Cycling Frequency and Duration

[AnotherOldFart]

Hi brothers,

What was your surgeon’s cycling recommendations?

-Session Duration: (e.g., minutes per session)
-Frequency: (e.g., sessions per day)
-Total Duration: (e.g., months post-op)

I was told 30 minutes, twice daily, for 1st 6 months.

Why is the twice-a-day prioritized over a single, longer-duration session?

Thank you!

[ElbowRoom]

I was told at least 30min twice a day, I aimed for an hour twice a day at first. That worked well for me. Honestly in hindsight, as long as you’re inflating fully and leaving it that way for some period before deflation, I think you’re fine.

The longer it’s inflated the quicker your body can acclimate and get to a point of lower pain, but the cost is more cycling pain in the near term. I think you can decide how much immediate pain you’re willing to endure to get through recovery.

[SWorks17]

My Docs protocol was 20 minutes twice a day in the shower. My showers don’t take 20 minutes, so I would shave with it still pumped to the max.

It was very difficult for me to get past 20 minutes before I would cry uncle with pain.

It took a long time for me to be able to get past an hour with little discomfort, at least 6 or 7 months.

I would do extra cycling 3 to 4 times a week in a big hot tub of water so the warmth of water would help with the pain. This allowed me to make more progress getting more time pumped to the max without a lot of discomfort.

Good luck
Your Bionic Brother in Texas
SWorks

[Mtricher]

My surgeon said 2 hrs a day for 6 months. Initially I thought that meant one 2 hrs session per day. I did this for a few weeks and it was very tough, painful. Then after my 2 week follow up I asked and he said it could be spread out. So now I do 2 one hour sessions per day. Even one hour became painful near the end of the session. I used hot water and heating pads, which helped sometimes. After about 3 months I was able to deal with 1 hour without much pain. At four months, I now manage it pretty well but it reliably gets uncomfortable after 50 min.

Looking forward to cycling less once I hit 6 months!