[Scott Johnston]

Thanks for writing in with your question.

I’m not a doc, but I am 69 and have undergone many significant medical set back and surgeries, mostly orthopedic repairs for injuries.  All of them required a lot of sedentary recovery time with the concomitant loss of fitness.  The first of these took place at 26yrs and the last one at 65.  The most important observation is that the older I got, the harder the recovery became, the more fitness I lost and the slower I was to return to the same level as pre-surgery.

I do not know how the anxiety factors in other than to say: It sure didn’t help the physical stress side of things.  But on the physical side: The single biggest hit to fitness during bed rest is to aerobic metabolism.  Studies I put in the first book, Training for the New Alpinism, showed a 50% drop in the aerobic enzyme Cytochrome-C after five days of bed rest.  In both books, I recommend 1 day of easy aerobic work for every lost day of training due to illness or injury.  It takes a lot of energy to heal, and you’ve been through a major traumatic experience. Be patient, be consistent, be gentle, and your fitness will return.  The time frame will be months to years, not days to weeks. Four years after my second knee replacement, I am still seeing fitness/strength gains in that leg.

I hope this helps.
Scott