and keep yourself motivated that will help.

 

[Jeny]

Apologies for my lack of interaction on the forum - I've been off ill the past couple weeks. Back to 'normal' now. Still didn't keep me from my routines although highly modified - long walks instead of running and 20 mins in the gym instead of my usual hour sessions.
Gotta keep going...keep moving!!!
Jen