After Abdominoplasty: Tuck Away those Sit-ups

Abdominoplasty surgery is a great way for a man or woman to finally bid farewell to stubborn deposits of fat cells across the midsection. As you may know, there is only so far you can go with diet and exercise. When the desired aesthetic is to have a flat, toned tummy as you grow older, the best method of achieving this goal may involve a tummy tuck. This procedure, for which Dr. Shridharani uses a specific, drain-less technique, manually tightens the muscles against the abdominal wall, as well as overlying skin. Our TubelessTuck^SM offers patients a more comfortable recovery. However, there are still some details that need to be understood.

Sit Back and Relax before Considering Sit-ups

Patients undergo the abdominoplasty procedure because they want to feel ultra-confident in their shape. This takes work. It takes a lot of effort. Sitting back and relaxing is not easy for the person who tends to put a lot of time into physical fitness. Alas, this may be one of the biggest challenges of the tummy tuck journey.

Fortunately, post-surgical soreness can keep most patients in line toward a healthy recovery, but this only lasts a few weeks. At about the 6 week  mark, many patients start to feel like they can get back to a normal routine. In some aspects, this is true. Some, not all. Exercise is a tricky subject. You need it, but you don’t. Ok. We’ll get specific . . .

Abdominoplasty disrupts the abdominal muscles, connective tissues, blood vessels, and the skin. Each of the layers of tissue needs to heal completely, and this can take longer than you think. Post-surgical exercise should start with mild walking. Flat surface, no treadmill. Then, you may work up to light strength training. To minimize the risk of bleeding and bruising, you want to excite your heart rate only so much for the first few months. Finally, exercises that target the abdominal muscles themselves – to any degree – will need to be added back into your fitness routine at about 6-months post-surgery. Before this time, muscle tissue still isn’t at 100%, and you need this before you can put strain on the area.

Do you have questions about body contouring? Call Luxurgery in NYC at (212) 508-0000.