T Nation

Time to Blow Up!

Bodybuilding
#1

Hey guys,

I’m about to go for really painful surgery on December 17th. It’s for a condition I have had as a kid, called pectus excavatum… basically the doctors are going to cut me open and shove a steel bar in my chest. After the operation I can’t exercise for at least 1 month, and I won’t have much of an appetite. Doc said I would probably lose weight…

I want to try to put on as much LBM before December, and I need your help. I want to try a program where I can do two workouts a day (have easy access to the gym and I’m dedicated). I was thinking about pairing Advanced GVT with another night workout with less volume.

I’m an intermediate lifter-- wrestled 4 years in highschool with plenty of weight training. I’m 18 atm, with a decently fast metabolism. Your opinions are valued.

Thanks.

#2

Check out the “The Super-Accumulation Program” by Poliquin. If you are not familiar with it, it is basically systematized overtraining (with workouts twice a day) meant to tear the body down so much that it will take extensive recuperation time.

I’ve never done this exact program, but I try to overtrain whenever I am going to be away from the weights for more than a week (mostly vacations and holidays), and I think it is a good way to take advantage of the time off.

By the way, who is that poor guy being crushed? I hope I don’t think of that next time I’m squatting.

#3
  1. don’t overtrain
  2. Start drinking protein shakes
  3. Think about muscle mass after the operation
#4

A friend of mine had this mindset as well before a surgery, trying to cram in all this training(that should have been done for years yeah?) in a month or so. Against my wishes he embarked on this plan, I helped him but only because he pleaded… he ate perfectly, trained like a madman and put on a few lbs and had a slightly smaller waist. Had surgery, couldn’t train, ate like shit because he could barely get out of bed to cook, got depressed that he lost his results and went into a six month downward spiral with his physique. Not saying this will happen to you, but this is my experience with the topic.

Surgery sucks and if you try to do something radical in the last month I think you will be dissapointed with your results. Think long term, this is only ONE MONTH of your life that you will be forced to not train.

#5

Hexx-

Not that I’m an expert, but this condition typically has other issues along with it, for example osteoporosis. That, plus (I am assuming here) you cutting weight for wrestling, could lead to injury before your operation. That, plus the limited time (about 1 month) makes me wonder if this course it a good idea at this time. Maybe more info is needed about where you are at physically.

That being said, assuming you can get enough recuperation (sleep and food), the German Volume program may be what you are looking for. 60% of your max, high volume could lead to some lean mass gain. However, I think at this point, given wiht the type of operation, and the rehabilitation that you will need to go through after, you may want to focus on your lung output and build that up more than “blowing up”. Focus on speed strength, and hybrid lifts, tabatas, etc. This may go a long way towards your recovery.

Note, this comes from someone who is not a health professional and it is only an opinion. You may want to speak with the person who will assist with you rehab to get a plan of attack.

#6

nah man, not osteoperosis, but their can be a host of other maladies with the condition. Luckily, the doc said i have a moderate case and amazingly being involved in sports as a kid actually improved it.

by the way, i’ve been meaning to ask, when i’m on my back after surgery, should i just eat with a surplus? i assume my body needs even more kcal to recover.

#7

Absolutely you need a surplus. I think it was Berardi who recently stated that (under extreme recovery situations like burn victims) you BMR can increase by 40%. Correct me if I misquoted.

I remember reading that protein requirements increase, but if you eat the way you do now while working out when you cannot exercise, I’m guessing you’ll be alright.

#8

Oh, and try this HFT program (do it yourself style) by CW. It’s great, and you cann add up to nine workouts a week.

http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1324625

#9

Main goal after the surgery is to get the tissues to heal fast and any bones cut to mend.

Focus on nutrition in particular vitamins, minerals, glutamine and protein. Keep carbs in line but watch the fats since you will not be able to do any strenuous activity for 2 months. Or, you will gain too much bodyfat and then have a hard time coming back to lifting.

But do try to eat more or you will never recover. Remember that dieting when you are injured is like spinning your wheels going nowhere.

#10

quote]Scott M wrote:
A friend of mine had this mindset as well before a surgery, trying to cram in all this training(that should have been done for years yeah?) in a month or so. Against my wishes he embarked on this plan, I helped him but only because he pleaded… he ate perfectly, trained like a madman and put on a few lbs and had a slightly smaller waist. Had surgery, couldn’t train, ate like shit because he could barely get out of bed to cook, got depressed that he lost his results and went into a six month downward spiral with his physique. Not saying this will happen to you, but this is my experience with the topic.

Surgery sucks and if you try to do something radical in the last month I think you will be dissapointed with your results. Think long term, this is only ONE MONTH of your life that you will be forced to not train. [/quote]

Raises a good point. Best thing to do is concentrate on recovering from the surgery with the least amount of muscle loss, not gaining before hand. I would stop training at least a week before and be careful not to overtrain. Probably not wise to complicate your recovery by tearing your body down with training.

#11

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#12

[quote]MarcusPhaeton wrote:
Raises a good point. Best thing to do is concentrate on recovering from the surgery with the least amount of muscle loss, not gaining before hand. I would stop training at least a week before and be careful not to overtrain. Probably not wise to complicate your recovery by tearing your body down with training. [/quote] I agree you should probably stop training a week before your surgery to give your body time to recover from the lifting. You want to go into surgery strong so that you can recover faster. But I don’t see anything wrong with working your ass off until then. Just don’t hurt yourself and don’t overtrain (too much). Any weight that you lose afterwards you should be able to pack back on pretty quick once you start lifting again so don’t worry too much about that.