Loose skin develops over time as you lose weight. Younger patients who lose large amounts of weight do not experience loose skin as much as older folks. With aging, the skin become less elastic and does not rebound as easily. While cosmetic surgery may be required to remove excess loose skin for those who lose more than 100 pounds, there are exercises that can help.
Muscle Building
While all of your loose skin may not return to its previous firmness, there are workouts you can do to fill out the skin that’s left in healthy ways. Doctors at the Cleveland Clinic report that maintaining your weight loss for a period of at least two years allows the skin time to tighten up. After about two years, the skin will have tightened about as much as it’s going to. Lifting hand weights and barbells can help you form muscles that will fill out the loose skin and help to tighten it over your arms. Leg lifts with ankle weights and resistance machines can stretch the skin over the legs and buttocks to make it firmer over the larger muscle groups. Performing weight training exercises while you are losing weight lessens the amount of loose skin you are left with when your ideal weight is achieved.
Crunches
The crunch is one of the most popular exercises used to tighten the abdominal walls and muscles. Through using crunches over a continuous period, the loose skin over your abs will tighten up and the muscles on the front and sides of your stomach will fill the remaining skin. Bicycle crunches work the obliques, which can pull the skin tighter along the sides of the abs and help shape a firmer profile. Crunches also involve your back muscles, which can help pull the skin tighter through your middle. Strong core muscles will help you remain more active and keep off the weight that caused the excess skin in the first place.
Perform a crunch by lying face up on the floor with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Tighten your abdominal muscles and cross your arms across your chest. Raise your head and shoulders off the floor. Return to the starting position and repeat 20 times. Raise your legs to form 90 degree angles at the waist and knees to perform bicycle crunches. With your hands held loosely on the sides of your head, try to touch your right elbow to your left knee. Alternate sides as if pumping bicycle pedals.
Plank
A stability ball or fitness ball can be an effective tool for any workout to tighten loose skin, especially in the abs and core regions. Perform the plank on a stability ball by kneeling on the floor and sliding your upper body over the ball, touching your hands on the floor in front of the ball. Walk forward on your hands, placing them flat on the floor, until the ball is resting beneath your thighs. Hold your balance for a count of 10 to incorporate a number of core muscles as you maintain balance, pulling your loose skin in all directions as the muscles and ligaments tighten. After sliding back to the starting position, repeat the move 5 to 10 times.
About this Author
Linda Ray is an award-winning journalist who’s spent more than 20 years doing in-depth research and reporting on trends in health care and fitness for newspapers and magazines, including the “Greenville News,” “Success,” “Verve,” and “American City Business Journals.” In addition to sports and alternative therapies, Ray has extensive experience covering banking, commercial development and people. Ray has a bachelor’s degree in journalism.
