Skin tightening exercises: do they work?

Spot skin tightening with exercise: does it exist?

• Does exercise tighten skin?

• What causes skin looseness?

• Tightening loose skin with exercise and nutrition

• Which are the best exercises to tighten loose skin?

• How fast can I tighten my skin with skin tightening exercise and healthy eating?

• Skin tightening exercises: can I spot-tighten my skin by exercising the muscles underneath?

• How to tighten loose skin fast

• Is there anything else I can do myself to help with skin tightening at home?

• Have a skin tightening treatment in London with the skin tightening specialists

Does exercise tighten skin?

Exercise and everyday physical activity are essential for skin firmness, together with a healthy nutrition, rich in protein and polyphenols.

• Exercise and physical activity offer fibroblasts (the skin’s collagen/elastin-producing cells) the necessary mechanical stimulation they need to keep producing collagen and elastin. Collagen provides skin firmness, while elastin offers elasticity, together leading to firm, elastic, healthy, good looking skin

• On the other hand, protein from food is used for the synthesis of collagen and elastin, which themselves are also proteins

• And polyphenols and nutrients such as vitamin C favour the synthesis of collagen and elastin and protect against their breakdown

So indeed exercise and general movement do lead to tighter skin and, as mentioned above, they are absolutely essential to maintain tight skin.

However, skin tightening exercises to tighten skin at a specific part of the body don’t work, because such exercises simply affect the muscles, NOT the skin.

Like there is no spot fat reduction with specific exercises, there is no spot skin tightening with specific exercises either.

Let’s look at all the above in more detail.

What causes skin looseness?

The main reasons for developing skin laxity on a specific area of the body, or even throughout the body, are:

• Sedentary life with little exercise and movement (no fibroblast stimulation)

• Low protein diets / crash dieting / yo-yo dieting / too much fasting (skin catabolism due to low protein intake)

• Weight gain (which stretches the skin)

• Fat loss that follows weight gain / yo-yo dieting (leaves body with excess skin)

• Pregnancy (which stretches the skin)

• Various medications, such as corticosteroids (which can lead to skin catabolism)

Tightening loose skin with exercise and nutrition

However, although exercise and healthy nutrition are absolutely essential in preventing further skin looseness, they act very slowly in reversing the damage and can only go so far in tightening skin.

So, indeed you can tighten your skin with exercise but usually not enough and not fast enough.

When it comes to skin tightness/firmness and elasticity, exercise is mainly for maintenance and prevention, not so much for improvement.

Which are the best exercises to tighten loose skin?

As mentioned above, there are no exercises to tighten loose skin on a specific body part. But there are types of exercise that can tighten skin on the whole body faster than others.

Vibration plate training and any exercise that provides vibration (i.e. mechanical stimulation) to skin tissues, i.e. walking, running, swimming, dancing, vibration plate training, trampolining and in general any sports that involve running/jumping/waking etc, can lead to firmer skin.

Static/non-vibrating exercise (such as Yoga, Pilates etc) provide little - if any - vibration to fibroblasts, so they are just not effective for skin firming/tightening (sorry)…

Weights (resistance training), although largely static, provide an overall pronounced anabolic effect on the body, including skin. So they indeed help with skin firming, but not as much as vibration-producing exercises, such as running and sports.

Weights, however, help lift the body from within by toning the muscles underneath the skin and that somewhat helps too, as lifted muscles also lift skin above them. But weight do not tighten the skin itself per se.

How fast can I tighten my skin with skin tightening exercise and healthy eating?

Some young and/or genetically gifted people can build collagen much faster and in some cases can improve their skin firmness within weeks/months (never within days), with lots of exercise and very healthy nutrition.

But many people (especially women) build collagen very slowly, either due to genetics or ageing, and in those cases we are talking about improvement within months/years (not weeks).

In both cases, more severe skin looseness in specific areas may never tighten enough with exercise.

Hence the need for a good skin tightening treatment (the best is deep-acting, high-power radio frequency), in addition to exercise and healthy eating. But this requires an entirely different article.

A multi-active ingredient, highly concentrated body cream may also help with skin tightening, but be aware that the vast majority of body creams are too diluted to help with anything.

Skin tightening exercises: can I spot-tighten my skin by exercising the muscles underneath?

As mentioned above, just as with spot fat reduction with exercise, spot skin tightening with exercise does not exist. For example, you cannot tighten your thigh skin by doing squats.

This is not how the body works and there are countless examples of people with very toned ab muscles and loose stomach skin - or with tight butt muscles and loose butt skin etc.

The best way to improve the tone of those areas is to tighten the muscles underneath by exercising those muscles AND at the same time tighten the skin on top with a course of deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency treatments.

How to tighten loose skin fast

As mentioned above, the most effective SAFE technology known today for skin tightening is deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency.

Low-power RF, superficial RF or any other technology is either less effective or can often lead to adverse reactions - in addition to not being very effective either (e.g. RF microneedling).

Deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency works by stimulating:

• New collagen synthesis in fibroblasts (‘collagen cells’), for skin tightening

• New elastin synthesis in fibroblasts, for skin elasticity

• Existing collagen contraction, for skin tightening

The result is tighter, more lifted skin with improved elasticity.

For good results with skin tightening after lipo most people need a course of 6-12 weekly deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency sessions. Severe skin looseness may require up to 20 sessions, while extreme skin laxity may require surgical removal of skin (thigh lift, tummy tuck, arm lift etc).

Contrary to what some clinics misleadingly claim, you cannot safely and effectively tighten your skin with 1-4 miracle treatments - do not fall for such hype. Your body does need strong, regular, repeated stimulation to change and this does not happen overnight with miracle treatments.

Is there anything else I can do myself to help with skin tightening at home?

Consuming enough lean protein (most women don’t), polyphenols (berries, herbs, spices, citrus fruits etc) and vitamin C are essential for collagen production.

You can also have a daily shake with collagen power or “vegan collagen” powder.

Do not bother with home radiofrequency machines: they are a waste of time and money. Find a reputable clinic instead, even if you have to travel a bit to them.

You may also also use a real cellulite cream, i.e. one with multiple high-purity actives in high concentrations, relevant to skin firming. As most skin firming body creams are very diluted, do your due diligence first before wasting your money on nothing more than a moisturiser.

You may also also use a real cellulite cream, i.e. one with multiple high-purity actives in high concentrations, relevant to skin firming. As most skin firming body creams are very diluted, do your due diligence first before wasting your money on nothing more than a moisturiser.

Have a skin tightening treatment in London with the skin tightening specialists

At LipoTherapeia we have specialised 100% in skin tightening (and cellulite reduction) for more than two decades and 20,000+ sessions.

This is all we practise and study every day and we know all the good skin tightening machines and their manufacturers. As strong, deep acting radiofrequency and deep-acting, high-power ultrasound cavitation are the technologies of choice for skin tightening and cellulite reduction, we have invested in the best RF/ultrasound technologies in the world.

Furthermore, over the last two decades we have developed advanced treatment protocols in order to make the most of these technologies, for maximum results, naturally and safely.

Our radiofrequency/ultrasound treatments are comfortable, pain-free, downtime-free, injection-free, microneedling-free, 99.5%+ safe and always non-invasive.

And our focus is on honest, realistic, science-based treatment, combined with caring, professional service with a smile.

We will be pleased to see you, assess you, listen to your story, discuss your case and offer you the best possible treatment.

There are five ways to start treatment with us:

• Book a FREE 15’ zoom consultation (UK only)

• Book a 30’ in-clinic assessment and consultation

• Book a 45’ in-clinic assessment and consultation plus skin ultrasound scan, to visualise skin laxity, cellulite, subcutaneous fat and potential fibrosis

• Book an introductory treatment, which automatically includes free 30’ assessment and consultation

• Book a course of 3x, 6x or 12x sessions, with the first session automatically including free 30’ assessment and consultation