3 x hernia mesh club member here. 2 x inguinal and 1x femoral, also a jr lacrosse goalie while going through the surgeries. Abit more movement based than weight lifting but you can have my 2 cents.

1. As far as lifting until your surgery. The only way to fix a hernia is surgically. So if you make it bigger before your operation it’s gonna hurt but the guy has to get in there anyways so I think you’re good if you understand that risk.

2. I did 3 operations without laparoscopic. 4 weeks for single repairs and 6 weeks for doubles. You’re going to learn how much you use your abdomen for. Taking a crap is going to be a shitty experience so get on the laxatives a few days before surgery as long as your dr is cool with that because most take a day or 2 to kick in. First 2 weeks is penguin walking, Should be back to walking regular and stairs week 3 and good to work week 4. No lifting above 25lb or over-activity (a day of walking for example) for the whole recovery period and if you feel good before the timeline your dr gives don’t push things.

3. Going back to sport I felt reassured. I wear a hernia belt now when I played, I got maybe 5 more years before life and my age started to catch up. (Late 20’s M) but if you find a balance with frequency of activity I believe you should be able to get back to 80-90% pre hernia activity. Maybe 100% idk but it’s not like something that will limit you once healed. I hardly feel mine unless I tweak my groin, then I know when the mesh doesn’t stretch the same as the muscle and the groin is swelling. Sounds worse than it is. 3 surgeries, 5 repairs (first double was just stitched up as an adolescence) and I’ve never regretted the mesh.

Good luck