u/Hvnisaplaceonerth

Hi; I’m 33/F and have been working on body recomp since 2021, successfully. I made it from 87lbs to 104lbs at a baseline (while not training/taking surgical breaks). I usually peak at 110-112 solid when I’m training and I’m 5’2 in a tiny frame, which is ok for me. Just to clarify, I’m not seeking medical advice because I have clear safety instructions from my doctors. But I am seeking shared experience for tips or perhaps knowledge from trainers who have trained spinal injury clients.

I had fusions from C5-T1 since 2020, but just got C2-T1 done 2 weeks ago. I started working out after my first fusion (C5-C6). Now my entire neck is fused with metal so that I can balance and move my extremities normally since my cord was injured from narrow space and inflammation. It’s great to walk in a straight line again and stop dropping things or feeling numbness down my arms! I’ve been stationary cycling ~10K in a neck brace a few days per week. Not very fast, but max intensity, minimal shoulder strain. I tested and can still do a supinated pull up. I haven’t attempted pronated out of safety concern for those mechanics, but I have a feeling they’re going to be harder now, especially since they got harder while disease progressed before this recent fusion.

Bench pressing is a no; I gave that up last year. I can shoulder press at an incline only, or it’s excruciating. No laying flat, no straight upright.

Dips also got so very painful after I was up to doing 10-12 for a while, weighted 4-5. When I felt the loss of movement ability to do that, I modified to deep push ups off of steps or balance balls with kettle bells. Too much load in one session caused some residual pain the next day, but nothing like dips which eventually became impossible. I don’t fully understand why, especially since I got bigger, more defined and did enough tricep & delt work to fill them out in a way I was happy with.

The changes didn’t seem to help improve things I stopped being able to do in a way that feels like natural movement. Now it’ll be super unnatural. I know one should not push through something that hurts this way or doesn’t feel fluid due to physiology.

Does anyone suggest any other considerations I might take when I get back to lifting in 6-8weeks (eg what might I expect just won’t happen anymore when I try)? My doctors have simply given me hard timelines for no lifting/endurance training and say to avoid what doesn’t feel natural after recovery.

I don’t imagine myself ever running >10k again without a lot of pain. I was up to half marathons before last year’s failed surgery (artificial discs), and made it back up to like 4-5ish miles per session after the initial 3 month recovery and then needed this bigger surgery about 2 mos after running again.

Is there anything else besides appropriate dieting and regular movement within my ability that I can do over the next 6-8 weeks to avoid major atrophy? I maintained form waiting 2 mos pre op doing stationary cycling, air squats, planks, pull ups & push ups exclusively. I don’t look the same as when I was lifting heavy, but haven’t lost my physique. I don’t want to lose much more musculature. I used to have access to an accessible climbing gym with awesome therapy tools, but it’s too far now and I can’t drive anywhere for a while.

Thanks for reading and I appreciate any tips.