?? for those who hit the gym...

i am glad you are happy with your bag!
I was going to the gym four days a week, but i havent' been in a while, but i was doing the tread mill, and if i felt adventrous, the stair stepper thing, lol. then i would do those nautilis machines, the one where you lift above you head i do 50lbs 15 at a time, usually two or three times, so like 30 or 45 a day f(although the first day i did it, it was set at 110, i didn't think to see if someone had changed it, and i was like, why can't i lift this thing!) then i do this one where you are on your back and pushing forward with your arms, i do 60 or 7olbs on that, then i do this thing that is called a rowing machine, i do 80-90 on that, some leg things, and i do this thing that is supposed to be for your stomach you sit on a seat and move this bar down with your stomach muscles, i do 80lbs on that. You are a man, so that probably seems like nothing to you though, lol. But i have done lots of lifting and stuff around the house, i even pushed our lawn mower up a hill the other day, it's a riding mower.

I did not find that the stoma limited my ability to work out. Can't remember when I went back but it's not a problem at all.

hey there. i haven't been to the gym now since i started my new job, but i was a regular 7 days a week, 2hrs a day guy before that. in my experience you can do pretty much whatever you want. i would definitely take it easy though-i waited about 6 months after surgery to go back.

for aerobics i usually stuck with the stepper, 30-40mins, but i occasionally hit the recumbant bike. stepper gets your heartrate up fast and keeps it there. no running for this guy, i found it awkward having the bag bounce around.....but i never shyed away from a very quick walk on the treadmill at the highest incline i could get...one can still get into the 80-90% heart rate range doing this, but it takes longer. i didn't like the stationary bikes just because it sorta squeezed my flange area a bit, but that'll depend on where yours is placed.

as for weight training, i found if i used free weights, it was too much for my core area and the muscles were actually pinching the stoma, making output difficult, causing cramping. it took me a while to figure that one out. but as long as i stuck with machines, i had no problems and could lift/push/whathaveyou as much weight as my muscles could handle, i was doing ~440lbs on the leg press and was in the 150-200lbs range on pretty much everything else.

and you're not the only guy doing yoga, i do some every morning, it's the first thing i do after emptying the bag :) i'd be careful with that if you've still got stitches in, but doesn't sound like you do

oh, and one last bit of advice :) if you're worried about your core, hire a trainer for a session. explain the situation and tell them you don't want to work your abs too much-what exercises should and shouldn't you de, what machines to use and stay away from. they've all seen it before and will set you up, that's what i did. most gyms (around here at least) offer one free session, but they don't advertise that, you have to ask..THEN they'll do it lol

have fun!

--matt

Thanks for all the replies... I pretty much started on the treadmill the first or second day I was home from surgery. Not much mind you I started at about 4-5 minutes at very low intensity. I'm now just past 6 weeks post op and I'm up to about 20-30 minutes a day of medium intensity walking. I'm also just starting weight lifting but as I said it's very low weight and upper body only.

I will definitely look into the personal trainer idea, the only issue is I live in a very small town and we don't have a gym. I have a very well stocked personal gym in my basement (I used to be in good shape before the UC). I'm going to ask around and see if anyone knows of a trainer that will do in house work so at least I will be able to carry on with the workouts on my own equipment.