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Weight Gain Pre-Op

Dragon2010

First Grade
Messages
8,953
Hey All,

Getting an operation done on my chest (PE surgical fix) and basically I've been advised due to the recovery period it's best advised I gain some BMI and put on some body fat and muscle so that when I'm "Inactive" after the operation I eat away at the reserve and also provides more muscle to hold the bars in place better.

What do you think the best way would be to gain 6-8kg with both fat and muscle development? I'm already doing weights and training along the lines of machines and muscle development but fat wise what would be the best diet that is kinda-healthy but still promotes fat development? I am still walking to keep fit but I am limiting my cardio due to heart compression and to prevent further weight loss. I'm about 72kg now 18years old and have to get to about 78-80kg just to be safe.

I have a pretty fast metabolism so I find eating foods to gain weight a tad hard but surely there must be something that can help me put the weight on?

Thanks. Any help would be great.
 

Cliffhanger

Coach
Messages
15,228
Easiest thing to do, is drink a gallon of milk everyday on top of your current diet. You'll gain ten kilos in less than a month.

If you can't handle that much milk here are the tips I can give you. Eat every three hours (not while you're sleeping), eat lots of nuts (You should be having 100 grams of nuts as snacks.), they are very calories dense and full of good fats. Eat dried fruit too, they're 80 per cent carbs. Eat white pasta and lots of it, your body digests it really quickly. Add olive oil to any food you can, cook your eggs in it, add it to your pasta sauces.

Your post workout meals are especially important make sure you're getting a good amount of cals in here, a protein shake with milk oats and a banana would be a great option.



Make sure you're training to get stronger in the meantime too.
 

Dragon2010

First Grade
Messages
8,953
Thanks for that. Yeah I need to slam on a few KG's fast and I got a pretty quick metabolism so that does not help at all. Have been eating few hours to keep my calorie intake up and try turn it to fat. I love eating so that's no issue for me.

Also taking protein shakes and enjoying the carbs in my food. Workouts are no problem only doing 2-3 times a week though as I can't put too much strain on my chest/heart/lungs due to my condition. Put on about 1-1.2kg already.
 

SpaceMonkey

Immortal
Messages
40,555
Easiest thing to do, is drink a gallon of milk everyday on top of your current diet. You'll gain ten kilos in less than a month.

If you can't handle that much milk here are the tips I can give you. Eat every three hours (not while you're sleeping), eat lots of nuts (You should be having 100 grams of nuts as snacks.), they are very calories dense and full of good fats. Eat dried fruit too, they're 80 per cent carbs. Eat white pasta and lots of it, your body digests it really quickly. Add olive oil to any food you can, cook your eggs in it, add it to your pasta sauces.

Your post workout meals are especially important make sure you're getting a good amount of cals in here, a protein shake with milk oats and a banana would be a great option.



Make sure you're training to get stronger in the meantime too.

Good advice. Dunno what your condition allows you to do training-wise, but IF your docs say it's okay, hit the gym 3 times a week and do a programme of heavy compound exercises (squats, bench, deadlifts), high weight, low reps. Look at programmes such as Starting Strength or Stronglifts 5x5 for an idea of an exact routine to follow. Then smash that milk (full-fat, not the lite stuff), and get some protein powder (nothing fancy, just straight WPC is fine) and have a couple of shakes a day to supplement your protein intake. You should easily be able to gain a good amount of bodyweight that way and while some will be fat, a lot of it will be muscle and you'll experience solid strength gains too.

I stress again though clear any of this with your doctors. Do not start a programme if it's going to affect underlying health problems adversely.
 

Dragon2010

First Grade
Messages
8,953
Cheers mate, Yeah I can't do more then two days at the moment and I can't do deadlfits or high-weights. Basically I got severe Pectus Excavatum which is where the chest sinks in to look like a funnel so any vigorous of heavy exercise put's extra strain on my heart/lungs which is already a problem due to the ribs crushing them.

At the moment I'm doing basic dumb bell wegiths and pushups, situps, squats and some light machine work (Medium weight with extra sets instead of less heavy sets) and some paced walking. I have to be careful to not get my heart rate to high nor push my respiratory system to much as my lungs can only work to about 75-80% at the moment.

The point of the weight gain is to:
a) Make weight loss during the recovery time "Extra" rather then my current body weight
b) Recovery is easier due to increased muscle base
c) When I get the bars put in the fat mould to the body shape better
d) Push me further into the BMI for my age.
 

SpaceMonkey

Immortal
Messages
40,555
Shit, thats serious stuff mate. To be honest I would not take any training advice off people on forums given your condition- the ONLY advice I'd be taking re exercise would be from your doctors.
Re diet, you've just gotta eat big I guess- but the brutal truth is without doing heavy weights you're not going to pack on slabs of muscle or get super strong, so you're probably going to have to accept that for any weight gain you make a lot of it's going to be fat. Still it sounds like that isn't really a bad thing in your situation or the doctors wouldn't be advising you to do it, so just get stuck into the protein and carbs, and enjoy getting tubby while the rest of us slave away trying to do the opposite!!
 

Dragon2010

First Grade
Messages
8,953
Definetly. Pretty nasty considering the bottom of rib cartliage (Just above the floating ribs) sinks in a fair bit. Puts strain on things and of course hard exercise = strain on heart.

And nah mate any help on these forums is great. He said take all the advice you can just limit your self and know your boundaries don't try bench press 80kg even if you can do 15kg 40times instead. Just like that.

Even then. I only need a minor strength improvement just to help with the "movement" from the recovery. The fat will do me better as it will burn off during my recovery and it's easier to put on. It's odd usually people have to loose weight prior to an op I'm the other way around so it's an interesting thing for me. A bit hard to put on weight giving my metabolism but I can't complain I'm loving the eating!
 

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