With any weight-loss plan, exercise plays a key role. Not only does exercise help reduce fat, but it tones muscles, give a person more energy, and help the person feel better. Weight loss achieved through surgery is no exception. Surgery does not work all by itself. It is critical that a patient adhere to a daily routine of exercise and a carefully planned diet.

Some obese patients find that exercise is difficult. Obesity can cause shortness of breath and can make a person feel very tired. After weight-loss surgery, the doctor will carefully assess the patient to find out when it is best to start exercising. Depending on the type of weight-loss surgery, this can take anywhere from four to six weeks after surgery. After that time, it is important for the patient to find an exercise program that he or she finds easy to stick to and that he or she can work on at his/her own pace. An exercise routine should start out slow and, as the weight comes off, can be gradually increased.

There are several reasons why weight-loss surgery patients should add exercise to their routine. The main reason is to aid in weight loss. A patient who has had weight-loss surgery will already be taking in fewer calories, but exercise improves the end results of the surgery. Using an exercise routine can help a patient increase energy levels and boost metabolism. When one has a good metabolism, he or she can burn calories faster than before.

Another big reason to include exercise every day following weight-loss surgery is that exercise can reduce the need for plastic surgery (to remove excess skin). Many weight-loss surgery patients find that, after losing so much weight in a short period of time, they have excess skin. This can be anywhere on the body–including on the on the buttocks, back of the arms, and in the abdominal area. Plastic surgery can remove excess skin from these areas, but it is only an option after a year following the surgery. With daily exercise, the skin has a better chance of molding to the body gradually. This is one huge benefit of exercising following weight-loss surgery.

When it is time to decide what kind of exercise is best, a patient should consider the type that they will enjoy the most. This will make it easier to stick to the routine. Walking is a good start for most people. Many people stay motivated by carrying a small radio or CD player while working out. Working out with a friend can also increase your motivation and help you stay on track. It is usually recommended that patients begin their exercise routine with a daily walk. This should be done at least five times a week for 20 minutes a day. As the body adjusts to the weight loss and exercise, patients should add other aerobic activities. Some beneficial exercises might include swimming, golfing, biking, and working out on machines at the gym.

Exercise is the key to getting the body that you want after weight-loss surgery–not just in appearance, but in performance as well.

William Brown
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/exercise-and-weightloss-surgery-99884.html

Bodyweight workouts are very misunderstood and under-estimated ways of enhancing muscle tone and strength. Many trainers and fitness seekers can’t see past traditional bodyweight workouts consisting of push-ups, pull-ups and dips.

Both men and women can follow body weight workouts and get great results that are in line with fitness goals ranging from slimming, shaping and toning to strengthening and lean muscle building.

A big hurdle for most people to get over when considering body weight workouts for fitness is the question of, “How can a body weight workout routine replace one that uses weight training and machines?”

It is easy to see how psychology can be an obstacle in trying to help people understand that properly structured bodyweight workouts can be better than traditional weight-lifting and exercise machine workouts. Traditional workouts offer many variations, almost endless actually. Where as bodyweight workouts rely on creativity mixed with a good understanding of how the body functions and what exercises stimulate healthy and safe fitness progress.

Many fitness pros believe that body-weight workouts offer just a limited amount of exercise options and are very general at best, meaning that there is no ability to target and isolate specific muscle groups during a bodyweight workout. This is a big mis-perception that prevents many fitness success stories from ever becoming a reality.

Here’s the reason why. When people get into the ‘health club mentality’ of only being able to workout with equipment, weights and machines, they set themselves up for many episodes of ‘falling off the program’ and failing. Bodyweight workouts eliminate this excuse.

Here’s an example where bodyweight workouts are a million times more effective than regular old gym workouts. You go on vacation or you go out of town on business, or maybe to visit family for several days. So many times these events become excuses for people not sticking to their fitness plan because they ‘couldn’t go to a gym’. With a well-rounded, bodyweight workout program this excuse is not valid.

The right body weight workouts can be done anywhere and anytime. They can be done at home, the office, a fiend’s house or even on a play-ground. And in terms of effectiveness – I can only say through personal experience with my own bodyweight workouts and those of the people who I have trained that when planned properly and followed consistently, bodyweight workouts can be even more effective than most weight lifting or machine based workout programs.

Body weight workouts offer ‘fitness veterans’ – a refreshing, eye-opening alternative to the those repetitive weight and machine training programs. Even more importantly, bodyweight workouts offer sedentary fitness beginners a safe, non-intimidating and effective method for starting a home based fitness program with a high probability for success.

Whether you are just beginning or you’ve been ‘pumping the weights’ for some time now, give some consideration to the benefits and advantages of properly structured body weight workouts and how they can help you move forward in your fitness and conditioning goals. Open up your mind to the possibility of a bodyweight workout being a part of your overall fitness plan and see what happens. You’ll be very pleased and maybe a bit surprised with the results you experience.

Joey Atlas
http://www.articlesbase.com/fitness-articles/body-weight-workouts-for-a-strong-and-sexy-body-130656.html