During the first of the year and right before summer, gym attendance spikes. No surprise there – New Year resolutions and pre-summer bodies!
Certainly, the gym is vital for healthy, happy bodies, and I highly encourage patients to go to the gym before AND after surgery, but it isn’t always the best solution for everyone unhappy with their figure.
So, I’ll answer the age-old question: Gym or Surgery?
First, you must understand that you can’t substitute one for the other.
For instance, you can get things in the gym that you can’t get in plastic surgery – like abs! You can’t get abs without working them out, but the same applies to plastic surgery.
If you go to the gym, you’ll experience global weight loss, but with plastic surgery, we can target and remove fat in areas that make a big difference to the eye. We can highlight a shapely butt by lipoing specifically in the key area – this method highlights the body’s Ogee Line, which we just can’t do in the gym.
You can grow your glutes and hamstring muscles in the gym through exercises like squats and deadlifts, but there are areas in the body that contribute to the shape of your lower half that you can’t hypertrophy, or increase muscle size through working out.
For instance, the iliotibial band, the strong, thick band of tissue that runs the length of your outer thigh, can’t be reshaped through muscle-building exercise. It’s simply a band of fascia. While it can’t be reshaped in the gym, we can alter it with plastic surgery by adding fat to round or define the area.
No doubt about it, you can look a lot better by going to the gym alone, but in areas where you don’t have muscles, no matter what you do, you can’t change the shape. So, adding fat is very helpful.
Finally, some people will never be able to tone areas no matter how much effort they put into tossing around weights. Sometimes plastic surgery is the answer for those folks.
Ultimately, regarding the age-old question of gym or plastic surgery – there is no one-size fits all answer, and truly, what works for you might not work for the next person. It’s a personal choice that should be respected.
The gym and plastic surgery play vital roles in health and body shape, and from person to person, the best solution or treatment means determining what you love about your body and what areas you’d like to see changed.
