My response to a question regarding recovery:
I don't have any idea how your surgery/back problems relate to mine but I'm going to assume that they are somewhat similar. I had trouble training, walking, sitting, sleeping... living. I had severe nerve impingement, sciatic pain and massive leg pain on both sides all the way down to the foot. However, it did give me a good excuse to fly first class...I just told me wife I needed more room. More room for free alcohol.
In line with "advice" I can't tell you what to do but I can tell you what I did. Â Be prepared to recover; Train as hard as humanly possible. Squat, push the prowler, deadlift - whatever you can do to get your body strong AS HELL before you go under. It sucked most days (all days, really) but I just told myself that I wouldn't make it any worse. Yes, it would feel like death...but it was going to hurt no matter what I did or didn't do. This is not to prove you are a badass. I don't think I'm a badass: I shit in clean water, have all my limbs and live in a country that has limitless grocery stores.
The pain was tolerable because I knew I couldn't make it any worse - it was liberating. Â And knowing that it was going to pay me back was a worthwhile investment mentally, emotionally and physically. Â I was walking around the hospital less than 24 hours after my surgery, doing small laps for about a 1/2 mile. I remember having to squat off the bed and it being one of the hardest things I've ever done physically. I was determined to do it myself and I prepared for it like a max lift. And it pretty much was a max lift. Be stubborn, not stupid.
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Once I was home and somehow walked up my porch steps and upstairs to my bedroom (again, max effort..as well as getting into our truck), I stayed in bed for a couple days. As soon as I could, I began walking 1/2 miles, several times a day. Every time I walked, I got home and did mini-band shoulder presses, curls, up rows - anything to keep my upper body moving. So three times/day, walking and band work.Â
After about a week, I started wearing a 10lbs weight vest and did all my walks like this. And kept walking and walking and walking. I really haven't stopped walking.
3 months after the surgery, I was healed. 6 months after, I was given the green light to not be a total asshole. It took more than a year to feel normal when squatting/deadlifting, maybe longer. It didn't hurt so much; it felt insanely tight and "weird". Â The deadlift was easier and I've heard the reverse as well, so be prepared for your body to choose a preference. Â
My surgeon was one of the few doctors I've met that wasn't a total blowhard/pussy. He asked me flat out, "Do you want to get better?" I said, "Yes." He followed, "Then you'll be 100%."
The first 3 months after the surgery, I'd go in for a check-up and I'd be in the waiting room, surrounded by people who had very similar surgeries. Â It killed me to see so many people barely walking, barely moving, horribly out of shape and in terrible pain. I refused to be like that. Granted, some people have it worse and don't have much of a choice. However, there was no way I'd end up like that. None. I was ferocious with my rehab and desire fueled my ACTION to get healthy and be strong again.
I 100% believe that you will infinitely improve your recovery from surgery when you go in super strong and in amazing shape. I wanted my legs so damn strong and my lungs so "big" that nothing could stop me; I wanted to feel like a tank. If you've already had your surgery prior to reading this, you are coming out well behind the 8-ball. So whatever you can do, do it. Make your arms strong, shoulders strong...everything that can be strong should be strong. Â Incidentally, this is also my advice for people who are not injured.
I understand that my decades of physical training and mental training payed off. But I learned that being strong mentally and physically, two things you have total control over, will prepare you for just about anything that life throws at you.
I don't know what you can or cannot do - find a way to be strong as shit. Find a way to be relentless in your pursuit of strength. One lyric that stayed with me through all of this was from the song, "Damage, Inc." by Metallica. I kept repeating this line to myself, over and over again, "Fuck it all and fucking no regrets."
