It's important to engage in healthy lifestyle habits in order to maintain the results of liposuction body contouring. At the same time, it's also imperative that you not rush this process. Your body may require up to six weeks to fully recover from your liposuction procedure. Until you receive full clearance from your doctor, you mustn't return to your normal exercise routine. Doing too much too soon after liposuction can significantly increase the risk of infection, poor wound healing, poor scarring, bleeding, bruising, hematoma, seroma, and other avoidable complications.
In general, your post-surgical recovery period, as it pertains to exercise, may look like this:
You can engage in light walking right away. Walking promotes blood flow and can help prevent blood clots after surgery. You can walk as soon as you feel well enough, and should walk five to 10 minutes a few times a day. As you regain your energy, you can increase this duration. However, keep it light. No powerwalking.
You may resume some aerobic activity a few weeks after your liposuction procedure. More rigorous aerobic exercise may resume about four weeks after surgery. When you begin running, jumping rope, cycling, or other aerobic activities, do so with great care. If you notice pain or lack of stamina, don't push it. Build back to your normal level of intensity slowly to achieve the greatest gains.
Resistance training or strength training. Resistance training is an integral aspect of improving muscle tone and body contouring. You may receive clearance for this type of exercise at about four weeks post-op. However, you may need to postpone exercises that target the treatment area for as long as eight weeks. For example, if you've had liposuction on your midsection, you may be cleared to perform squats and other leg exercises but not crunches or other forms of abdominal conditioning.