How to Use Adaptive Fitness During Your Weight-Loss Journey

A successful weight-loss journey does not happen overnight. For the best possible results, it’s important to follow your bariatric procedure with healthy overall lifestyle choices. That includes making sure you’re following a proper diet and meeting your nutritional needs. It also involves staying active and committing to a regular exercise routine. 

For beginners and those just beginning their weight-loss journeys, adaptive fitness is one of the best ways to start working towards this post-surgery goal. 

What is Adaptive Fitness?

The definition of adaptive fitness is simple: it involves adapting traditional workouts to the needs of a patient. Adaptive fitness workouts factor in a patient’s lifestyle, medical restrictions, health goals, mobility capabilities, and fitness level to ensure they can exercise without hurting themselves. 

Adaptive Fitness for Bariatric Patients

Adaptive fitness is an especially useful workout strategy for bariatric patients. As you begin your weight-loss journey, it’s essential to commit to lifestyle changes that make sense for your individual situation. 

After surgery, as you recover and work towards maintaining a healthy weight, you may have certain restrictions that make traditional exercise difficult. For example, as you heal, you’ll need to be mindful of avoiding high-intensity workouts that risk damage to your wound. Additionally, if you’re new to the fitness world, you’ll need to start off slow to prevent injuries and support your recovery. 

Adaptive fitness is great for beginners and those with health restrictions because it is fully customizable. The entire goal of adaptive fitness workouts is to work within your abilities, so the adaptive fitness workouts that are right for one patient might not be right for another. When you’re using adaptive fitness in your weight-loss journey, what matters most is finding the fitness solutions that work for you.

Examples of Adaptive Fitness

There is no one specific way to add adaptive fitness to your daily routine. Spend some time researching different adaptive fitness workouts and beginner workouts to help you determine where to start. 

Cardio 

Cardiovascular exercise is a key part of any workout plan. If you’re not a runner, adaptive fitness cardio options include walking, jogging, or bike riding. For bariatric patients, a great way to approach cardio exercise is to slowly build up to ideal exercise levels. Post-surgery, you’ll begin by walking for very short periods of time and adding on time as you recover and strengthen your muscles. 

Pushups 

Pushups are another common exercise that can be customized to work for adaptive weight-loss fitness. Consider starting with wall pushups, pushing against the wall instead of the floor. Over time, work up to modified knee pushups, and eventually, try traditional pushups when you’ve built up strength.

Hydrotherapy 

A great way to enjoy adaptive fitness for beginners is to sign up for hydrotherapy—exercising in the pool. Hydrotherapy is well-suited to beginner workouts because it takes pressure off the body and joints, allowing patients to move more freely in the water with less discomfort. Bariatric patients with joint conditions or mobility issues often find that aquatic workouts are much easier to complete than typical gym workouts.

If you have concerns about how adaptive fitness will impact your post-surgery recovery, don’t hesitate to run a fitness plan by your medical team at Wellstar Bariatrics. We’re committed to providing you with individualized support during your recovery and helping you find healthy lifestyle solutions that are right for you. To learn more about how we can help, get in touch today.