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Posted in my health, personal, Pirate
October 10, 2019
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Crohns Recovery – Week 8 at the gym

Crohns recovery means something different every time I’ve brought it up. Up until this last year, recovery meant laying down until a flare passed. Or sometimes it meant switching to a new medicine or doing a course of steroids.

Ultimately, after two separate hospital stays of 3 weeks each, which included two major surgeries, recovery meant something else entirely. I lost 30 pounds. It was nearly all muscle tone, but that was a lot of weight to lose. I lost all my stamina after a year or so of “taking it easy” while my body ate away at itself.

My nutritionist and doctors agreed that going to the gym would be the best way to do this. My husband, who is a bona fide gym rate – came up with a basic strength routine. We’ve been slowly adding weight and exercises.

At week 8, this is what I was doing:

  • 3 sets, 10 reps each of dumbbell bench press with 8 lb dumbbell
  • 3 sets, 10 reps each of seated bicep curls with 8 lb dumbell
  • 3 sets, 10 reps of seated overhead press with 8 lb dumbbell
  • 3 sets, 12 reps of lat pulldown, 20 lbs
  • 3 sets, 10 reps of tricep pushdown, 30 lbs
  • 1 set, 15 reps of squats, 10 lb weight
  • 2 sets, 10 reps of ab curls (not in video)
  • Cardio: 15 minutes on the treadmill or 10 minutes on the elliptical

And I’ll admit, there’s a reason I waited until week 8 to record anything. I complained a lot those first two months. Things were too hard, I felt like I wasn’t getting it (Confession: I trimmed out a shot of my squats where I realized I’d been holding my back in a weird way). This was when it all started to feel like it was coming together, and I wanted to share how much I was enjoying it.

Well, let me know what you think – do you have a favorite exercise to pass along? Some encouragement? I’d love to hear from you!

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