Question: When can I exercise after a tummy tuck?
Answer:
There isn’t an exact answer, because some people recover faster than others. There is a general guideline, however. Tummy tucks typically cause 3 – 5 days of severe muscle spasm. This kind of pain is very tiring.
Week 1: You will want to walk slowly around the house. You will have severe pain when you cough or sit up.
Week 2: It is a good idea to get out of the house, but know that you will tire easily.
Week 3: If you have a desk job, you can go back to work, but you may have to leave early because of fatigue.
Week 4: You will by now have the energy for house work and walks.
Week 5: Your energy should start getting back to normal by this point.
Week 6: This is the week you may begin doing weights and other exercise. It is important to start at 10% of what you did before. However, no running, and definitely no crunches.
Week 7: You may try a short jog or a few crunches .
Week 8: Finally, you will be able to do any kind of exercise, but you will not be back to pre-surgery strength and fitness. This will take time, but will happen gradually.
You can speed up your recovery if you have the pain killer, Exparel, injected into the stomach muscles during surgery. Exparel is a long-lasting anesthetic. It prevents muscle pain and spasm – less pain means a faster recovery. You still can’t do crunches or run for 6 weeks, but you will be walking easily from the start and have much less fatigue. This means you can return to a desk job at 2 weeks rather than at week 3.