Are you wondering about the best practices for exercise after weight loss surgery? This guide is especially crafted for beginners like you!
Exercise can play a crucial role in losing weight and keeping it off after weight loss surgery. However, sometimes it can be difficult to figure out what type and how much exercise will provide the best results.
This can get quite complicated because your exercise level needs to correspond to your post-op diet phase to achieve optimal results without injury. Here is the complete beginner’s guide to exercising after weight loss surgery!
When Can I Begin Exercising After Weight Loss Surgery?
Exercise paired with a high-protein meal plan can take your results to an entirely different level.
You can start going to the gym about 2 months after weight loss surgery. The level of difficulty must start with light fitness routines and can slowly progress every two to four weeks.
When you hit 6 months post-op and 100% recovery, you are able to do just about any level of workout desired in moderation.
The First Two Months Post-Surgery: What to Expect
Your stomach needs the first two months after surgery to heal and you also need this time to focus on your diet and post-op stages of transition.
It not advised to exercise in your first two months after weight loss surgery. We do recommend you walk frequently and as often as possible as it speeds up the healing process.
However due to the low calorie intake during the initial post-op stages, best to keep it light and always stop if you feel weak, tired, or dizzy.
Months 2 through 6: Expanding Your Exercise Routine After Weight Loss Surgery
At this time your calories and nutrition should be up so a high enough level to incorporate more forms of exercise with moderate intensity. Make sure you incorporate some high-protein bariatric products into your diet.
Some great forms of exercise at this time:
- Brisk walking
- Light jogging
- Elliptical
- Yoga
- Pilates
- Light weight lifting
- Swimming
- Bike riding
It is best to keep these exercises to 30-45 minutes max and 2-4 days a week.
Month 6 and Beyond: Intensifying Your Workouts
After 6 months, you are probably getting enough nutritional value through your diet to do any kind of exercise, at any level of intensity. This is when losing weight may start to slow down a bit so it’s the perfect time to increase exercise and physical activity.
To maintain your weight loss momentum and avoid stalling, incorporate more intense exercises into your routine such as:
- Zumba
- Kickboxing
- Jogging/running
- Weight training
- Boxing
- Bootcamp
- Crossfit
- Jump rope
- Bodybuilding
Continue to increase days and duration so that ideally you are exercising at some capacity for 60 minutes a day (7 days a week).
At this point calories should be in the 1000-1200/day range which should be a great initial caloric goal, and then it can be adjusted based on how your body responds and how intense your activity level is.
Top 3 Exercises After Weight Loss Surgery Without a Gym Membership
1. Walking! Walking may not seem like much of an exercise but if you make a point to walk as much as possible throughout the day it can be just as effective as a 30-45 minute workout at the gym.
Try to stay on your feet as often as you can and take every opportunity to walk when you get spare minutes during the day. Every step adds up! Use an app on your phone or a device that counts your steps so you can set a goal each day (such as 10,000 steps).
2. Workout videos! You can do just about any workout at home using free online videos or DVDs. You can start out with beginner videos and once you’ve mastered those you can transition to more advanced videos to continue challenging your body. Here are some videos to try:
- Zumba – Zumba fitness
- Kickboxing – Kickboxing/dance or 30 minute kickboxing
- Yoga – Beginner yoga
- Ab exercises – 10 minute abs
3. Bodyweight exercise program. Try alternating between these toning exercises. For a full body 30 minute workout do all 5 exercises for 2 minutes each, then repeat 3 times.
- Squats
- Lunges
- Pushups
- Jumping jacks
- Sit ups
Have you tried any of these exercises after your weight loss surgery? Share your experiences below!
