Hernia Repair and Recovery

vancitybb

vancitybb

Well-known member
Trusted Member
What would you do to maintain if you had to take a month off any and all training?

If all goes to plan, I will be undergoing repair surgery for an umbilical hernia in early 2027. Recovery consists of a strict month of no lifting whatsoever, and only very light physical activity. After that month I can resume my regular activities.

I will be in a cruise phase at this point, probably 250 test + 150 primo. I plan to eat at maintenance, or even a slight surplus to aid my body in healing.

I'll probably run BPC-157/TB-500 to further promote healing, and keep my usual 2-4iu of hgh in.

What else, if anything, would you guys do? Normally I might consider a low dose of tren to preserve muscle mass, but that obviously isn't wise in a post-surgery scenario.

I'd love to hear any words of wisdom, or hell, even just reassurance. 😂
 
Hi @vancitybb

May I ask roughly where you are getting it done (i.e. the hospital or special hernia clinic, etc.) and if they are using the "mesh" or not?

I imagine many of us on here have them currently or have had them.

Some have probably also had multiple ones in multiple spots and also ones that returned if not fixed or maintained properly.

Thank you & good luck,

OD
 
OntarioDude said:
Hi @vancitybb

May I ask roughly where you are getting it done (i.e. the hospital or special hernia clinic, etc.) and if they are using the "mesh" or not?

I imagine many of us on here have them currently or have had them.

Some have probably also had multiple ones in multiple spots and also ones that returned if not fixed or maintained properly.

Thank you & good luck,

OD
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I'm getting it done at shouldice, they don't use a mesh and are renowned for their repair technique.

Yeah i figured there's a good pool of folks here who have gone through it.

Thanks for the kind wishes!
 
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vancitybb said:
I'm getting it done at shouldice, they don't use a mesh and are renowned for their repair technique.

Yeah i figured there's a good pool of folks here who have gone through it.

Thanks for the kind wishes!
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Your going the best route. I would only do trt, and some hcg tops.
No need to take more gear, best way to maintain muscle is eat like a Pro.
A good meal every 3 hours.

Im sure you can go to physio & a chiropractor, and they can help with recovery. Ask them lots of questions on what you can do, or not to do.

When i torn my calf, after 3 weeks, they said start to push hard since my recovery went well with added bpc157.
 
Trt, so 100-125 mg only because of blood clot risk on higher amounts of gear mixed with surgery.

It’s only a month, you will lose nothing except the bit of muscle fullness from training.

I would use it as a holiday from the gym, relax a bit on my diet. Do cardio, which you can do after 7 days. The blood pumping from cardio will help you heal faster. Oh and take your gh, and collagen.

I only had ingunal repairs done laparoscopic with mesh. The incision at my belly button was the biggest risk to herniate so I took it easy for 5 days, then I was back at work lifting hinds of beef and 80 lb boxes, lol.

Your is different and I would take the extra time. If I was young, like under 35, I’d go back to work full bore in 2 weeks, light duty after 7 days. No training for a month other than cardio
 
Sorbate said:
Trt, so 100-125 mg only because of blood clot risk on higher amounts of gear mixed with surgery.

It’s only a month, you will lose nothing except the bit of muscle fullness from training.

I would use it as a holiday from the gym, relax a bit on my diet. Do cardio, which you can do after 7 days. The blood pumping from cardio will help you heal faster. Oh and take your gh, and collagen.

I only had ingunal repairs done laparoscopic with mesh. The incision at my belly button was the biggest risk to herniate so I took it easy for 5 days, then I was back at work lifting hinds of beef and 80 lb boxes, lol.

Your is different and I would take the extra time. If I was young, like under 35, I’d go back to work full bore in 2 weeks, light duty after 7 days. No training for a month other than cardio
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Yeah they'll have to do an incision across my belly button as well, can't do this one laparoscopic unfortunately. Did yours leave much of a scar? Maybe they can line it up with my abs so I look more cut lol. In any case, I plan to follow doctor's orders and not throw around sides of beef, you mad man. 😂

If I'm being very honest, I know my biggest struggle is going to be mental. I have a bad tendency to beat myself up if i miss a workout, despite having a perfectly legitimate reason. I'll be sitting there, after having my guts stuffed back into my abdomen, feeling like a lazy piece of shit. It's not rational, I know... it's something i really need to work on in the lead up to surgery.
 
I have put more surgeons kids through college than anyone I know and until very recently have always exceeded forecast expectations for recovery. There are already great suggestions here, probably more coming, I will add/reinforce in point form. There will be contradictions, figure it out.

Treat it like a job, the most important job in the world. It's an investment. Early effort will magnify long term results sorta like compound interest when investing in money not your health. You get one shot at these early days, don't waste it.
At the same time take advantage of the break and it may sound contradictory but make it an active break. You are a fucking athlete, control your body, keep moving but don't allow any pressure in your abdomen. Be aware of your body. You can't lift but they say that to get you to avoid that internal pressure. I could write paragraphs but I'll just give one example, exhale smoothly through open lips at time where you would normally be holding your breath and bracing. At first that could be just getting out of bed or the first few times you do leg extensions or seated/reverse calf raise.
More break stuff, go for some massages nd shit like that, you can get your calfs, thighs, arms, neck all worked on without getting in awkward positions.
Stellar diet, you are what you consume, the new tissue you build will be made out of what ever goes in potato chips, beer and rec drugs, med drugs included. Small meals to avoid distention.
Chill that cruise down, you aren't gonna be stimulating any muscle growth and all you need to maintain what you have is a positive nitrogen balance. Take this time to really give your body a break from the stressors of AAS. Max 150mg T would be my suggestion. (See the next line which may cause some fuss)
5-10 mg Anavar a day for the wound healing effect, even more reason to chill on the injectables.
When you get to the point of stepping it up a bit, even if that is just long walks or something, get a fat weightlifting belt and wear it up high covering your scar. A $50 velcro strapped belt from amazon will work great. Normally you wear a belt to allow you to push against it for more stabilizing pressure. You wear it at this time for the opposite reason, to remind you not to push or brace with intrabdominal pressure while also protecting the abdominal wall in the vulnerable area if it happens accidentally from instinct.

Good luck.

NO spell or grammar cheking was applied
 
gondar1 said:
I have put more surgeons kids through college than anyone I know and until very recently have always exceeded forecast expectations for recovery. There are already great suggestions here, probably more coming, I will add/reinforce in point form. There will be contradictions, figure it out.

Treat it like a job, the most important job in the world. It's an investment. Early effort will magnify long term results sorta like compound interest when investing in money not your health. You get one shot at these early days, don't waste it.
At the same time take advantage of the break and it may sound contradictory but make it an active break. You are a fucking athlete, control your body, keep moving but don't allow any pressure in your abdomen. Be aware of your body. You can't lift but they say that to get you to avoid that internal pressure. I could write paragraphs but I'll just give one example, exhale smoothly through open lips at time where you would normally be holding your breath and bracing. At first that could be just getting out of bed or the first few times you do leg extensions or seated/reverse calf raise.
More break stuff, go for some massages nd shit like that, you can get your calfs, thighs, arms, neck all worked on without getting in awkward positions.
Stellar diet, you are what you consume, the new tissue you build will be made out of what ever goes in potato chips, beer and rec drugs, med drugs included. Small meals to avoid distention.
Chill that cruise down, you aren't gonna be stimulating any muscle growth and all you need to maintain what you have is a positive nitrogen balance. Take this time to really give your body a break from the stressors of AAS. Max 150mg T would be my suggestion. (See the next line which may cause some fuss)
5-10 mg Anavar a day for the wound healing effect, even more reason to chill on the injectables.
When you get to the point of stepping it up a bit, even if that is just long walks or something, get a fat weightlifting belt and wear it up high covering your scar. A $50 velcro strapped belt from amazon will work great. Normally you wear a belt to allow you to push against it for more stabilizing pressure. You wear it at this time for the opposite reason, to remind you not to push or brace with intrabdominal pressure while also protecting the abdominal wall in the vulnerable area if it happens accidentally from instinct.

Good luck.

NO spell or grammar cheking was applied
Click to expand...
Hey @gondar1 thanks for taking the time to write all of that up! I really appreciate you sharing your wisdom.

I've been pretty lucky and avoided surgery for most of my life. This past December I had some finger joints fused on my left hand (to alleviate arthritis pain), but i was able to resume lifting almost immediately by using straps, lifting hooks, etc. Point is: i don't have a lot of experience with this, and hearing from guys like yourself, @Sorbate, @Funnyman and @OntarioDude really helps.

I love your concept of treating it like a job, and making sure the first days pay dividends later in my recovery.

I agree with all you guys about the PEDs. I'll take the dose right down to TRT levels and treat it like a full reset. No point to push compounds if i can't lift.
 
vancitybb said:
Yeah they'll have to do an incision across my belly button as well, can't do this one laparoscopic unfortunately. Did yours leave much of a scar? Maybe they can line it up with my abs so I look more cut lol. In any case, I plan to follow doctor's orders and not throw around sides of beef, you mad man. 😂

If I'm being very honest, I know my biggest struggle is going to be mental. I have a bad tendency to beat myself up if i miss a workout, despite having a perfectly legitimate reason. I'll be sitting there, after having my guts stuffed back into my abdomen, feeling like a lazy piece of shit. It's not rational, I know... it's something i really need to work on in the lead up to surgery.
Click to expand...
It will be tiny. My belly button looks like a pigs snout a bit, but they have gone thru there 3 times for surgery.

Hey I didn’t even think to mention what Gondar1 stated. Try to avoid pressure in your belly. See I had the first hernia for a month before repair and I had learned how to breath and relax while lifting, and that was part of my success at why I could go back to work so quickly. See my hernia would pop out, and I could push it back in, and if I created internal pressure pop it out again. I learned how to lift without doing that.

I rolled on my side to get up for the first couple days, so I sat on the couch, not a chair so I could do that.

Also you don’t want to bung up, so take Advil, not the t3’s or morphine or whatever they give you with opiates in it. You won’t need it, you’ll only be really sore the day of surgery and the next day. After that it will be no more annoying than muscle stiffness you get from training.

IMO advil will be great to bring down swelling in the area.

Honestly, don’t worry about the training. It’s a month, that’s nothing. Shit I haven’t been able to really train upper body for 10 months.
Just rehab, and 2 times a week, shoulder presses for a big 55 lbs (barbell), barbell curls for 55lb, and under hand rows for 65. Yep, nothing compared to before, but it is what it is, I want to heal.

Don’t go back to it quickly, I was mentioning my advice I gave to my wife and she reminded me of how fast I used to heal. So maybe my going back to work in a week is my advice most should not heed, lol.

Also don’t be scared of the surgery. It’s a joke. Routine, yeah they give you the list of shit that can go wrong, it won’t. I had it done twice, I wouldn’t hesitate to get it done again. It only hurts for 2 days.
 
gondar1 said:
I have put more surgeons kids through college than anyone I know and until very recently have always exceeded forecast expectations for recovery. There are already great suggestions here, probably more coming, I will add/reinforce in point form. There will be contradictions, figure it out.

Treat it like a job, the most important job in the world. It's an investment. Early effort will magnify long term results sorta like compound interest when investing in money not your health. You get one shot at these early days, don't waste it.
At the same time take advantage of the break and it may sound contradictory but make it an active break. You are a fucking athlete, control your body, keep moving but don't allow any pressure in your abdomen. Be aware of your body. You can't lift but they say that to get you to avoid that internal pressure. I could write paragraphs but I'll just give one example, exhale smoothly through open lips at time where you would normally be holding your breath and bracing. At first that could be just getting out of bed or the first few times you do leg extensions or seated/reverse calf raise.
More break stuff, go for some massages nd shit like that, you can get your calfs, thighs, arms, neck all worked on without getting in awkward positions.
Stellar diet, you are what you consume, the new tissue you build will be made out of what ever goes in potato chips, beer and rec drugs, med drugs included. Small meals to avoid distention.
Chill that cruise down, you aren't gonna be stimulating any muscle growth and all you need to maintain what you have is a positive nitrogen balance. Take this time to really give your body a break from the stressors of AAS. Max 150mg T would be my suggestion. (See the next line which may cause some fuss)
5-10 mg Anavar a day for the wound healing effect, even more reason to chill on the injectables.
When you get to the point of stepping it up a bit, even if that is just long walks or something, get a fat weightlifting belt and wear it up high covering your scar. A $50 velcro strapped belt from amazon will work great. Normally you wear a belt to allow you to push against it for more stabilizing pressure. You wear it at this time for the opposite reason, to remind you not to push or brace with intrabdominal pressure while also protecting the abdominal wall in the vulnerable area if it happens accidentally from instinct.

Good luck.

NO spell or grammar cheking was applied
Click to expand...
Without spell and grammar checking it’s almost like I wrote it, lol. After I do spell and grammar checking.
 
i have a massive hernia,i really dont wanna stop lifting to get it repaired,looked at even,its eventually gotta be done i imagine tho
 
You should search "hernia"... lots of posts..

I had an umbilical hernia fixed last year.. I went with mesh.. I've had zero issues with it.. Occasionally while bent over I think I might feel the edge of the mesh? But I can't be 100% sure..

I treated my recovery as the most important job I've every had. I was told, and read, if you heal properly you will likely never have an issue with it, but if you don't let it heal properly you will almost always be going back to get it fixed again..

I also use a weight belt a LOT at the gym now.. Not sure stuff like curly, but squat, dead lifts, bent over rows etc.. I line the belt up a bit sideways so my hernia is completely covered by the belt.. If I don't shift it sideways, the buckle is over my heneria and has a spot that the hernia and rupture again..

When I do abs, I think I can feel the edge of the mesh maybe? But agian, not sure.. I also keep 1 hand pushing on my hernia while doing abs..

It's internal abdominal pressure that you have to push back on to make sure it doesn't rupture again.. Maybe pushing on it during ab stuff is excess.. but it was a 2 year wait list to get mine fixed..

When I first start lifting after my operation I wore my weight belt all the time at the gym until I felt confident. I beelive i was back squatting and dead lifting after 3 months post surgery?? Within 4 months I was dead lifting 500 for reps and squatting 365 for reps again with confidence.


NOt sure if sorbate mentioned it.. but take metamucil for a week leading up to your surgery and for about a month post surgery.. Shitting after surgery sucks.. plus you cant "push" to get it out or you risk rupturing the repair.. Drink tons of water after surgery to keep your shit soft..


to be honest, the post surgery pain wasn't bad at all.. more a discomfort than a "pain".. I didn't need all the prescription pain killers they gave me..

my stratedgy was take minimal pain killers because I wanted to feel when I was pushign myself too much so I could stop before rupturing..

I only took the prescription pain killers for a day or two post surgery and then right before I went to bed to ensure I could sleep.
 
animal-inside said:
You should search "hernia"... lots of posts..

I had an umbilical hernia fixed last year.. I went with mesh.. I've had zero issues with it.. Occasionally while bent over I think I might feel the edge of the mesh? But I can't be 100% sure..

I treated my recovery as the most important job I've every had. I was told, and read, if you heal properly you will likely never have an issue with it, but if you don't let it heal properly you will almost always be going back to get it fixed again..

I also use a weight belt a LOT at the gym now.. Not sure stuff like curly, but squat, dead lifts, bent over rows etc.. I line the belt up a bit sideways so my hernia is completely covered by the belt.. If I don't shift it sideways, the buckle is over my heneria and has a spot that the hernia and rupture again..

When I do abs, I think I can feel the edge of the mesh maybe? But agian, not sure.. I also keep 1 hand pushing on my hernia while doing abs..

It's internal abdominal pressure that you have to push back on to make sure it doesn't rupture again.. Maybe pushing on it during ab stuff is excess.. but it was a 2 year wait list to get mine fixed..

When I first start lifting after my operation I wore my weight belt all the time at the gym until I felt confident. I beelive i was back squatting and dead lifting after 3 months post surgery?? Within 4 months I was dead lifting 500 for reps and squatting 365 for reps again with confidence.


NOt sure if sorbate mentioned it.. but take metamucil for a week leading up to your surgery and for about a month post surgery.. Shitting after surgery sucks.. plus you cant "push" to get it out or you risk rupturing the repair.. Drink tons of water after surgery to keep your shit soft..


to be honest, the post surgery pain wasn't bad at all.. more a discomfort than a "pain".. I didn't need all the prescription pain killers they gave me..

my stratedgy was take minimal pain killers because I wanted to feel when I was pushign myself too much so I could stop before rupturing..

I only took the prescription pain killers for a day or two post surgery and then right before I went to bed to ensure I could sleep.
Click to expand...
the pain killers are what scares me to death,i been 18 months clean off abusing them for a good 25 years,but time to man up i guess,the training has always been a part of my life,but i take it seriously now and if it will help that side of the coin,heavier lifts i mean,i guess ill look into this
 
matt55 said:
the pain killers are what scares me to death,i been 18 months clean off abusing them for a good 25 years,but time to man up i guess,the training has always been a part of my life,but i take it seriously now and if it will help that side of the coin,heavier lifts i mean,i guess ill look into this
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You won’t need them. Even when I had major surgery and they removed 10” of my colon I took Tylenol in the hospital and advil at home. They offered my an epidural for that surgery. Had me all worried it was going to be bad and it wasn’t that bad.

Hernia is only 2 days and it’s more like the pain of a cut. So just imagine a decent cut on your belly button instead of your hand. Just like a finger cut, it’s fine for pain in a couple days. It’s not like they are cutting away in your gut.
 
matt55 said:
the pain killers are what scares me to death,i been 18 months clean off abusing them for a good 25 years,but time to man up i guess,the training has always been a part of my life,but i take it seriously now and if it will help that side of the coin,heavier lifts i mean,i guess ill look into this
Click to expand...
You'll be fine with just tylenol or NSAIDS bud, I've known guys that used nothing at all for the umbilical hernia, inguinal not so much. Other than making you comfortable and thus relieving some stressors none of them are helpful for actual tissue healing anyways. Tylenol may be a wash but the rest are a net negative.
Them boys came through with some more really good tips, love it!
 
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