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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!

Definition is a function of body fat, genetics, and hydration. The less body fat you have, the more defined your muscles will appear. Some people have seemingly more defintion at the same bf % due to more "separation" between muscle groups and also some are more striated. If you severely dehydrate yourself, your skin will be thinner and thus your muscles more defined (irellevant, I know, but there it is).

Sorry if you already know this but the reason I point it out is because you already mentioned the things that may keep you cut...cardio and diet. You may lose muscle and you will lose strenght during the hiatus. If you restrict your calories too much you'll prob lose more muscle. But if you don't put on a lot of additional fat then whatever muscle you have will still be defined.

You may appear more "deflated" and therefore "less defined" due to not working out and restricting calories but keep in mind that a great deal of muscle size is nutrients, water, stuff like that, the influx of which is greater when your are working out and taking in more carbs.

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If you act sanctimonious I will just list out your logical fallacies until you get pissed off and spew blasphemous remarks.

That kind of puts me at ease because I worked very hard to acheive what I have. As long as I know that after 1 month i shouldn't lose anything, just maybe becomee more "deflated" then I know that I will be able to put it right back on after just a few weeks at the gym once I am cleared to lift again. I guess theres just no way around it.......the muscles are not going to be working, thus will have to lose a bit.

Thanks

Absolutely. If you are cut then it is from losing bodyfat. I would advize not to cut you calories too severely in the effort to stay cut. Although any muscle you actually lose can be put back on very quickly in all likelihood, it is alway easier (for most) to lose a little fat than to put on muscle. Keeping your eating up will help you preserve muscle mass (for a little while and NOT 100% prob).