No chest weights ever

[overthinkingit]

Hi Ladies,

Much to my gym junky hubby's disgust Dr M has told me no chest specific weights EVER! (im happy I hate flies and bench press) Hubby being hubby didn't just accept that instruction without an explanation. Dr M said that if I do work out my chest muscles my upper chest will bulk up very fast and I will loose the beautiful smooth blended upper pole. 

Has anyone else received similar instructions?  

[BA&Rhino]

I've never heard that you can't ever train chest again. Most surgeons will reccommed you can start with some light upper body weights from 6 weeks onwards.

Honestly I wouldn't be training chest for a fair while longer though (my friend who does a lot of heavy frequent chest sessions said wait 6 months). Arms will be fine from 6 weeks. You can ease into some back sessions too but be careful. A girl I know strained something at the 6 week mark doing light dumbbell rows. 

With regards to the comment about your chest muscles bulking up very fast- that will not happen. 

[pink butterfly]

Yes I was told to never to chin ups. My surgeon said I could do very light chest work but no chin ups - he really stressed that! I don't miss them anyway.

[Martina067]

I had Dr M and I did a lot of gym and pole dancing before my op

Dr M also told me i can't do anything that directly targets the chest.

I was told that it will change the shape of my breasts ( upper pole) but it also helps to displace them (they'll start to go out towards your armpits). and I believe he is right, like i can even tense my pec muscle now and they kinda pop towards the side lol (I'm 2 months post op).

To be honest though i think this applies to heavy weights. if youre doing light stuff i think its fine, just as long as its not like bodybuilding kinda weight. He said if it doesn't directly target chest then its ok

and some surgeons say even chest press is fine. so theres a lot of mixed instructions

[imperfectly_lou]

My surgeon stated he was happy for me to return to all pre op activity including chest weights, push ups and pull ups. I've just started being able to do a few push ups again, I completely lost my mobility post op. It hurts/pulls mildly hanging off a bar so I won't do pull ups again any time soon. 

[overthinkingit]

I had Dr M and I did a lot of gym and pole dancing before my op

Dr M also told me i can't do anything that directly targets the chest.

I was told that it will change the shape of my breasts ( upper pole) but it also helps to displace them (they'll start to go out towards your armpits). and I believe he is right, like i can even tense my pec muscle now and they kinda pop towards the side lol (I'm 2 months post op).

To be honest though i think this applies to heavy weights. if youre doing light stuff i think its fine, just as long as its not like bodybuilding kinda weight. He said if it doesn't directly target chest then its ok

and some surgeons say even chest press is fine. so theres a lot of mixed instructions

that may be the reason he was so specific with me my hubby is into body building and I train with him. All the same exercises just with less weight but still pretty heavy for my size. I definitely dont want the female body builder fake boob look so I will be following his instructions to the letter.

[Pepper9]

My surgeon said no restrictions and at three months post op I was back to pretty heavy bench press having started with light Dumbbells again at six weeks. I am also doing push ups again and working back to pull ups. I don't get any kind of animation even when I try really hard they don't move at all. I've specifically asked my surgeon a few times as I do a lot of weightlifting and he has always said no restrictions which is what I wanted! I train with heaps of girls with implants and they don't have any restrictions either.  

[MaisieF]

I can't do heavy direct chest work again either. My Physio said to just make sure to work my back enough to minimise any muscle imbalances. ?

I miss heavy chest presses but everything else...meh. 

[overthinkingit]

My surgeon said no restrictions and at three months post op I was back to pretty heavy bench press having started with light Dumbbells again at six weeks. I am also doing push ups again and working back to pull ups. I don't get any kind of animation even when I try really hard they don't move at all. I've specifically asked my surgeon a few times as I do a lot of weightlifting and he has always said no restrictions which is what I wanted! I train with heaps of girls with implants and they don't have any restrictions either.  

maybe your have different placement? Mine are dual plane, I know a few female body builders who were told they needed to have overs to be able to continue body building.

[Pepper9]

maybe your have different placement? Mine are dual plane, I know a few female body builders who were told they needed to have overs to be able to continue body building.

No mine are dual plane, as are the girls I train with. I think it might be different for some elite athletes and professional body builders and fitness models etc but for the regular gym junkies I have been told not an issue and certainly haven't had any issues so far.  I usually train twice a day 6 days a week and do crossfit, weight lifting and also go to normal gym and do grit, HIIT, weights etc with no change from my pre op routine. 

I am a gym junkie so having new boobs that wouldn't alter my lifestyle or training was very important to me. Overs was also not an option for me as I had so little breast tissue to start with.  I'm certainly not an elite athlete by any stretch of the imagination, I just enjoy training (and eat way too much) so that's why I assumed I was told okay to train as usual. 

[imperfectly_lou]

No mine are dual plane, as are the girls I train with. I think it might be different for some elite athletes and professional body builders and fitness models etc but for the regular gym junkies I have been told not an issue and certainly haven't had any issues so far.  I usually train twice a day 6 days a week and do crossfit, weight lifting and also go to normal gym and do grit, HIIT, weights etc with no change from my pre op routine. 

I am a gym junkie so having new boobs that wouldn't alter my lifestyle or training was very important to me. Overs was also not an option for me as I had so little breast tissue to start with.  I'm certainly not an elite athlete by any stretch of the imagination, I just enjoy training (and eat way too much) so that's why I assumed I was told okay to train as usual. 

ditto to all of the above, minus the CrossFit. Surgeon gave me ok to do everything I did pre BA

[WhingingPom]

Heavy chest work can cause lateral displacement over time so I would be careful. Chin and pull ups are fine as they do not isolate the chest, and even incline bench but I would be wary of heavy bench or lots of push ups as they target the pectorals. Why run the risk after all you've been through to get your beautiful boobs? 

[overthinkingit]

Heavy chest work can cause lateral displacement over time so I would be careful. Chin and pull ups are fine as they do not isolate the chest, and even incline bench but I would be wary of heavy bench or lots of push ups as they target the pectorals. Why run the risk after all you've been through to get your beautiful boobs? 

totally agree its not worth the risk. I picked my surgeon because I believe he is the best around so I will do whatever he tells me I need to.

[Pepper9]

Heavy chest work can cause lateral displacement over time so I would be careful. Chin and pull ups are fine as they do not isolate the chest, and even incline bench but I would be wary of heavy bench or lots of push ups as they target the pectorals. Why run the risk after all you've been through to get your beautiful boobs? 

have you had this sort of lateral displacement at all?? I'm curious to hear from anyone who has as I've acted firstly, obviously on advice from my surgeon that all is well and secondly, the only time I've seen examples of an issue has been when someone recommenced heavy training against advice too early, rather than it developing down the track from normal training as you suggest, or alternatively where the surgeon over-dissected the pocket.

I had just got to the point that my fear of doing damage to myself was over and I was confident in advice and training and then I read your post ?

[Kate83i]

Hi, I am a sports physio and have experience with girls that have had dual plane implants. It comes down to the fact what is quite a large muscle is sitting directly over your implant and repeated contraction of that muscle over time will undoubtedly have an effect on the implant. The effect may be minimal in some and significant in others. The load you lift, the shape of your ribcage and surgical disection will all have an impact on this.

Obviously some surgeons believe that the effect is so minimal in some it doesn't require a modification of activities. DR M seems like a real perfectionist (in a good way) and doesn't want anything to compromise his work. In terms of developing the muscle more quickly, I believe what he is trying to convey is that as the implant has displaced that part of the muscle superiorly any growth will be observable as it's pushed up.

Frequent, direct, heavy exercises that target the pectoralis muscle group will have an impact over time.

 

 

[MaisieF]

Hi, I am a sports physio and have experience with girls that have had dual plane implants. It comes down to the fact what is quite a large muscle is sitting directly over your implant and repeated contraction of that muscle over time will undoubtedly have an effect on the implant. The effect may be minimal in some and significant in others. The load you lift, the shape of your ribcage and surgical disection will all have an impact on this.

Obviously some surgeons believe that the effect is so minimal in some it doesn't require a modification of activities. DR M seems like a real perfectionist (in a good way) and doesn't want anything to compromise his work. In terms of developing the muscle more quickly, I believe what he is trying to convey is that as the implant has displaced that part of the muscle superiorly any growth will be observable as it's pushed up.

Frequent, direct, heavy exercises that target the pectoralis muscle group will have an impact over time.

 

 

Awesome post. Thanks, Kate.

[jinx369]

I believe it's surgeon preference. But honestly the pec has been cut and is sitting over the implant. Its been compromised. Once I get my boobs I couldn't really care less about bulking my chest so no need for heavy weights for chest anymore.  I love my weights and chest is my favorite but I'm giving it up forever to make sure my boobs have the best chance of staying put. I'm hoping I can still manage push ups as I like doing Insanity but if it feels strange I'll just swap it out for something else. 

[SydGal]

No mine are dual plane, as are the girls I train with. I think it might be different for some elite athletes and professional body builders and fitness models etc but for the regular gym junkies I have been told not an issue and certainly haven't had any issues so far.  I usually train twice a day 6 days a week and do crossfit, weight lifting and also go to normal gym and do grit, HIIT, weights etc with no change from my pre op routine. 

I am a gym junkie so having new boobs that wouldn't alter my lifestyle or training was very important to me. Overs was also not an option for me as I had so little breast tissue to start with.  I'm certainly not an elite athlete by any stretch of the imagination, I just enjoy training (and eat way too much) so that's why I assumed I was told okay to train as usual. 

This is how i felt reading your post: ?

You workout twice a day! ? damn girl.

I manage 3 pump classes a week & maybe 1 spin class that leaves me in cardiac arrest.