I work out in the gym three times a week, I’m not a bodybuilder but I want to have athletic physique.
I suffer from chronic hepatitis b for more than 10 years. Now I’m 30 year old.
It’s recommended that men who want to gain muscle mass should consume 2g of proteins per 1kg of weight. (Normally it’s 1g per 1 kg bodyweight). How is it like with people in our condition? Can this increased protein intake cause damage to the liver?
Can we even weightlift or do exercise in the gym? (Obviously, I don’t mean doing pushups or riding a stationary bike, but something more serious and demanding, like proper exercises)
Or are we supposed to find excitement in such activities as strolling in the parks and doing crosswords? Sorry for being sarcastic but I feel frustrated with limitations that are imposed on us.
(Also apologies for being repetitive, but I thought it’d be better to create a separate topic - maybe someone can share interesting thoughts)
There is generally no limits to exercise based on your Hep B. Indeed, exercise is really helpful for staying healthy physically and mentally. I myself do some boxing (padwork) and bootcamp 3 times a week. There shouldn’t be any problems with weight lifting, I think there are others on this forum that do so.
Regarding nutrition, this will vary from person to person. I don’t think anyone but your doctor can give you specifics on what to eat and how much is too much. Everything in moderation. Perhaps one of the @HealthExperts can provide some comment here.
No limits to exercise unless you have an advanced liver disease, I.e. compensated cirrhosis with esophageal or gastric varices or decompensated cirrhosis
Prof. Pietro Lampertico, MD, PhD
Full Professor of Gastroenterology
Head of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Division
Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico
I was going to post something like this because I am within this category, but an expert did it for me.
I still do stretching and flexibility exercises, some light martial arts when I am able and there are days where I will be working around the house all day and it seems much more taxing than a workout.
I just have to be careful not to over-exert or I will pay for it the next day or so. Which is easier said than done.
What is your goal. Protein intake into 80g and over basically over shakes are not good. Not saying it’s bad, but it’s not long good in the long term. Just protein won’t get you there.
What do you mean? It’s advised that people who work out should take 2g of proteins for each kilo of their weight. They’re needed to gain muscle mass. Why would it be bad?
Most people take supplements as their main source of protein. Processed powder. To gain muscles you need more than just proteins.
There more to it than just intake of protein. Do you want to gain mass, do you want to get “cut up”. There is more to it. The article you read about 1 g of protein per 2kilo of weight are articles for quick gain. They also take in like 2500-3000 calories, then burn off all of that on working out.
Give it a try. I am no expert. I workout but not on professional level. Not even close to it. And for long term gains, for me it’s not the protein intake but the amount and intensity of workout. Best of luck.
This is what I always want to do. But I don’t know why my muscles mass growing very slow or not grow at all. I never dare to take any protein supplements for muscle grow because I am afriad it will have side effects to the liver.
Did anyone share good habits to put some muscle while being with HepB?
As mentioned by Prof Lampertico above, there aren’t any particular limits to exercise unless you have very progressed liver disease (which you don’t seem to have, given your previous discussions of your lab results).
With nutrition, every person is different and you’d be best to talk to a nutritionist to see what it right for you.
Hello,
As I got older (over 50), I lost a lot of muscle mass. I exercise twice a week in moderation in order to retain what little muscle I have and maybe even gain a bit. I have been taking pea protein for about 6 weeks in my smoothies. It seemed ok. But then I began adding collagen powder for a few days and it was not good. I began having some constipation issues and I began having a stomach pain. I realize that my dosage was high because I took recommended dosage on the container instead of cutting it into half or even a third. I am small and thin so I always tend to take half of regular adult dosage. I did notice a muscle gain on my bicepts which I was very surprised about. However, I decided to stop taking protein and collagen powders. I will definitely throw away collagen powders and I will debate over the protein powders for now. My hepatologist told me that the protein powders will burden the liver and told me not to take any of those supplements.
I guess chronic hep b puts limits in what we can do.
I will most likely give away my protein powders and I’m really sad about that.
Hi @sam12 and @Lilibet94,
Yes, you should be able to exercise or build muscles even with hepatitis B. You need to start slowly and build up. There is a possibility to see an increase in your AST/ALT numbers due to damage from the muscles due to the exercise. Don’t panic when you see this, it will settle back again after sometime. As long as you are not over doing it and your body can tolerate it, go for it. I know of someone who trains, runs in marathons (iron man type) and has hep.B. Best, Bansah1
We’ve got a few on the forum who also do weights and haven’t had said anything about troubles with their gains (@NeptuneJ@Rebecca@Arb). I have just started weights, but not training for hypertrophy anyway (I’ve also always been very very steady with my weight regardless of what I do).
Protein and carbs are good for build muscle mass. I hadn’t worked out in years but when all lost all mass I started doing resistance training (with rubber bands) as stabilizer muscles were taken away, too.
I get about 240g protein and almost 1,OO0g carbs from protein shakes (2x/day) and Boost (1 in am). And I started back to the gym and started with the Smith machines to keep stabilizer muscles out of it to start with, slowly working on low weight with slow reps to start rebuilding them. I’ve gained about 16lbs muscle over past 2months and feeling better than ever.
I have good metabolism and specialist told me I was on the right track… I do consult with him or his nurse practitioner before changing my regimens. Might not be good for everyone but I had lost 40pounds that left me barely more than a skeleton…
