Best exercises to avoid loose skin when losing weight?

gonna_reach_the_goal33

I know it’s inevitable. I know it’s a lot better than the excess fat as an alternative. But I am afraid to lose too fast honestly because I don’t know what to expect with my skin. I am still pretty young. But I have a long way to go. If you have any advice, I’d love to hear it!

MikePTY

Loose skin is different for everyone, and it can't always be avoided, but usually strength training/weight lifting is a good idea and can help with it.

BrianSharpe

Youth is on your side and losing weight at a moderate rate should help, other than that it largely comes down to genetics.

AnnPT77

Patience is the most useful thing to exercise, mostly.

My loose skin kept shrinking well into year 2 of maintenance, at least, after I lost around 50 pounds at age 59-60.

Skin is an organ of your body. It's more likely to be willing to shrink if it's healthy. The things that keep all our other organs healthy also keep skin healthy: Well-rounded nutrition, avoiding super-fast weight loss, consistent regular exercise, good hydration, etc.

One thing to be aware of: For some of us, things look worse part way to goal than at goal, and worse at goal than at a year or so down the road in maintenance. While there's still subcutaneous fat conspiring with gravity to keep skin stretched, it really can't shrink much. Fat areas can get kind of squishy and loose before they fully deplete, which can lead to some stuff that people think is loose skin, but really isn't just loose skin. Loose skin is thin wrinkles, like wrinkles in a medium weight fabric. (Think about the thickness of your skin if you pinch up a bit of it on a bony area like your kneecap or knuckles.) Folds or rolls of 1/2"-ish or more probably have some loose skin, and there can be more of that kind of thing when a good bit of weight is gone, but not all the way to goal. Don't panic: Odds are excellent that it will improve.

Just do your best to lose weight in a healthy way (sensible moderate loss rate, good nutrition, exercise), and give it time. I think you'll be surprised by how good the results are, in the long run.