Where to Begin After Back Surgery?

  Hello,

My girlfriend was in a car accident and she just had her fractured disc fixed. She didn’t leave her bed for almost a month and she lost some muscle in her legs and arms. I think she lost weight overall due to lack of appetite and what not.

Before the accident she did very little dumbell work and most of her workout was based around the elliptical and some classes offered at the gym. She wasn�??t too muscular but she was in shape and had nice firm legs and calves.

She’s about 5’8’’ and was 125lbs before accident. She might be bellow 120 at the moment but her appetite is coming back. She is also a vegetarian/vegan/picky eater so no meats or dairy can be found in her diet. She does however drink protein shakes and a few more common meals such as pasta and cheese pizza which I think have allowed her to remain healthy. Yes I know cheese is dairy but she�?�forget it�??s too hard to explain.

I also think because of her heavily restrictive diet, it�??s difficult to provide her body with enough calories in order for her to grow bigger muscles.

She is scared of lifting weights by herself and only does it if I�??m watching over her which by the time she�??s able to workout won�??t be a problem anymore.

I would like to get some input from you ladies because she�??s very determined to get back in shape as soon as she can but I want to be able to provide her with the knowledge and tools for her to do even better than she did before this happened.

Is it ok if we have the same routine or do women need to have it different? Also tips on how we can get around the diet restrictions would be good.

Anyway, thanks

You might want to repost this over on the Muscle with an attitude site or on Muscle Sorority. A lot of women over there that I’m sure would have some ideas.

Honestly with aclimating a female to weight training I’d do like 50% leg 25% core and 25% upperbody work… Most women tend to shy away from upper body work and much prefer to do legs/core. honestly light deadlifts, and squats, serratus crunch, and maybe dumbell bench press 3 days a week. or something similar. (The crunch is on the most recent part for the tnation site last I checked)