Skin tightening exercises: do they work?

“It is physiologically impossible to tighten skin on a specific spot with ANY exercise - that’s not how the body works. However, some more vigorous types of exercise can help increase whole body skin firmness (again, not on specific spots), albeit very slowly.

The fastest way to boost skin firmness on a specific spot, SAFELY, is with deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency. Nothing else is as safe or as effective.”

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/cellulite treatment in London with the experts

• Advanced, infrared / red light therapy treatments in London at LipoTherapeia

• Discover our professional training in cellulite, skin tightening, radiofrequency and ultrasound

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 weights 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/cellulite treatment in London with the experts

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 study and practise every day and have researched and tried hands-on all the important skin tightening equipment 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 RF and cavitation treatment protocols in order to make the most of our technologies, for maximum results, naturally and safely.

And for even better, faster results, we now combine our RF/ultrasound treatments with high-power red/infrared light LED treatment.

Our radiofrequency/ultrasound/LED 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 your cellulite, skin laxity or fibrosis, listen to your story, discuss your case and offer you the best possible treatment.

Learn more or check prices and book an expert cellulite / skin tightening treatment at our London clinic (49 Marylebone High Street, W1).

Advanced, infrared / red light therapy treatments in London at LipoTherapeia

At LipoTherapeia we are passionate about phototherapy (also known as photobiomodulation/PBM, red light therapy, infrared light therapy, blue light therapy, LED light therapy etc) and we use the most powerful equipment available today (up to 240mW/cm2), for best results and treatment of large body areas.

We use specialised therapy protocols for skin rejuvenation / anti-ageing, pigmentation / post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH), moderate/severe acne, skin redness, sensitive/inflamed/irritated skin, wound healing, sports injuries / musculoskeletal pain and overall wellness / well-being.

Our LED phototherapy sessions are comfortable, deeply relaxing and super-safe and are great to enhance our radiofrequency/ultrasound treatments for skin tightening / cellulite reduction.

On our booking page you can book stand-alone phototherapy sessions or combine them with our other treatments, as an add-on.

Learn more or check prices and book an expert LED phototherapy treatment at our London clinic (49 Marylebone High Street, W1).

Discover our professional training in cellulite, skin tightening, radiofrequency and ultrasound

Do you want to deeply understand radiofrequency, ultrasound cavitation, cellulite and skin tightening?

Attend a half-day, 1-day or 2-day or 3-day professional consultancy / one-to-one masterclass and confidently offer your clients the safest, strongest and most effective treatment possible.

Service available via Zoom or at our central London practice.

Learn more or check prices and book an expert treatment at our London clinic (49 Marylebone High Street, W1)