Hi Iron,
And welcome to the club....
Lifting is a hot topic here for a lot of us...before I had my pouch I was a competitive weight lifter...I loved it, was proud of my body and did a good job keeping up my muscle mass...then I got my pouch...back then (over 33yrs ago)they said nothing about restrictions other than 'don't'.
Don't meant 'don't put your pouch at risk'...
So, give yourself some time, you need to heal and you need to build up your muscle mass slowly, starting with the core muscles so that you can train safely....
Just don't be in too much of a hurry...better to train slowly and stabalise then to end up with a hernia or a prolapse.
Sharon

Iron,

I have been weightlifting for about 7 years, I just recently had my takedown surgery (I had a two stage procedure) and even though my surgeon encouraged me to get as much exercise in as possible I was very iffy about lifting, so the way I went about it was staying away from lifting and only working on cardio and endurance training and now that I'm 10 weeks post takedown im feeling pretty good and the surgeon lifted my weight restriction at last week's visit so this week I have been lifting every other day... Of course because I took an 8 month absence from lifting and lost over 40 lbs, Im not lifting nearly as much as before but as a good body builder friend of mine constantly reminds me... Why rush into it? Bodybuilding isn't just a hobby.... Its a lifestyle... You have nothing but time :-)

Update:

Granted, some of you may have already known some of this info, but I hadn't come across anything specific and thought someone could use it.

After speaking with the surgeon, prolapse is understood to be typical of those who receive the pouch at a very young age (I understood that to be around <12 yrs old). Prolapse due to lifting exercises or otherwise is relatively unheard of. Furthermore, the information I'm repeating here is specific to the j-style pouch, disregarding other variations.

The lifting restrictions are singularly in place for risk of hernias. The possible hernia sites include: laparoscopic, incisional, and stomal.

Manny: I hear ya pal. I lost 55lbs (went to 176) in the course of 6 months, and lost all conditioning. Haha, going from 230lbs and pulling 600 (deadlift) to barely being able to walk 100 yds is definitely culture shock.

Step 3 is coming soon, and I'm back to 206lbs.
Learn what you can and crack on...

I am an avid weightlifter. This summer I set the Michigan Senior Olympic record for my age group (50-59) and weight class (198lb) with a bench press of 315 pounds. My surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic as well as my primary care physician are aware of my weightlifting and encourage it. I resumed my lifting six weeks after my takedown, my doctor sent me for an ultrasound five weeks post takedown to ensure I was properly healed before I resumed lifting. It has been just over three years since my takedown and lifting has caused no problems with my pouch. My advice is to start slow and listen to your body. It took me about three months to reach my pre surgery lifts.

quote:

I am an avid weightlifter. This summer I set the Michigan Senior Olympic

Congrats! I was part of an Oly lifting gym but haven't been able to after having some iron issues but can't wait to get back to it.

I find since having my rectum removed I can't lift as heavy. I was told it is a kegal thing but I will get back to a PR with a deadlift eventually...

As far as hernias. I have one small hernia. So far it isn't going anywhere and I was told it might not so just be smart and lift with legs and wait until you are cleared to lift over a certain weight. I wanted about 2.5 months and I started from scratch with 35 pound weight.