I am having laparoscopic ovarian cyst removal in the next few days. My OB/GYN advised no vigorous activity (specifically including barbell training) until 6 weeks post-op; she did say I could return to light/modified activity before 6 weeks. With all due respect to my physician, I feel that a six-week, outright prohibition on BB training is not evidence-based and is likely unnecessary given that the procedure is relatively minor. I did a forum search and couldn’t find anything specific to this situation. Can you provide any guidance here?
For background, I have been doing BB training 3x per week for the last 3 years using BBM programming; I am also a fitness instructor/coach and engage in at least moderate physical activity 7 days/week in addition to BB training. No other health concerns. Thanks!
You are correct that absolute restriction for 6 weeks after a laparoscopic surgery is not evidence-based. Unfortunately, this is also because there is essentially no evidence on the matter at all, leaving us in a major gray area with respect to providing recommendations. Of course, we can’t safely provide patients recommendations via this forum that contradict the advice of their physician; however, lots of folks around here have returned to activity sooner after other laparoscopic procedures (like appendectomy, for example) as discussed in this thread.
I wanted to follow up my OP with my experience post-procedure, in case it helps others. My procedure went well without any major issues. The day of the procedure I had minimal pain at the incision sites but moderate discomfort from the gas used for insufflation. I mostly rested that day, although I did try to get up and walk as much as I could tolerate. The next day, using the thread Austin helpfully linked in the chain above as a very loose “guide,” I was able to walk 3 miles (broken into 2 1.5-mile walks). I had some lingering gas-related discomfort but overall felt pretty good. The second day post-op, I walked 6 miles (2 separate 3-mile walks). The third day after surgery, I was back in the gym (I train in my garage) doing barbell training. I did the same lifts I had planned as part of my regular programming, but modified the loads and rep schemes to be more like a “rehab” template (I used BBM’s LBP template as a touchpoint) - i.e., high volume, low load, keeping both lift and session RPE around 5-6. I was able to train like this three days post-op with very little discomfort. I also took a 3-mile walk this day in order to continue slowly increasing the activity dose.
Thereafter, I was essentially able to go back to my regular physical activity schedule for both resistance and aerobic training, modifying as necessary based on RPE. I continued with a high-reps low-load program for about 3 weeks following my surgery, at which point I was due to start a new program anyway (BBM Low Intraset Fatigue 3-Day). I started the program as planned without having to change anything about the prescribed rep schemes or RPE targets - I just continued on the same trajectory in terms of e1RMs and slowly increased loads to tolerance. I did not start belting again until about 5 weeks after surgery, largely because I was not really trying to move anything very heavy until that point. Other than being more easily fatigued than usual for a couple weeks post-surgery, I had no issues whatsoever in terms of dosing in both resistance and aerobic training during my recovery process.
Thanks again to Austin for the response and prior thread referral!