Is Liposuction “Cheating”?

Is this just 'cheating', or is it just a quicker way to get rid of fat?

I heard a story the other day about a bodybuilder who allegedly (I cannot confirm this) gets a bit of liposuction done before a bodybuilding show just to make sure he’s as ripped as possible. The other bodybuilders consider this ‘cheating’ because it’s ‘not fair’.

Now I don’t know if this is just a story or truth, but the reaction of it being considered ‘cheating’ certainly sounds reasonable, but totally hypocritical from bodybuilders who are using testosterone, GH, insulin, T3, clenbuterol, ephedrine and diuretics to get in shape.

Does this mean that bodybuilders consider drugs fair game to get big and ripped, but machines (lipo) not fair?

I’ve also been informed that playboy models get lipo done before a photoshoot just to ‘tighten up’, and that the same model will have the procedure done multiple times before each shoot.

I cannot confirm the bodybuilding story although it sounds feasible, I’ve got a pretty good source to know that the playboy story is true.

Regardless, I would guess most people would feel like liposuction is some form of ‘cheating’.

If it’s just another means to the same end what does it matter?

What do you think?

John

Posted by johnbarban in Fat Loss
Tags: diet, Exercise, Fat Loss, liposuction, liposuction vs diet |19 Comments

19 Responses to “Is Liposuction “Cheating”?”

  1. Ben Leonard Says:
    April 20th, 2010 at 10:24 am

    I’m surprised that playboy models use liposuction before shoots. I would think that the airbrushing would be adequate.

    Also, how safe is liposuction as a routine procedure? I would guess doing it repeatedly has some serious risks.

  2. pierre Says:
    April 20th, 2010 at 10:51 am

    in my book is not cheating but doing lipo to already lean person makes a diference?also like ben said what about the safety of doing this procedure in contant basis?plus this procedure cost lots of mula is this procedure worth extra expence?bodybuilding contest or fitness shoots dont pay that much.

  3. pierre Says:
    April 20th, 2010 at 10:53 am

    John this is a perfect topic for the phi-life.

  4. Josh B Says:
    April 20th, 2010 at 12:05 pm

    Liposuction, especially done on a somewhat regular basis, seems very extreme in nature but I don’t think it’s cheating. It just seems to follow the pattern that bodybuilding is taking: more extreme measures to win are being taken as time goes by. The very first ‘bodybuilders’ didn’t use steroids because they weren’t discovered/invented at the time. But once they were and were introduced, it became more prevalent and today it’s just excepted as part of bodybuilding culture. Pre-contest liposuction could be one of those things. It may start out taboo and kept under wraps but over time it could become the norm. Then some other extreme method of getting bigger/leaner may be revealed that seems even more extreme and the cycle repeats.

    There’s an example in today’s media. Compare what is on television and advertising 50 years ago to when television first came out or even just 50 years ago. What shocked people back then is now considered normal or even tame by today’s standards.

  5. Josh B Says:
    April 20th, 2010 at 12:08 pm

    Sorry I made a typo in the second paragraph of my comment. **Compare what is on television and advertising today to when television first came out or even just 50 years ago**

  6. Joshua Says:
    April 20th, 2010 at 1:36 pm

    I dont understand the accusation of “cheating” here. Didnt know there were rules to the game of fat loss, or that it was even a game at all. Personally, I believe it is more extreme of a procedure than commonly thought (the skin is an organ itself and I would bet that there are long term effects–possibly cancer–that result from abusing it). However, I see know difference in obsessiveness between someone who by willpower goes without food to lose fat and someone who just plain sucks it out. The difference lies more in patience, buying power, and desperation.

  7. FitXcel Says:
    April 20th, 2010 at 4:09 pm

    Waste of money? Sure. Cheating? No. He’s just lazy. I don’t see 99.9999% of America complaining about shortcutting fat loss results.

    -Drew

  8. The Homebody Says:
    April 20th, 2010 at 6:47 pm

    It’s exactly what you said. Just another means to the same end. It’s like when hunters who hunt with crossbows look down on other hunters who use shot guns. They’re ALL killing defenseless wild life.

  9. Ben Leonard Says:
    April 20th, 2010 at 7:20 pm

    I agree. I don’t think it is cheating either, but what is cheating? It is not normal, but where are the rules which state that liposuction is illegal?

  10. johnbarban Says:
    April 20th, 2010 at 8:58 pm

    Ben,

    I don’t think it’s a matter of law. To me it’s a matter of personal choice. after all it’s your own body, so whose business is it besides your own what you do with it (as long as it doesn’t harm someone else)

    JB

  11. Cooper Says:
    April 21st, 2010 at 3:05 am

    John,

    I agree with you on this but sometimes there are laws that dictate what you do to your own body, even when it can’t harm anyone else. After all, why are steroids and recreational drugs illegal? It’s amazing that we let our governments treat us like children and then let the media convince us that it’s in our best interests for them to do so.

    Cooper

  12. johnbarban Says:
    April 21st, 2010 at 9:31 am

    Cooper,

    I agree it’s ridiculous that a government tries to tell people what they can and can’t do to their own body. In these cases it’s clear that our governments don’t view your body as a government possession and not your own.

    JB

  13. Lachlan Says:
    April 21st, 2010 at 9:57 am

    All valid points, but i find lipo to be pretty grose. Something about it just makes me sick.Spending thousands of dollars for fat loss when eating nothing is free and saves you money… +profit+?

  14. Pap.kyr Says:
    April 21st, 2010 at 7:05 pm

    Can it cheat body health also? Less body fat from liposuction would make a person healthier?

  15. Liz Says:
    April 22nd, 2010 at 3:21 pm

    Lachlan, I’m with you…there’s something about this procedure that doesn’t sit right with me. We have to think about the doctors who tell their patients they’d “never lose weight withough surgery”. My sister’s doctor said this to her…but he is a plastic surgeon! Of course he will say something like that. I decided to do it the “hard way,” and yes, it IS difficult, but I’m only around 8-10 fat pounds away from being at my goal physique…and I didn’t use lipo. My sister? Gained it all back and then some. What a waste of $6K!

  16. C.L. Says:
    April 23rd, 2010 at 12:51 pm

    Interesting topic JB. Im skeptical about this. My understanding of liposuction is that you are removing most of the fat cells from a particular area. Most people gain weight by storing more fat in the fat cells they already have rather than gaining more fat cells. Since the cells are actually removed in liposuction, subsequent fat storage tends to occur in other areas of the body. Many patients who gain weight after liposuction have disproportionate looking bodies. I can see a competitor or model doing it once but I dont think multiple times would be necessary or even possible. The healing time after liposuction is pretty long too, I think. It might be possible to employ this strategy with the new laser fat removal technique though. Im not sure if it actually removes the fat cells or not, and the recovery time is very short.
    Is it cheating? I think its been long established that in bodybuilding and modeling pretty much anything goes if it gets you the results.

  17. gym Says:
    May 20th, 2010 at 2:22 pm

    %d? healthy mind in a healthy body, with all the movement we must have health, beauty says, bodybuilding-tips.tk

  18. Plastic Welder Says:
    June 7th, 2010 at 4:42 am

    OK, I can see it now, but I’m not sure whether I’m happy. It’s a…

  19. willy Says:
    August 1st, 2010 at 2:28 am

    I got down to 7% body fat and still had waist flab and chest fat, AND I was also frighteningly GAUNT from the face, and I know that the older I get, this will become even more accentuated. So for some people I think lipo would be actually a good thing, whats the point of being a ripped 60 y/o man/woman with an unhealthy wrinkled GAUNT face, Some people don’t have this problem because they where either born with the right genetics or they started working out and watching their diet from a very early age before any fat was permanently stored in those regions.

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