Fitness Trainers and WLS

[StephersSweet 78]

So I'm starting to see a Fitness trainer tomorrow, and I'm wondering if anyone out there has also gone through a personal trainer during their journey. I'm not sure if I should tell them that I'm getting WLS, I already get talked down by other people who think I'm taking the easy way out but I really want to get a clear work out plan for post op body sculpting to lower the chances of lose skin. My insurance is covering the surgery but they will not cover anything they deem cosmetic. So I'm just wondering what everyones take on having a trainer has been.

[BigViffer 3,545]

50 minutes ago, StephersSweet said:

I really want to get a clear work out plan for post op body sculpting to lower the chances of lose skin.

There is nothing you can do to prevent or lower the chances of loose skin. Once skin has stretched past its elastic limit, it tears and stretch marks happen. The only thing that can be done once that happens is skin removal. It's like the balloons you inflate to their max, then after a day or so you let the air out and the balloon is now misshapen and wrinkly. Same thing with skin.

It's not too difficult to have the removal procedure approved if you keep records of the rashes and other complications common with excess skin. BUT, skin removal is not the same as cosmetic surgery. The scar is not as nice as it would be if a plastic surgeon were to do that procedure.

[StephersSweet 78]

5 minutes ago, BigViffer said:

There is nothing you can do to prevent or lower the chances of loose skin. Once skin has stretched past its elastic limit, it tears and stretch marks happen.

Well that's sorely disappointing, I was told by other people that body sculpting would at least help reduce the amount of skin.

[sassy683 184]

11 minutes ago, StephersSweet said:

Well that's sorely disappointing, I was told by other people that body sculpting would at least help reduce the amount of skin.

I WAS TOLD WORKING OUT CAN HELP SOME... I SAW WHERE A FEW PEOPLE WORKED OUT AND DIDNT HAVE EXTRA SKIN BUT EVERYBODY IS DIFFERENT

[Apple203 1,314]

I was surprised to learn that my surgeon has us work with the physical therapy unit (both same hospital -- same building, even!) both pre- and post-surgery. Insurance covers it.

Its a bummer about the skin, but are young and that should work in your favor :-)

[DropWt4Life 957]

Whether or not you end up having loose skin, it is a good idea to hire a trainer to show you how to workout. I think that genes and age are the main drivers of skin elasticity. You appear to be young, so that is good. I will say that the amount of weight lost definitely plays a role.

If you meet goal and lose over 2/3's of your body weight, you should have loose skin no matter what. I don't think weight training is going to help with that, because you just can't bulk up that much. You might feel better about yourself nonetheless.

Besides, you are doing this for health. Everyone focuses on the vanity aspect of it. Take care of yourself, do everything that you can to drop the weight, add in weight training to tone where you can, and then......If you need some nipping, tucking or lifting....Get it.

Life is too short to not live it to the fullest!

Oh yeah, I wouldn't tell my personal trainer that I was having surgery unless you just want to. You might only be working with him for a few weeks anyway, and it really is none of his business. Also, no matter how hard you work after surgery, he is going to remember you as the lady that had surgery, not the lady that has put in work to reach her goals.

Just my 2 cents.

[OutsideMatchInside 10,166]

2 hours ago, StephersSweet said:

post op body sculpting to lower the chances of lose skin.

Working out is great.

Working out with a trainer beyond learning how to use the machines properly is mostly useless.

Working out to minimize loose skin is a fools errand.

I hate to tell you, but I am going to be real. If you are super morbidly obese and your skin is stretched beyond the limit, nothing is going to help you. People that start with lower BMIs 45 and under have a small chance of minimizing loose skin because they are not as big start with. Once get to a BMI over 50, the only thing that is going to help you is good genetics and luck. My starting BMI was 60/61

My waist used to be 66 inches, my hips used to be 70 inches, my bust was 64. My waist is 39-31 depending on the day and my hips are 40 ish, my bust is 40 (I wear a 34G down from, well I could never get the proper band size DD). At least 5 inches of that on both is just loose skin. That is the reality. I am 1/2 the size I used to be. I have lost over 232 inches off my entire body. I have loose skin.

You can't stuff a whole entire additional person in your body and expect it to snap back. I lost the weight of a grown man. I have the excess skin to prove it.

It sucks but it isn't the end of the world. My face is amazing with no loose skin, LOL. My calves are great, so are my hands feet and forearms. That might not seem like much but it goes a long way because the rest, can easily be covered/masked. Shapewear, well cut clothing and time (my skin has improved a lot in all the months I have been under 200 pounds. My thighs are a disaster but I can still wear shorts and mini skirts, I just wear a thigh shaper. My arms aren't that noticeable in sleeveless dress or 3/4 to long sleeve. I don't wear cap sleeves or short sleeves unless I am wear a blazer because it draw the eye to that area. The skin on my torso easily compresses with shapewear or tight dresses and I drop a size.

[TheRealMeIsHere! 863]

2 hours ago, BigViffer said:

There is nothing you can do to prevent or lower the chances of loose skin. Once skin has stretched past its elastic limit, it tears and stretch marks happen. The only thing that can be done once that happens is skin removal. It's like the balloons you inflate to their max, then after a day or so you let the air out and the balloon is now misshapen and wrinkly. Same thing with skin.

It's not too difficult to have the removal procedure approved if you keep records of the rashes and other complications common with excess skin. BUT, skin removal is not the same as cosmetic surgery. The scar is not as nice as it would be if a plastic surgeon were to do that procedure.

Agree 100%!!, skin removal after weight loss is more considered reconstructive rather than cosmetic. And exercise will not tighten over stretched skin caused by obesity.

[krissyfattofab 68]

I’m down 135 pounds. My heaviest was 323 pounds and I’m sitting at 188 right now. I still have a lot of fat to lose and I do have some loose skin. I have been working with a personal trainer for the last 3 months. I think working out does help with the appearance of loose skin. I definitely can see more tone and definition in my body and less of the hanging skin. The skin is still there and probably will always be but at least you can see my hard work under it.

[StephersSweet 78]

I want to make it clear that I came to this decision knowing full well that no matter what there's going to be loose skin, I had just heard that body toning exercises can help. I'm seeing the trainer either way because I want a work out plan that works well for me, I probably won't tell him about the WLS and I'll probably only go until my surgery and then use what I've learned at my own gym by myself.

[jess9395 5,450]

This seems to be a popular topic this week. I will put what I answered in two other posts on this--


Age
Genetics
Race
Amount of weight
How long you've been overweight
How many times you've yo-yo'd

Those are the primary factors on whether your skin will return or stay stretched out.

Working with a personal trainer is AWESOME and will help fill out the skin with muscle mass, but exercise won't do anything to the skin itself.

Based on the factors above your skin will have a certain amount of resiliency and will "rebound" to that extent. If you lose slowly it will keep pace, if you lose quickly it will catch up as the months pass.

Vitamins, creams, dry brushing can help a little. Sunscreen can help not cause new damage.

Excess skin is annoying but not life threatening like excess weight.

As for whether insurance will cover it as reconstructive... depends on your insurance and the degree of skin and documented problems. I documented rashes and all kinds of stuff but my insurance has a clear policy that the pannus must hang past the pubic bone (mine didn't) and similar concrete rules elsewhere. Other policies differ.

I have hella yoga arms and runner legs... they are very muscular. Didn't stop excess skin. Filled it out some but I had cosmetic surgery.

[Diana_in_Philly 1,426]

I started working with my trainer pre-op. I interviewed a few and told them what was planned because it was going to affect my workout routine (lifting limitations for a few weeks post-surgery). Any of them that seemed skeptical or dismissive of surgery were immediately thanked for their time and told good bye. If I'm paying you, we need to be on the same page.

I worked with my trainer until August of this year (1 full year) when she moved to go to graduate school. I have a new guy who knows the drill, but I'm in much different shape now than I was then.

Just remember - you are paying them, so you are the boss.

[katieroybal 183]

I've worked out on my own and with personal trainers.

Personal trainer pre-surgery: great girl. I enjoyed out talks and she became one of my friends. The sessions were short and I don't think I really got what I wanted out of it. I was looking for strength growth, weight-loss and overall health.

Post surgery I worked out alone. I was doing great and really pushing myself and I was excited to see progress. Then, I started getting hurt and muscle recovery was horrible. 5 days being extremely sore? I didn't want to stop working out but I knew something was going wrong.

Personal trainer post-surgery: Awesome. It's actually a small group class of 5 to 10 people but the instructor is a personal trainer and spends time with each of us making sure we know how to perform the exercises and use the machines when we use them. I've gained so much strength. He's also very encouraging, listens to me and offers excellent feedback.

Personal trainers are not cheap so you kind of need to know what you want out of them before signing up. It sucks to get stuck in a contract for 3 months when you aren't happy.

And yes, tell your trainer about your surgery. You need someone with experience in training people with bariatric surgery. Or, at the very least, you need someone who won't try and contradict your doctor's instructions.

Edited September 29, 2017 by katieroybal
final thoughts

[1234567890 328]

Try doing weight training, as you want to fill out that loose skin with muscle.. there are lots of articles out there... also buy powder collagen and take Vitamin C everyday to promote collagen and skin elasticity..

[StephersSweet 78]

Thanks again for all the advice guys.

I never did go see that personal trainer lol. Decided they would probably be too judgey.