Hey guys, first time poster here, so be gentle...

A few years back I had some shoulder problems...blah blah i won't bore you all but it led to chronic dislocations, the original cause is irrelevant. WHat is important to know is that I have had 2 surgeries on my right shoulder up to this point, and 1 surgery on my left. The one on the left was successful....both on the right were not. On thursday, I am going in for a 3rd surgery to my right shoulder.

Due to the shoulder problems for all these years...i wasnt lifting for a long while. After 4 years of inactivity I got involved in martial arts and bodybuilding.....HEAVILY. This was great for my body. I quickly picked up on many nutritional insights and methods and got cut up pretty quick. I went from a flabby 195 lbs about 25%+ body fat to 160 8% body fat in 6 months.

The main problem here is that I have been involved in a regimin that has been working out great for me. WHile my shoudlers dislocate in the gym, this is far from the norm, as they dislocate doing simple tasks. In the gym I have found ways to work around it so that I can still gain muscle and not put my body in danger. Currently I do split workouts (Bi/Chest, Tri/Back, Shoulder/Forearms, Legs on a 4 day + 1 day rest plan) and in the past my workouts have been similar, doing 4+ sets of 8+ excersizes.

This thursday, when I go under the , I will not be able to lift for at least 4 weeks. After 4 weeks, I can get involved in lifting again, but VERY light weight and only under the clearance form my surgeon and my Physical Therapist. For the first week, I will be very drugged and groggy, so any kind of activity (ie cardio) is out of the question. After that 4 week period, I can lift again but as I said, very light (meaning at most 5-10 lbs). After 4-6 months, I should be able to get back to lifting as usual.

What I want to know is if there is anything I can do/any way I can not lose the definition I worked so hard to gain. I have worked very hard for this body and I do not want to lose what I worked hard for. After that first week I suspect I can keep up cardio and light workouts like crunches and maybe do some leg lifting, but thats it. I want to assure that my upper body does not lose too much definition.

If anyone has any advice, I am very willing to hear it.

Thanks,
Chris

PS - I am a nutrition buff now. I already understand that the inactivity I will be undergoing will require a major cut in my food injestion. Currently, I take in about 2500-3200 calories a day to encourage muscle gain. Of those calories, rarely is 10% of it or more from fat. After this proceedure, I understand I will only be able to intake 1800 calories or less due to the sedentary behavior I will be forced to undergo, and the fact that my metabolism will slow down gradually due to inactivity and due to the painkillers I will be on.

SORRY THIS HAS BEEN SO LONG...I just feel the more details the better ! Thanks a bunch!