Many people turn to physical exercise as part of their pursuit of a healthy life, whether for aesthetic reasons or not.
Weight loss inevitably becomes part of this process: the body's consumption of fat during exercise causes the athlete to start reducing their weight. But another problem arises: skin sagging.
For many athletes whose primary reason for exercising is to lose weight, without proper advice and monitoring, the sagging that appears can be a demotivating factor. Therefore, it is extremely important to understand how to act and make exercise a tool for a healthier life.
For this reason, BOOMFIT spoke with Personal Trainer Filipa Amendoeira about the effects of sagging during the weight loss process and how to avoid it, valuing the athlete themselves.
“The secret lies in adherence, consistency, and balance”
The first question we asked Filipa was why skin sagging occurs during weight loss. She gave us a very graphic explanation: “You have a bag full of things. If you empty the bag, it becomes all wrinkled, sagging…”, compares the professional, adding that “this is exactly what happens to our body: when the skin is simply stretched because there is an excess of fat filling it, and suddenly that fat loss occurs while there is no muscle stimulus for the skin to adapt, precisely this happens.”
And how can sagging be prevented? “The only way is to always combine muscle work with the caloric deficit obtained through diet, always pairing exercise and nutrition,” says the professional. For Filipa, “the best exercises are those that allow us to perform quality movements with a good stimulus-fatigue ratio,” that is, “strength training” that “stimulates muscle capacity”: “The best exercises are those that allow you to achieve a full range of motion,” the professional emphasizes, mentioning these exercises have “good potential for muscle development” and “allow working the muscle fully with proper movement amplitude.”
Alongside this is nutrition, where “proper hydration” is “fundamental for skin elasticity,” but it’s also important that the diet follows some rules: “you must ensure you are in a caloric deficit but also eat the right amount of protein, fat, and carbohydrates daily for you and your goals.”
Honoring our motto that “every athlete is unique,” Filipa also believes training is “very individual”: “You should train what is real for you. Always think this way: it’s the plan that has to fit your life, not your life fitting the plan!” And how to include resistance exercises in the training plan? By defining a realistic goal. “It’s always much easier to implement any habit if you set a fixed day and time: that’s your commitment!,” stresses the professional, emphasizing the need to be honest “with ourselves,” preparing the workout at the gym or at home. “Who doesn’t prepare, prepares to fail!.”
"The hard part isn’t getting there; it’s maintaining it"
However, sagging impacts different athletes differently. Factors such as age, the type of training, or metabolism will affect the body, causing results to be slow to appear, at least visibly: “If you do the right thing, you see very quick results. But in the mirror, you don’t see anything,” assures the professional, suggesting the “before and after” be done through photos. “Otherwise, you risk becoming demotivated and thinking nothing is happening!”. Of course, there are no universal results; each case needs evaluation, assessing if a more aggressive method is needed to reverse all the sagging: “Indeed, there are cases of obesity where people lose 50, 60, or 70 kilos and the skin has been stretched to an extreme state, but when losing 5 or 10 kilos it is completely possible. Each case really needs evaluation,” she stresses.
Despite all these conditions, there is one asset more important than everything else: the athlete themselves. For Filipa, in a weight loss program, “the thing that will produce results is what you can maintain for the rest of your life,” and results are relative: “The hard part isn’t getting there, it’s maintaining it,” she considers. The personal trainer emphasizes that restrictive plans and random workouts should be left behind in favor of “something that fits your day, brings you joy, and aligns with what you need and like most: the secret is adherence, consistency, and balance,” making the whole process “as natural as possible.”
And where does the athlete fit in? They are the center of everything: “Without you, your work doesn’t exist because you don’t exist. Without you, your spouse doesn’t exist because you don’t exist. Without you, your children don’t exist because you don’t exist. If you don’t exist, nothing exists beneath it: so take care of yourself, because you are your greatest asset!”
Final conclusions
For Filipa Amendoeira, the sagging observed during weight loss can be preventable, requiring following a plan across all aspects that adapts to the athlete’s life and not the other way around.
Creating this plan should be done jointly between the athlete and the professional accompanying them, never disappointing expectations but always focusing on persistent results.
Here at BOOMFIT, we believe in this persistence, helping dozens of athletes and professionals walk this path. That’s why we work every day to bring the best equipment at fair prices: contact us and we will help you on this journey.
Happy training!
