Getting cut, literally!

07/10/2016 - Back day

Deadlift

40kg x 10, 80kg x 10, 120kg x 5, 140kg x 5, 160kg x 1, 170kg x 1, 140kg x 5, 120kg x 5

BOR

40kg x 8, 60kg x 8, 70kg x 8, 80kg x 8

Plate loaded front pulldown

20kg x 10, 30kg x 10, 40kg x 10, 45kg x 10

Plate loaded high row

20kg x 10, 35kg x 5, 40kg x 5, 45kg x 5, 50kg x 5

Low pulley row

55kg x 8, 70kg x 8, 80kg x 2 (shoulder which was operated on gave some funny twinges, passed on repping further)

Lat pull downs

49kg x 8, 56kg x 8, 63kg x 8, 70kg x 8, 77kg x 8

Hyperextension

BW x 10, 10kg x 5, 20kg x 5, 30kg x 5, 40kg x 5

Finished up with some bicep curlz.
 
Starting to feel the pre-surgery nerves a little today, it's 11 days away so starting to feel a lot more real! I was 100kg dead this morning and my scales indicated a body fat percentage of 17.8, taken with a rather large pinch of salt of course.

I fly to London on the 17th, will have a night in a hotel close to the hospital to be operated on on the 18th, staying in hospital for 2 nights, flying back to Guernsey on the 20th - I'm travelling there alone but my mum will be flying to London to collect me from the hospital and help get me back home.
 
Sitting at 98kg tonight - Photo here

My chest to waist ratio is getting bigger, and I definitely feel like I'm leaning out still, 1 week until surgery now!

Saturday was a chest shoulders and tris session, followed by completely obliterating myself with beer, vodka, champagne and prosecco - really stupid of me given that I'm trying to lean out!

Today was back day, did a lot more volume at lighter weights.

I'm getting nervous guys, not about the surgery itself but about what results I can expect!
 
I'm comfortable with the idea that I won't be perfect, after all I'll have a 15+ inch scar from hip to hip.

I'm comfortable with the idea a revision might be necessary.

I'm comfortable with the idea that I'll be out of action for at least 4 weeks in terms of heavy lifting (I'm sure I can curl in the squat rack after a week or two, amirite?)

My nerves lie in the fact that I've seen so many results that I just wouldn't be happy with, but most of these results are on people who, in my un-professional opinion, were still fat rather than suffering with too much excess skin, I'm worried I might be one of those people!? Check here fir pics https://www.realself.com/male-tummy-tuck/before-and-after-photos
 
11.08.16 - Chest, shoulders and tris

Fairly standard routine but I managed to hit a bench press PB of 80kg for one. No idea what I did with my triceps but they have slight DOMS in them still today which is very rare for me.

12.08.16 - Legs

The squat rack wasn't free at any point, so ended up doing landmine push press squats, they were good fun - definitely going to incorporate these more often. Used the plate loaded quad extension machine, felt a lot more difficult than the normal pin selected weight machine.

Today is a much needed rest day!
 
I've never tried them with a deficit, I'll give them a go one day - probably not having another leg day pre-surgery fortunately ;) Oh dear, the DOMS are going to be real on my first leg session back :(
 
Well I've had the operation, all went really well and am currently nicely drugged up in hospital. The surgeon popped in around an hour ago so I asked him how well he felt it went and how much was removed. He's really happy with how it went, said because I have low body fat that my result should be very good, and because of the low body fat the weight of the flesh which came off was only around 500 grams, that's on a 16 inch wide hip to hip cut, and he estimates just over 6 inches in length!

On a lighter less serious note I went on a date last night in London, I amended my Tinder profile and managed to meet an absolute blonde bulletshell, she's only just over 5 feet tall! I'll post up about that in GD, so so easy to find dates here, not sure how some guys struggle, got over 100 matches in a day with a very open and honest approach.
 
Healing is still going well! I had my drains out only 36 hours after surgery, before coming home back to Guernsey which was such a blessing! Drains normally stay in 3 to 5 days post surgery, but in the 36 hours post surgery the drains only collected 40mls between the two of them. My surgeon has said it's due to low body fat so the skin is knitting back to the muscle corset more quickly than majority of people - winning!

The pain is manageable, I'm moving well and haven't had any issues to speak of.

I'm a little swollen and feeling tight, but it's to be expected. I haven't seen my results yet due to the binder I've got to wear, and underneath that I have a full opaque foam style dressing which will be changed Monday and I'll get my first peak at the incision marks and be able to see just how taut the skin is - cannot wait!
 
Well they've recommend nothing too intense, and nothing which isn't controlled - running on a treadmill wouldn't be allowed as each time you land you tighten your core in an involuntary spasm almost.

Tonight I'm going to head in to the gym and just play it by ear, maybe I'll hit some light compound movements but imagine it'll be primarily isolation based exercises.
 
Well I went and had a very light session, less than 50% of my old max lifts from 3 weeks ago.

I stuck to a chest/shoulders/tricep routine, bench pressing was the least comfortable due to positioning on the bench placing a lot of stretch over the abdomen but apart from this I didn't have any issues.

Today I've got the worst DOMS I've had in a long long time, particularly in my chest - who knew a 40kg bench press could do this to me!

3 weeks of antibiotics, inactivity and recovery have also wreaked havoc on my energy levels, Monday was my first day back at work, fell to sleep at 7pm that night and nailed a solid 12 hours. Yesterday I felt lethargic and slow in the gym (to be expected), had another long sleep but today I feel so tired and drained, I imagine I'll be asleep by 7pm again.

I'm planning to workout every other day at the moment before going back in to a 6 days per week plan.
 
Had a back session yesterday, steered away from compound movements to minimise core bracing (no deadlifts or BOR's).

Feeling absolutely worn out today!

I'm planning to hit a light leg session early tomorrow morning so that the DOMS are minimised for work on Monday. Not planning to squat or leg press, will be doing more isolation based exercises which don't require core flexion - extensions and that sort of thing.
 
4 weeks post op was Tuesday, tomorrow is 1 calendar month - this morning I deadlifted 100kg with ease but I'm still not allowing myself to "try" on any core heavy compound movements.

2 weeks to go before I should be able to really exert myself again, at present I still feel the 3 weeks of drugs and antibiotics are sapping energy levels though.
 
The surgery cost me £7,200, and this covers all the after care, follow ups and compression garments and two nights in the hospital - The London Wellbeck hospital with surgeon Nick Percival. I paid 50% upfront, then put the remaining 50% on an interest free for 24 month credit card which I took out especially for this surgery.

I took a couple of more pics today which I'll arrange to upload here and also to the other website I pointed you towards yesterday- things are looking good!
 
Follow ups included dressing changes with the nurses, monitoring of healing etc.

I unfortunately suffered with a internal bleeding about a week post surgery and had a rather large haematoma. It required daily draining with the doctor in the surgery (which he opened especially on Saturdays and Sundays to see me) and also an infection in my tummy button which ended up requiring 3 weeks of antibiotics (flucloxacillin, metronidazole and ciprofloxacin), it was only after swab results came back that it was decided that ciprofloxacin was the one needed.

I live in Guernsey however, we don't have the NHS here, so follow ups included with a local practice was very important for me. I'm not sure what would happen if you needed any further care post-operatively but I'd imagine the NHS would help, even if the doctor you see hasn't got an area of expertise in cosmetic surgery.

Any revisions which need to be carried out (should the results have been unsatisfactory, not as expected by both the surgeon and I) would be covered in that fee too.

It's the extra peace of mind which going with a local UK doctor that you'd get, and a tighter support network.
 
Welcome back hamstring DOMS, you've been missed!

It's amazing how just 3 weeks off can effect you so massively - far less volume, far less total weight moved and the DOMS are 10x worse.
 
MoNkeE said:
I'd avoid even 100kg deadlifts at the moment. I dove back in to lifting a bit early after my chest surgery and have a couple of hard scar tissue lumps. I can't say for definite that they are as a result of my return to lifting, but it's so much wiser to err on the side of caution.
Click to expand...

I missed this when you first posted it, sorry.

I'm treating my scar well, doing lots of massage on it, as well as general lymphatic massage and also am treating it with silicone strips. The incision / scar isn't what's going to cause an issue, the issue will arise under the skin between the scar and my rib cage if anything at all.

In a tummy tuck the skin is lifted away from the muscle corset all the way from the incision to the rib cage, it's this section of skin which needs to bed back down correctly to get the best results. I'm not swelling after exercising which is a good sign, and things are still being taken lightly in the gym - a 100kg deadlift is 53% of my 1 rep max.
 
Need to ease up a bit, my tummy button started leaking / bleeding after today's session. I think it's down to positioning and the stretch placed over the abdomen when bench pressing.
 
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