Rowing to strengthen my gut after prostate surgery

evch · Post by **evch** » January 24th, 2010, 6:52 pm

Three months ago my surgery went fine, so too my recovery. But my abdomen feels soft and flabby and I've gained weight. A few days ago I worked out on my C2 for the third time in a week. My first two times were modest routines - time and exertion. But in my third one I tripled my effort,
and woke up in the middle of the night feeling like a horse just kicked me in the stomach. I have been one sore puppy ever since. Questions:

What's the best way to approach this through rowing?
What other exercises might help?

I have no interest in competitive rowing; I just want to row to get healthy again and stay that way.

Thanks, Craig

Junebug · Post by **Junebug** » January 25th, 2010, 2:46 pm

First- See your doctor and get his opinion on how hard you can work.
Second- Row easy until your doctor says you can increase your intensity
Three- Continue to row and build endurance and strength.

It is not an overnight transformation. I started on month ago, have lost about 5 pounds. My legs, shoulders, abs, back all are getting toned and tighter by the day. Dont over do it at first. Slow and steady !!!!

Nosmo · Post by **Nosmo** » January 25th, 2010, 4:33 pm

And four-- Increase slowly! Never work out so hard that you interfere with your next workout. That is counter productive. Trippling your effort and distance is really a bad idea. The doctor may say you will be fine in six weeks--which may be true from his point of view--but it often takes six months to a year to really recover from surgery.

Carl Watts · Post by **Carl Watts** » January 25th, 2010, 5:54 pm

Not sure about other rowers on here but the Concept 2 doesn't appear to be doing a great deal of work to my gut area ! Legs and arms and shoulders for sure but I'm going to have to do some running again to work the stomach area ! I only train at 20, 30 or 40 minute intervals so perhaps thats the problem, either that or it could be the beer intake.

Laura Ann · Post by **Laura Ann** » January 27th, 2010, 11:36 pm

I come at this from a very different angle - weak abs after my second pregnancy - but I think you might benefit from the same approach. When you row, or do any exercise, be certain to engage your abs (basically, suck them in). I had a lot of ab pain when I started running again after recovery, until I saw a physical therapist who advised me to be conscious of engaging the muscles throughout a workout. I am a novice rower, but it seems to me that rowing could place a lot of strain on weak abs, particularly if you have any diastasis.

Good luck getting back in the swing of things!

Byron Drachman · Post by **Byron Drachman** » February 9th, 2010, 10:35 am

Hi Craig,

Great advice from Laura, Carl, Nosmo, and Junebug. I especially like Laura's suggestion to be aware of the abs when rowing and keep them under tension. You can also tighten the abs during other times during the day. To add to these suggestions, there are some good core exercises shown at the Craftsbury web site:

http://www.craftsbury.com/sculling/events/tips.htm

You click on the May 2009 Craftsbury Core and Yoga videos. No special equipment is needed, except for one of the maintenance exercises that uses an ab wheel. As Nosmo says, take your time, especially if you use an ab wheel.

One last piece of advice: Use good posture and stand tall at all times. I know some people who were taller than me forty years ago who are now stooped over and appear to have lost all flexibility. They had bad posture when they were younger. Maybe it was inevitable, but I can't help thinking if they had used good posture and kept strong cores they wouldn't be hunched over now.

Byron