For my workout buddies on here...

One thing I have noticed regarding the members on this site is what seemingly is an overabundance of people (say in the 18-25 age bracket) who came down with UC who are into this type of lifestyle of weight training, exercise, and eating or drinking various things related to this lifestyle. It just seems like too much of a coincidence. I don't mean to hijack your thread but maybe we can talk about two related things at once.

so what exactly is your goal ster ?

you wanna gain weight for ............ hiring yourself out to fly little kids big kites ?

do you just wanna get ripped ?

or do you just wanna get healthy ?

I'm using P90X (a targeted weight loss program)... I'm currently 145lbs, i'd like to gain at least 10-15 this year...

I don't understand why you are using a weight loss program to try to gain weight. That being said, IMO as far as controlling how you gain or lose weight, all bets are off when you are flaring. You might be able to prevent gaining weight while on prednisone, I dunno, but forget about gaining muscle if your flare is causing you to lose weight. The bottom line is get into remission ASAP.

Don't worry about building yourself up and then going into a flare and losing it all again. Once you build some muscle the first time it is much easier to rebuild that muscle again after your flare ends. So that initial effort isn't really wasted.

Unfortunately that also applies to fatties who gain a lot of useless weight. You can lose that excess weight thru dieting but it is much easier to regain it again unless you are very careful. You are still young but be careful what you wish for. The world is full of people who were slim when young and hoped to gain some weight, and then found out they couldn't lose excess weight when they were older.


I use the exercises with heavy weights and less reps until fail. I upped my weight recently, and i'm still not feeling entirely sore. Is soreness always a quality to look forward to after a hard workout?

Once your body is acclimated to lifting barbells you shouldn't feel any soreness. IMO the biggest mistake most weight lifters make is over-training to the point where your body cannot recover fully. One sign might be soreness. Another red flag is taking a week or two off from the gym, and finding out that you are stronger and can lift more and heavier weights when you return after the layoff!

People make the mistake of reading those muscle magazines where they recommend dozens of sets. But those in magazines are probably taking steroids. The whole point of steroids is to allow your body to recover faster from a heavy workout. If you are a clean bodybuilder and lift for health reasons there is no reason to over-train, it will only be counterproductive.

Post Edited (BabeintheWoods) : 1/18/2014 8:01:08 AM (GMT-7)

**Also... I did not do cardio at this time. It would have been counter-productive. Most people I've read work on gaining the muscle, and then work on toning it all up afterwards.

I don't think it is exercise related but I do wonder if some of these concoctions that are eaten and drunken in this lifestyle are responsible for bringing on UC, especially in cases where the lifestyle was just started.

Dear Stereo,

Before I was diagnosed with UC I had just finished P90x Lean and was in the middle of the P90x Doubles routine. Each workout I was doing post workout shakes of Muscle Milk or Muscle Pharm (two scoops) with about 14 ounces of dark chocolate almond milk The issue with UC started about 1 month into my doubles program and I delayed getting it checked for 2 months (stubborn "no one makes me bleed my own blood" (ten points if you catch the reference)). I am a 28 year old male that has no history of UC in my genetic line.

Now onto the main topics:
1. If you are looking to gain I would suggest the doubles program if you are not doing that one. You want to max out reps at 6-8 while keeping good form. If you find the program too time consuming as Doubles will generally take an easy 3 hours out of your schedule I would recommend looking into P90x3 which I haven't checked out yet or into a workout style of Tabata which is basically a ridiculous interval training method that gets awesome results. (20 seconds maxing out of whatever exercise you are doing with a 10 second rest and repeating for about four minutes)
2. Soreness is ok as long as it is a muscle issue, if you experience soreness in your joints it is best to rest it off before starting it back up again and as always alternate muscle groups.
3. Sidenote: I dont know how much this will help but getting in two tablespoons of a healthy oil in your shakes could reduce digestion (since it lubricates everything up out) I only say this because I noticed a marked improvement when I used this method a long time ago when I was on a shake routine like yours.

I felt it was important to add some history behind my post because it does hit on the increasing demographic that was noticed by Gary.

I wish I could be more help but as I am new to this whole UC jazz I cant offer much help there only with the working out part.

Sorry, read "drunken" and thought something other than whey protein shakes!

@OP

I was diagnosed about 4 years ago, at the time I was in Afghanistan and in the Marine Corps. That lifestyle alone puts a lot of pressure on physique. Needless to say I was a gym and fight rat, that's all we did. It wasn't always just a means of being strong and tough but also a release. I did 4 tours in my 6 years and during those times the pent up aggression and stress needed an outlet, so the gym and practicing to fight was it. Either way, during my initial 2 years of being diagnosed my flares weren't nearly as bad as the latter 2 years so I was able train and gain weight. The absolute best way to do so is to eat. You just have to eat and eat a lot. Your body needs the intake in order for it to gain. The caveat here is that if/when you're not training or just stop you have to tone back your eating it you will get fat.

As far as gaining and training while battling your disease, once I started flaring the gym was out. No supplements and no training, my body needed to focus on healing itself. If you can manage I would stay active by taking walks and not just laying around. The only good thing here is that once your flare is over your body is pretty well trained and can get back into shape relatively quickly, much more quicker than someone who is just starting.

That has been my experience with it. Over the past years I haven't been able to do much, I mean just for fun I've done those fun runs (tough mudder and warrior dash) but I wasn't stable enough health wise to train for either so it was a bit tougher. After my surgery I'm looking forward to getting back at it but at this point in my life I'm more concerned with self preservation and longevity. Those 6 years in the Marines tore my body up, I crack and pop like I'm in my 50's and my shoulders and knees are absolutely shot. So just be aware of the strain you put on your body. Good luck bud.