Experts Outline Exercise Recommendations For Bariatric Surgery Patients

[MsJacquiiC]

Recent bariatric surgery patients can and should exercise for long-term health - but progression must be slow, experts said today at the American College of Sports Medicine's 14th-annual Health & Fitness Summit.

Bariatric surgery promotes weight loss but not a healthy lifestyle. Exercise does! Exercise promotes a healthy lifestyle.

Paul Sorace, M.S., and Adam de Jong, M.A., stress that the weight loss attained through bariatric surgery doesn't always equal true health.

"Bariatric surgery promotes weight loss but not a healthy lifestyle. Exercise does," de Jong said. "Although bariatric surgery does provide significant improvements in key cardiovascular risk factors, including Type-2 diabetes and hypertension, long term success is dependent upon lifestyle changes. As part of these lifestyle changes, increased physical activity is necessary to attain long-term health and also prevent weight regain."

Sorace and de Jong outlined post-bariatric surgery physical activity recommendations in three key areas:

1. Aerobic exercise should be the focus of a post-bariatric surgery program, as it burns the most calories and is the best way for a previously sedentary individual to ease into physical activity. Low-impact activities such as walking are useful and usually well tolerated, even if only for brief periods.
   
   
2. Resistance training is a crucial partner to aerobic exercise, but limitations may be prudent during the early weeks after surgery, particularly concerning the abdominal region. But strength training may increase fat-free mass (muscle) and speed loss of fat mass in post-bariatric surgery patients.
   
   
3. Flexibility exercise improves range of motion for still-obese post-surgery patients - but following precautions is important to prevent injury.

Sorace also recommends taking care to ensure proper hydration levels. "These patients are unique in that they would typically need more fluid during activity than others because of their body size and sweat rate - but they now have limited capacity to consume these fluids." He recommends frequent small sips of water and exercising in cool temperatures to reduce fluid loss.



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Bariatrics The branch of medicine that deals with the causes, prevention, and treatment of obesity. The term bariatrics was created around 1965, from the Greek root baro ("weight," as in barometer), suffix -iatr ("treatment," as in pediatrics), and suffix -ic ("pertaining to"). Besides the pharmacotherapy of obesity, it is concerned with obesity surgery.

Hypertension Also referred to as high blood pressure, HTH, HTN or HPN, hypertension is a medical condition in which the blood pressure is chronically elevated. In current usage, the word "hypertension" without a qualifier normally refers to arterial hypertension. The Mayo Clinic specifies blood pressure is "normal if it's below 120/80".

Diabetes Mellitus A disease that occurs when the body is not able to use blood glucose (sugar). Blood sugar levels are controlled by insulin, a hormone in the body that helps move glucose from the blood to muscles and other tissues. Diabetes occurs when the pancreas does not make enough insulin or the body does not respond to the insulin that is made. There are two main types of diabetes mellitus: Type 1 Diabetes and Type 2 Diabetes. All forms of diabetes have been treatable since insulin became medically available in 1921, but there is no cure.