Healthy exercise habits are a vital component of long-term outcomes in people who have had bariatric surgery. Exercise not only helps you lose weight but also stimulates the production of a hormone that feels good, called endorphins. Exercise also helps keep muscles tight and healthy, strengthen and balance them , increase energy and improve quality of life. Adequate nutrition and hydration are also very important after surgery, especially if you exercise. Your body adapts to changing needs and quantities, and it is important to consult with a nutritionist in addition to a personalized exercise program.
While weight loss and postoperative muscle building exercises are significant for your postoperative lifestyle, which can increase your metabolism, of course, it is also essential to start slowly and ask your doctor which activities are best. Although cutting calories can burn fat without exercise, it takes longer to lose weight and also affects your body’s muscle mass, which even slows the process of weight loss. While weight-loss surgeries limit the amount of food you eat, you should not only rely on it to maintain an ideal weight. However, friends of metabolism are an activity, not calorie restriction.
Work with your surgeon to develop programs that meet your personal needs, including your personal preferences, ability, and goals for weight loss and a healthy, active lifestyle. Exercise must begin as soon as you get home from surgery. Starting with only a few minutes of walking a day is a great way to implement healthy exercise habits. Remember, exercise doesn’t just mean running. That means physically active. Whether dancing, walking, weights or yoga, there are hundreds of different exercises that patients can integrate into their daily lives.
If you concentrate on exercise shortly after surgery, you might find it very useful. When you lose weight, your exercise skills increase dramatically, with a significant increase every week. Here this article gives you the information about when to start exercising again after bariatric surgery.
When can a patient start exercise after bariatric surgery?
Exercise and physical activity after weight loss surgery help you recover faster. It helps improve blood circulation, reduce the risk of blood clots, improve wound healing and improve intestinal function. You can start walking in the first week. First, try walking for a few days. You can move around the house, and use the stairs at home.
If you had laparoscopic surgery, you should be able to do most of the routine activities within two to four days. With open surgery, it can take up to six weeks.
Regular walking is recommended to increase your physical activity. You need to increase distance and intensity as you feel able and aim to walk 10,000 steps a day. Aerobic exercises such as brisk walking and cycling can also be done 5-6 days after weight loss surgery. They are usually limited by the level of complaints caused by this activity.
You can start swimming after the surgeon determines that the wound has healed enough. More massive activities or involving lifting weights are usually not recommended upto three weeks after surgery. This can vary. Therefore, contact your surgeon first.
What type of exercise should you do after bariatric surgery?
Consult Dr Venu Gopal Pareek’s surgeon and his weight loss team to develop a training plan specifically for you after bariatric surgery. Dr Venu Gopal Pareek’s entire team will work with you to help you lose weight, maintain it, and restore your health.
After surgery, there are three main areas that you need to focus on during exercise.
- Cardio
- Strength training
- Flexibility
Let’s look at each of them in detail:-
Cardio: Burn calories and give more energy
Regular cardio aerobic exercise has many advantages. This can give you more energy and help you sleep better. Our body is designed to move, and a right blood pump can increase your metabolism and energy level. It can also help you deal with anxiety and sleep better. Cardio exercise also helps in producing endorphins, which can increase your confidence. It strengthens the heart and lungs, increases bone density (which is vital for the prevention of arthritis) and also improves mental acuity and ability to concentrate.
Some great cardio-bariatric exercises are walking, recommended early after surgery because it reduces complications and improves your recovery. Eventually, water and swimming exercise can be excellent and low-impact options. Running or hiking is a very refreshing outdoor choice.
Strength training: maintaining muscle mass:
Strength training is essential for maintaining muscle mass. By maintaining your muscle mass, you also maintain a calorie-burning engine. It also helps maintain the health of your bones. Strength training is also good for building muscle and toning muscle so you can be more active and enjoy life more.
When it comes to strength training, it’s important to start slowly. Start with weights from 1 to 5 pounds and then increase weight after doing three sets of 15 to 20 reps. If you experience extreme pain, don’t try to push it out. Stop and try another exercise.
Lunges, squats and weight lifting are good exercises for bariatric strength training. Sit-ups, crutches or other basic exercises can also be excellent muscle-building exercises after bariatric surgery and can cause greater core strength to prevent future injuries.
Flexibility: injury prevention:
Flexibility training is important to avoid injury. If you feel pain or tension after the bariatric workout, flexibility training can help. It can also help you avoid stress when running or lifting weights.
What is great flexibility training? Stretching.
When stretching, it is important to be careful. Take each stretch slowly and hold for ten seconds don’t bounce up and down. Far enough to feel a burning sensation, but step back if you feel extreme pain.
Exercise schedule after bariatric surgery:
When should you start exercising after weight-loss surgery and how far do you have to push? This schedule will help you.
Immediately after surgery: do it slowly:
It is important to start walking gently and slowly the day after surgery. Remember: your body is still recovering, so it’s important to listen to your body and your medical team. Don’t walk more than 15 minutes at a time.
After your first meeting with a doctor, meet a physical exercise trainer to assess your activity barriers and develop an individual safe plan to restore activity without further harming your back, joints, and entire body. After surgery, start walking for about 20 minutes a day and gradually reach your personal fitness goals, including cardio and resistance, for the next 6 to 8 weeks. However, in general, you should avoid anything more strenuous than walking up to 6 weeks after surgery.
2-4 weeks after surgery, weight loss: light exercise:
Now that your body has recovered, you can start low-impact bariatric exercises. Lifting your legs, stretching your knees, shoulder straps, and rotating your arms can be great ways to build strength and flexibility. You can also walk longer or faster.
Exercise 1-2 months after weight loss surgery: cardio:
As long as your body continues to heal and strengthen, it is important to build moderate cardio exercises. Cycling and water training is a good exercise after bariatric surgery that lightens your joints as well as running. You should try to train 30 minutes a day, five days a week, and build it from there. If you experience chest pain or tension during exercise, it is important to stop immediately and go to the doctor at any time.
Exercise 6 weeks after weight loss surgery: strength training
At this point, it’s important to start strength training at least two days a week. Squatting and lunges are good bariatric exercises. So it is lifting weights. However, keep in mind that it is important only to monitor your body’s injuries and do exercise up to the limit of your pain. You want until you feel burning, but Stop when you feel severe pain. For your safety, you should stop immediately if you experience chest pressure, nausea, or difficulty breathing.
At this point, you should routinely do cardio five days a week, each between half an hour and one hour. Try to add at least two of your bariatric strength training sessions a week. Do not concentrate on the same muscle groups back to back.
As you progress, you must keep pushing yourself physically. This is because your body adapts to exercise so that the same bariatric exercises did not burn calories as it did three months ago.
What are the advantages of exercise?
A healthy lifestyle, including exercise after bariatric surgery, offers many benefits, including:
- Maintains weight loss
- Boosts metabolism
- Reduces the risk of heart disease and some cancers
- Increases your confidence and self-esteem
- Helps build and maintain muscle strength, endurance and tone
- Promotes joint stability, strength and bone integrity
- Support your ability to carry out daily activities
- Increase the elasticity of your skin
- Improve your mood, reduce stress and anxiety
- Improve your overall health, well-being and mental perspective
Conclusion:
You may have tried the exercise before. But after bariatric surgery, diet and exercise are much more effective, helping you lose weight. Maintain it and restore your health. After bariatric surgery, you work with our team of experts at every step to create a training plan that is right for you.
Weight loss is challenging and deliberate. But living with obesity is more complicated. With commitment, you can do this because you deserve a better life that awaits you. We believe in you and will always be there at every step.
Dr Venu Gopal Pareek offers several different weight-loss operations to help you achieve your goals, including sleeve gastrectomy, Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery, Lap band. To learn more about our bariatric surgery options, contact us at 091777 77715, and book your appointment.
