After gastric bypass surgery in Mexico, your body will be prepped for losing weight. While the restricted stomach capacity and limited caloric absorption the surgery creates will ensure that you shed pounds, exercise is essential to helping this process along and keeping you healthy.
This blog post shares some exercises that are good after bariatric surgery.
Start Slowly
Your post-bariatric surgery exercise plan should begin with very simple and easy exercises. Even if you had started being more active before your procedure, you’ll need to dial things back until you heal. Start with things like walking slowly around your house, then work your way up to longer walks. Eventually, you’ll be able to try out speed walking to up your intensity.
Add in Weight Training
At first, weights will be off limits. This is because they can cause strain to your abdomen, which is still healing. However, once you have clearance to do so, it is time to start lifting.
Building muscle is important. It increases your strength and energy, and it also improves your metabolism. It can also reduce the appearance of sagging skin, which is a major concern after any bariatric procedure.
Rely on Low-Impact Exercises
For many people who have been overweight or obese, the joints are very sensitive. While this can resolve as you shed pounds, at least for the first months after surgery, you’ll want to go low impact. Look into things like yoga and pilates, which build strength and increase mobility without stressing the joints.
Get in Cardio
Finally, you need to make sure your heart rate is getting into fat-burning territory at least three days a week. Look for high-intensity, low-impact workouts for this. Start with short sessions, even as little as five minutes, and work your way up to 30-45 minutes.
You don’t have to wait until you’re fully recovered from weight loss surgery to start exercising. In fact, physical activity is encouraged right after your operation and it’s an important part of the recovery process. While you’ll need to start small, in time (and depending on how things go), you can add cardio like biking, swimming, or running as well as strength training workouts like lifting weights or doing yoga poses.
To learn more about gastric bypass and find out if it might be appropriate for your needs, schedule a consultation with one of our experts today.
