When can I return to bikram after surgery?

Thanks for getting back to me Gabrielle!

Had surgery on the 28th and my doctor “discharged” me to return to normal activities yesterday. Luckily my doc knows all about Bikram yoga and practices power yoga herself. She suggested waiting 4 weeks and emphasized that she didn’t want me doing anything that would cause me to “push out” on my abdominal muscles just yet. I was doing Bikram about 3 times a week plus 3 spin classes and weight training before the surgery. I have been working out at least 5 times a week for forever and have been practicing Bikram since January. I would say that I am in pretty excellent physical shape.

Doc doesn’t expect me to lose any ability in my core in the long term, but she cautions that it may take months to get back to my original fitness level. Thanks for the tips regarding supplements. I take a multi vitamin plus fish oil and my diet is generally very good with lots of water involved!

My plan is to get back into the gym on Monday to try a spin class, that will be 2 weeks post-op. If everything goes well there, I’ll continue with cardio and add weight training and Bikram starting in October. Does this seem like a reasonable plan?

Hello Gabrielle

So sorry to hear about your loss. My thoughts are with you.

I did return to spinning at week 2 post op and did relatively well with that. Took it slow for the first week and am now back to 100% (or real close) doing that. It has been difficult for me to do much strength training, core or twisting/bending. I returned to my Bikram practice 2 weeks ago. I am so frustrated because before the operation I was considered one of the more advanced students, and now I can barely make it through the whole series without taking breaks and my postures are no where near where I was pre surgery. I am trying not to be too hard on myself. I know it is almost like starting from scratch. The most difficult part of it all is the sit-up between the floor poses LOL! My core has definitely lost strength. I’m just taking it slow and hope to make small gains every time I enter the hot room.

Thanks so much for checking in on me. I’ll keep you posted as to my progress as the weeks go by. I am hoping to report some significant gains in the next few months!

Namaste,
Jackie

Hi Gabrielle!

Thank you so much for your reply! I do the “Ankles and toes touch, hands over your head thumbs crossed, take a deep breath and sit up. Grab your toes, touch your elbows to the floor and double jerk” after each of the floor postures. I really found your video quite helpful and have been practicing with a ball for a few weeks now. It has worked wonders. I feel like I am now back to about 85% of my pre surgery practice, and some things (like triangle) I have found I can actually perform better now! It is so nice to be back in the hot room.

Thanks again for all of your wonderful support and all of the invaluable information on this site.

Namaste,
Jackie

Thank you Sara for your response. I am so happy to say that after nearly 4 months recovery I am back to my pre-surgery level of practice (including the sit-ups!) and am even making more progress on some of the poses (like standing bow and triangle YAY!). It was within the last 2 weeks that when I went to do my sit-up, I was just able to do it!

So my experience has been to just take it slow, don’t push too much and before you know it you’ll be right back in it! LOVING Bikram even more now than before.

Namaste,
Jackie