Congratulations on making a life-changing decision about you health. You’re back home following successful weight loss surgery ready to change your eating habits and your overall way of life.
You’ve made a significant investment by undergoing this surgery. If you have insurance that will pay for a good portion of all the costs associated with the procedure, you’re still looking at anywhere between $2,000 to $5,000 in out of pocket costs. You’ll also need to take some time off from work to recover that could also set your financial situation back somewhat plus you probably lost a number of your paid-time-off days that you get each year. All and all, you have invested a sizeable amount of time and money to get where you are right now.
But now comes the hardest part.
As the saying goes, it’s the first day of the rest of your life and exercise will become a huge part of what you do from now on.
Without it, you will never reach the health and weight loss goals that you could have achieved otherwise.
Regular Exercise can help you:
- increase your metabolism to help burn fat rather than muscle mass
- adjust to body chemistry changes
- strengthen your heart and bones
- burn calories
- relieve stress and anxiety
- prevent depression from setting in
For these reasons, you need to incorporate exercise into your new daily life.
Best Exercises After Weight Loss Surgery
Whether you have had weight loss surgery or not, it is highly important to consult with your doctor before beginning any new exercise program.
You’ll probably be meeting with your doctor in the very near future so having a game plan as to what you would like to do for exercise will be helpful.
As you think about what you want to do and align it with what your body is able to do in this state where it needs time to heal and adjust, be realistic. Perhaps, lack of exercise prior to surgery was a contributing factor why you needed the procedure in the first place.
When developing a course of action with your doctor, take into consideration how your ankles, knees, and other joints feel. The fastest way to detour your new daily exercise regimen is to incur a severe ankle sprain or tear a ligament in your knee in part because you weren’t as careful as you could have been.
You definitely want to get active right away if possible, but not at the expense of incurring a painful injury.
Let’s now take a look at some of the exercise options that make sense to do.
Stretching Can Be a Big Help
No matter what exercises you ultimately decide to undertake, stretching before hand is a great idea to help your body move without a lot of discomfort.
Your surgeon will probably provide you with a list and/or diagrams of some stretching techniques or you can do some research on your favorite search engine and youtube.com to determine some stretching moves that you can try out.
Just remember that while you’re stretching if you start to feel some pain, then stop. Consult your physician if you’re having difficulties doing stretching exercises as he may recommend that you try something else or perhaps have you work with a physical therapist.
Most people are able to perform basic stretching moves without too much problem. Give it a try and monitor closely how your body reacts to the stretching.
Try Walking
Walking for exercise is something that millions of people do everyday. It doesn’t have a flashy name “Insanity” or “PS 90X”, but it is effective in helping the body move. It is even more enjoyable when you can do it together with a family member or friend and your route has some interesting scenery.
Until you’re really familiar with your walking route. keep an eye on where you are going and avoid stepping on broken pavement, rocks, or other objects that could throw off your balance or possibly cause injury. I’m speaking from my own personal experience that if you don’t focus on where you’re going, it is easier than you think to take a misstep that can turn an ankle and tear some ligaments.
Likewise, if you really enjoy hiking, get familiar with your trail and make sure that you have proper hiking shoes that adequately support your feet and ankles.
Walk short distances at first and then gradually increase the time and distance you spend walking. Give it a try!
Cellercising®
Many of you reading this have never heard of the term “Cellercising®”. More than likely, you have heard of the term called rebounding also known as bouncing on a mini-trampoline. Well Cellercising® is the act of bouncing to an fitness program called “Cellercise®” which is done on a high-quality exercise rebounder called the Cellerciser®.
The Cellerciser® is the creation of rebounding innovator David Hall who works with doctors and physical therapists around the U.S. and elsewhere in helping people look and feel better. His Cellercise® program is used by tens of thousands daily. It is a fun yet highly effective workout.
Yes, I did use the word “fun” in my last sentence. Cellercising® takes around 10 minutes a day on average and you can do it while watching television or listening to music if you so desire.
The main thing is this exercise is sustainable. You don’t need to go to the gym. You can rebound exercise in the privacy of your home. It doesn’t take a lot of time to do and it is highly enjoyable. One other thing, I’m told by Hall that it can handle people bouncing on it weighing up to 500 pounds without problems.
Of all the exercises mentioned in this hub, THIS one gets my highest recommendation.
Swimming
This exercise is one that you won’t be able to do right away. Post weight-loss-surgery patients should allow at least a month to go by following their procedure before going swimming in order to make sure that the incisions have properly healed.
Once those incisions have healed, consider going to the pool and doing some exercises in the water. The benefits of working out in the pool are well documented. Again, start out slowly, and add more to your workouts gradually. This can be a great way to lose weight without putting stress on your joints.
Now’s the Time to Get Started
I have provided a brief overview of some of the types of exercises that you can do after your surgery. Of course, there are other fine exercises out there that you can do like riding a stationary bike, using a treadmill, workout out with small dumbbells, etc. which can bring you good results if you stay with a regular exercise routine. Again, I would encourage you to consult your doctor, set a course of action, and then get started.
Variety is the spice of life and so it is also with exercise. If you feel so inclined, mix up what you do in order to get your daily workout. The results that you’re looking for are more inclined to happen should you exercise and when you see that weight and fat dropping off your body, you’ll be even more motivated to keep going.
More on Rebounding
Like many of you reading this hub, I’ve tried various forms of exercise in life. I have had both good and less than stellar experiences with gym memberships. Personally, my greatest successes have occured while working out in the privacy of my own home on my rebounder.
There are several rebounders on the market today. Do your research and determine if you would enjoy daily rebound exercise on a high-quality mini-trampoline.
One of the relative “newcomers” to the social media scene is a highly popular destination called “Pinterest.”
Guys can also get great results from it. David says men can get rid of excess stomach fat by incorporating the Jamba Run with the tilted jog into their daily routines. Pictured is David Hall in his Utah office doing the tilted jog.
This scenario may sound very familiar. You’re a busy parent or a business person trying meet deadlines every day and it is incredibly difficult to set and make scheduled workouts at your gym.
When I say rebounder I’m talking specifically of a high-quality, safety-oriented piece of exercise equipment known as the 
After watching the exciting conclusion to the Masters Golf tournament this afternoon, I’m kind of in the mood to play some golf (or at least write about it). The tension that Jason Day, Angel Cabrera and eventual winner Adam Scott (pictured — image courtesy of si.com) must have been experiencing on the back nine on the final round at Augusta was more than I could possibly imagine.
First, I’m going to start off talking about golf, the favorite sport of millions of people.
1. The Twister — While bouncing up and down at a comfortable pace, twist your upper torso back and forth from the right to left to loosen your lower back and gradually increase your range of motion. Check out the photo of David Hall on the 