Post-inguinal hernia surgery recovery

I had a mesh repair of an inguinalhernia on Jan. 8 and am recovering fine. The surgeon said not to lift more than 25 pounds for at least a month, and not to try heavy lifting again until about April. He said I could do light arm work like curls, as well as cardio such as treadmill, elliptical and bicycle.

I've been doing light high rep sets at home with 15 lb dumbbells, shoulder work like lateral and front raises, and curls and one arm triceps extensions for arms. I can't wait to get back to the gym to begin serious lifting, though I don't want to rush anything. I want the surgery to heal up fully--most definitely do not want to go through that again!

I'm wondering how quickly I could ease back into lifting. Maybe keep lifts under 100 lbs for a couple of months, then gradually add weight? Keeping reps high. Some of my lifts were over 400lbs before surgery.

(Ishould state that my primary goal is to be in decent muscular shape, the more mass the better, of course, but mainly I want to look great for my age--46).

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I just had an open inguinal hernia repair right before thanksgiving. I have found surgeons to be quite vague when letting me know what I can and can't do. I was told to use common sense at my 2 week post op and wait at least another 4 weeks before lifting anything over 25lbs. I gradually worked up from there as much as I could while following those guidlines. I found that my body let me know what I could and couldn't do. I was playing hockey much sooner than I could even comfortably jog or lift so different activities will affect you differently. Although I am young, I will say that I have felt comfortable going back to heavier weights much sooner than I thought I would and at about 2 1/2 months I am pretty much back to where I was before all this. I still don't do any leg work or ab work just because I can feel I am not ready. So listen to your body and be consistent. Gradually increasing your workouts is better than doing nothing or going to hard too soon.