How to Exercise Properly After Bariatric Surgery

Posted April 16, 2010 by Jacob Haiavy, MD, FACS

With bariatric surgery, you can lose a significant amount of weight in a short time.  But to truly succeed and improve your health, surgeons and fitness experts will both tell you to initiate lifestyle changes.

Last week in Austin TX, doctors from the American College of Sports Medicine met for 14th annual Health and Fitness Summit, where they discussed the best exercise programs for bariatric surgery patients, those who undergo gastric bypass, lap band or realize band surgery.

Fitness experts Paul Sorace, M.S., and Adam de Jong, M.A gave the following recommendations:

Aerobic exercise

  • The core of the post-bariatric exercise program
  • Burns the most calories
  • Good way to ease into physical activity

Resistance training

  • should be limited (especially in abdomen), but great to combine with aerobic exercise
  • increase muscle mass and quickens fat loss in post-bariatric surgery patients

Flexibility exercise

  • great for improving range of motion, but use caution to prevent injury

What is bariatric surgery?

Bariatric surgery, in its various forms, alters or removes parts of the stomach to induce weight loss. Patients who undergo bariatric surgery typically have a BMI of 35 or greater.  Popular procedures include the following:

The Lap Band, an inflatable silicone device that is placed on the upper portion of your stomach, effectively limiting food intake and suppressing hunger.

Gastric Bypass is procedure that divides the stomach to create a small pouch, which gets connected to a loop of the small intestine. By reducing stomach size, the patient is satisfied a smaller amount of food.

We have recently incorporated the Lap Band system into our practice at Inland Cosmetic Surgery.  To schedule a private consultation with our bariatric surgeon, call us at 909-987-0899 today!

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