Any tips for training this particular client - (I'm a newer trainer)

[kristinpete38]

I was told that she is pretty heavy and that she has been trying to have a baby for quite a while but is unable to until she loses the weight. She recently had a related surgery, so, in the abdominal region...

I'm a newer trainer and haven't had any clients who have recently had surgery and haven't had any who were severely overweight (but for one and I wish I had taken a better approach).

Start out with her doing easy cardio and to spend more time on the machines, less on functional workouts, is what I've got.

Thanks guys

[rdferguson]

Do some core rehab work (just some really simple, extroadinarily basic things, like sitting on a (good; not likely to break) fitball with good posutre, and other stuff that you'd normally think of as fluff exercises), get her to do what she can do. Cardio and machines might indeed be it for now, although I'd have her working developing step ups and squats if possible, even if it's at a reduced ROM (ehk, blasphemy!); if she can get up off a seat, then she can do at least a 90 degree squat, even if she can't go below parallel. She can probably do free weights for upper body, and some for her lower body and whole body, so long as her core is conditioned enough to handle it. No reason why her weight would prevent her from doing DB/BB presses, rows, hinges (deadlifts and their derivatives) or weighted carries (farmer's walk and the like). The main thing is ease her into it and start with what she can do, progressively building up to what she will be able to do later.

[popupwindow]

Do not have her diet post-surgery, the body needs to be at maintenance to recover optimally, not in a caloric deficit. It's hard to say for how long she'd need to recover post-surgery before she can start dieting, worth her talking to her surgeon about, although they may be a bit clueless on that sort of thing.

In the mean time I'd just focus on building up her fitness with what she can manage, machine circuit training would seem appropriate as most generally recommended exercises like squats/rows/presses etc involve the core, which may be a good thing later on, but probably not too close to post-op on an abdominal surgery.

Also suggest she get tested to see if she may have PCOS.

[SamJorgensen91]

You cant cut her caloric intake really after surgery, because it will just delay her recovery. What you can do in respect to her diet however is recommend she eat more lean foods like any type of poultry, mainly chicken rather that fatty foods like pork. Fruits over candy ("healthy" sugars) and make sure she has a lotta fiber. In terms of her weight loss, do rehab movements in her abdominal/core, and slowly build her up depending on what she can take. Dont push too hard, itll just set her back. Agree with popupwindow, do more machine than free weight work, just to ease her into exercising and the whole weight loss thing, especially after abdominal surgery.