Hi,

I am one year out, down about 105 pounds. I need to start weight training, to start attempting to tone up my lose skin.

Anybody have a good suggestion, on where to start? What are some good baby steps to take?

Hi,

If you belong to a gym ask about a fitness instructor session. Most are free with membership and the bigger gym chains.

YouTube will be invaluable for commonly asked questions, as well as Pinterest for self guided challenges. There are lots of 30 day plans that work increments (day 1- 1 set 10 reps, day 2- 1 set 15 reps, etc.) And those help build endurance.

An accountability partner is always helpful too.

Hope that helps!

@BigViffer can give you some good information and a guy's perspective.

One site to do some research on is bodybuilding.com Lots of information -

The site has training for beginners on up. Also an exercise database. You select the muscle you want to work. It will pull many different lifts and exercises. It also gives a video on how to use the equipment and proper form.

https://www.bodybuilding.com/workout-plans/level/beginner

https://www.bodybuilding.com/workout-plans/

https://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/

Unfortunately there is no exercise, cream, or lotion that will tighten loose skin. No matter how much a marketing department claims otherwise, it just isn't possible. The only thing that would come close would be a vasoconstrictor that temporarily tightens tissue (Preperation H).

The only thing that weight training can do is enlarge muscles to back fill the loss of fat. And even then, it's unlikely most of us can build that much mass. Your best bet to enlarge muscle is to do comfortable weights at a higher rep. When I say comfortable, I don't mean 5 - 10lb curls either, I mean a weight that you can finish 8-10 reps with. It still needs to be work.

If strength is your goal, it is the heaviest weight you can handle safely for about 5 reps for 3 sets after warm up sets. Compound lifts like barbell squats and overhead press are ideal. If size is your goal, total volume is what you want and targeted lifts make sense. (Arm day, chest day...)

Either route you take, quality protein is paramount. And that means whey concentrate or isolate. Go with your palate because the only supplement worth buying is the one you will use. Just make sure it is whey. Not casein, not pea, not soy... good old fashion whey. And not that genepro crap.

Also dark chocolate helps the skin to stay tight so eat a little piece. It does not do much but it helps a bit.

16 minutes ago, fitdutchess said:

Also dark chocolate helps the skin to stay tight so eat a little piece. It does not do much but it helps a bit.

I can find nothing about dark chocolate and "tightening" skin, just a bunch of studies on the anti-wrinkle attributes and possible increased UV protection from the antioxidants within dark chocolate. Of course, all of those antioxidants are found in greater quantity in fatty fish, bell peppers, brocolli, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, walnuts, avocados, and various nuts & seeds.

Regardless of how great or high the level of antioxidants, it's not going to do more than increase bloodflow and moisture retention in the epidermis temporarily.

Now if someone wants to eat dark chocolate and just needs something to justify it, there you go, skin tightening!

35 minutes ago, BigViffer said:

Unfortunately there is no exercise, cream, or lotion that will tighten loose skin. No matter how much a marketing department claims otherwise, it just isn't possible. The only thing that would come close would be a vasoconstrictor that temporarily tightens tissue (Preperation H).

The only thing that weight training can do is enlarge muscles to back fill the loss of fat. And even then, it's unlikely most of us can build that much mass. Your best bet to enlarge muscle is to do comfortable weights at a higher rep. When I say comfortable, I don't mean 5 - 10lb curls either, I mean a weight that you can finish 8-10 reps with. It still needs to be work.

If strength is your goal, it is the heaviest weight you can handle safely for about 5 reps for 3 sets after warm up sets. Compound lifts like barbell squats and overhead press are ideal. If size is your goal, total volume is what you want and targeted lifts make sense. (Arm day, chest day...)

Either route you take, quality Protein is paramount. And that means whey concentrate or isolate. Go with your palate because the only supplement worth buying is the one you will use. Just make sure it is whey. Not casein, not pea, not soy... good old fashion whey. And not that GENEPRO crap.

Thanks for the response. Based on your response, I can tell that I have a lot to learn, since i've never lifted in my life, and have no idea of what the different lifts, etc. even are.

I have no delusions that the loose skin will magically disappear, but I would like to believe that back filing with some muscle will help. I have lost most of the weight that I am going to lose, and would like to target certain areas, for more weight loss/muscle build. I don't think the amount of loose skin is as bad as others have witnessed, but I don't really know.

Am i mistaken, in thinking that targeting certain areas will help achieve this? I guess what I don't know is if I should be doing targeted exercises (non weight involved), to help certain areas, or should I be doing targeted weight exercises?

I apologize, but other than using the treadmill, I am completely green to all of this, and have no idea of where to start. I plan on checking out the websites, which was suggested earlier in this thread.

Thanks

Not going to lie, @BigViffer I love reading your posts. As someone who wanted to make sure my recovery included a heavy amount of exercise (I refused to be one of those people who viewed exercise as optional since the "surgery will make me lose weight anyways.") I have made it my goal to research as much as I could. Your fitness posts have always been helpful!

Edited November 9, 20187 yr by Kay07

19 minutes ago, BigViffer said:

Now if someone wants to eat dark chocolate and just needs something to justify it, there you go, skin tightening!

I literally just snorted out my water. ?

32 minutes ago, BigViffer said:

I can find nothing about dark chocolate and "tightening" skin, just a bunch of studies on the anti-wrinkle attributes and possible increased UV protection from the antioxidants within dark chocolate. Of course, all of those antioxidants are found in greater quantity in fatty fish, bell peppers, brocolli, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, walnuts, avocados, and various nuts & seeds.

Regardless of how great or high the level of antioxidants, it's not going to do more than increase bloodflow and moisture retention in the epidermis temporarily.

Now if someone wants to eat dark chocolate and just needs something to justify it, there you go, skin tightening!

Me. I needed this justification.

1 hour ago, Jeff M. said:

<snip> I have lost most of the weight that I am going to lose, and would like to target certain areas, for more weight loss/muscle build.

Am i mistaken, in thinking that targeting certain areas will help achieve this? <snip>

You can target areas for increased muscle size, but not for weightloss. One bad thing about targeted muscle training is while you may get one muscle group stronger, the supporting kinetic chain does not. Perfect example would be the leg press versus the barbell back squat. I can leg press an insane amount of weight, but only squat 250lbs. The reason being the entire body's kinetic chain (basically any joint that moves or is an anchor point for muscles) is involved. You cannot squat anything more than your shoulders, back, and hips can bear. So while the leg press will work your legs muscles, it won't do much of anything for your hips, back, and shoulders. Same thing goes for the deadlift versus a lat pull.

This is problematic because the leg press does not carry over into real world applications as good as a squat. While your legs may be strong enough to pick up something off the ground, your hips and back are not. There is also the fact that machines to not load the skeletal system so you are not gaining bones density, but that is whole other post.

6 minutes ago, BigViffer said:

There is also the fact that machines to not load the skeletal system so you are not gaining bones density, but that is whole other post.

I think we may need that post, friend...

Get some 10 lb dumbbells. Start with standing overhead presses and goblet squats.. 3 sets each 6-8 reps. 2-3 times a week, when it gets easier add another set. Weight training is crucial to add and maintain muscle mass.

Don’t use machines please

3 hours ago, GreenTealael said:

I think we may need that post, friend...

Ok, but this may be a bit of a long post. We all want to be stronger. Not necessarily huge muscle strong, but make-everyday-life-easier stronger. The elderly might want to open jars unaided or be able to squat down and get back up from the toilet without grab rails. Middle aged people like myself need it to do all the things that are necessary with older parents and evidently slug-like teenage daughters who cannot move anything under their own power. The young want it to p!ss off those of us 40 and up by showing off.

The one thing that all of these type of people have in common is that strength is the ability to exert force on an external object via the leverage and power of our bodies. In the simplest example I can think of, you have a rock and a seesaw. To move the rock, you push down on the opposite side of the seesaw. If more or larger rocks are added the more force it takes to move them, but the plank of the seesaw will also start to bend. If the person is strong enough to continuously lift the rock, eventually the plank will break. In our case, that doesn't mean a bone will break, but there will be a chance for injury.

Muscles can get stronger faster than bone, but bones can definitely get stronger. NASA includes resistance training in space for this exact reason. Bones are in a constant stage of breaking down and building up. Just like muscle tissue that tears and repairs stronger, bones breakdown and are built back up stronger via osteoblasts. Remember that Vitamin D and calcium we were told to take religiously post op? This is exactly why.

There is a lot more to getting stronger than just getting bigger muscles. You can have larger muscles, but a weak nervous system. That could be just the way a person is or because of some injury, but the strength of the signal telling the muscle to contract and pull bones together is what makes lifting everything possible. This is one reason that warm up sets are so important. Train the neural pathways of the movement so that that pathway stays strong as long as possible.

Heavy weights exert stress onto the skeletal system and that system response to that stress by getting stronger. It gets stronger by becoming more dense. It is an evolutionary response that all animals with bones have. It just takes time and measured training to accomplish it safely. Hope this little blurb helps.

On 11/9/2018 at 10:14 AM, Kay07 said:

Not going to lie, @BigViffer I love reading your posts. As someone who wanted to make sure my recovery included a heavy amount of exercise (I refused to be one of those people who viewed exercise as optional since the "surgery will make me lose weight anyways.") I have made it my goal to research as much as I could. Your fitness posts have always been helpful!

Agreed. Right now I am almost 18 months post op. I am at goal. Fitness is my primary concern now. And by fitness I mean functional strength, mobility, balance, flexibility, stamina, endurance and overall health.

@BigViffer recommended a book when I first came on whining about my gym anxiety (The Barbell Prescription) which I read along with other things. That book and the science behind building strength changed my view of what I was doing with this opportunity I had at the age of 50 having had VSG.

I have lost over 170 lbs. My deadlifts are strong, my upper body work is strong, I work my core like a beast (ab roll outs, stability ball walk outs, hanging leg raises, all sorts of planks, pikes, inverted sit ups, V-this and that are about half my gym time) and have gotten enough joint strength and mobility in my knees to start doing weighted squats (that one took real patience). And this is just the beginning. I am healthier and stronger than I was when I was a teenager - and I played lacrosse, tennis, field hockey, swam etc. and did it reasonably well.

Loosing weight is just the opportunity to actually create real health. People are shocked at how I look - they literally say they haven't seen someone lose this much weight and actually *look healthy*. Yes I have lose skin, yes it bothers me. But I'll either do something about it or I won't and that's undecided now. And I don't have so much lose skin that it impacts my health, wellness or mobility. Just impacts my comfort with my body in the sack.

People ask me all the time how I feel after losing so much weight and it's difficult to explain that the real miracle for me has been fitness - yes, that could not have happened without losing weight, however if I had just lost the weight and stayed mushy, squishy and weak I really don't think I would have been as satisfied with the new life I have.

And by the way, haven't seen it asked or answered - but @BigViffer, what is the Viffer?

Inquiring minds.