Isaac Hinds - LIFTstudios Blog

This falls under the under the category of WHAT THE HELL? Are you kidding me?! I caught this segment tonight on ABC’s Nightline and couldn’t believe what I was seeing. ABC was in Denver, Colorado interviewing people related to a new surgery that costs between $15,000-$20,000. UNBELIEVABLE. There is one doctor who claims you need "you have to get to 3-to-5 percent body fat. Unless your job is working out at the gym and the rest of your job is eating broccoli, you’re not going to be able to work that off," in order to have sixpack abs. Are you for real?

This is the story that ran on the ABC Nightline, “sign of the times”:
Amazing Abdominals

(Courtesy John A. Millard, M.D. and Alfredo Hoyos, M.D.)
It’s the ultimate symbol of hunkiness — six-pack abs. Many products and workouts promise results, but for most people, no amount of crunches can eradicate that spare tire.Dr. John Millard and Dr. Alfredo Hoyos might have the solution. They’re two of a handful of plastic surgeons offering a new procedure called VASER High-Def Liposculpture. According to Millard’s Web site, the procedure emulsifies and removes fat, just like traditional liposuction. But the technique uses deep and superficial liposculpture “in specific anatomical areas…to create a more natural muscular appearance.”

(Courtesy John A. Millard, M.D. and Alfredo Hoyos, M.D.)
“Every guy we see in a magazine, they all have six-pack abs,” said Joshua Conn (not pictured), a personal trainer at the Colorado Athletic Club. “Everyone sees all these movie stars, sees movies with Brad Pitt walking around with a six-pack, and people want to be like him.”

Vaser High-Def is best-suited for people who are already in good shape, and also transfers fat to areas like the pectorals that the patient would like enhanced. The procedure promises to sculpt your abs into a work of art. “If Michelangelo was born in the 20th century and had access to this procedure, I’m pretty sure he’d have been a plastic surgeon,” Millard said.

(Courtesy John A. Millard, M.D. and Alfredo Hoyos, M.D.)
Stephen Riebold, seen here, is a 35-year-old engineer who worked out 5 times a week before having the surgery, but nothing worked. “You know, I tried modifying my diet, changing my workout routine, just about everything.”

Riebold says that the recovery was difficult. “It felt like I got hit by a bus,” he said. “The first couple weeks were pretty rough, you know, I was in a lot of pain, I wasn’t moving much.”

He says he was “shocked” by the results, and has been inspired to work out even more. Since the surgery he’s lost 20 pounds.

(Courtesy John A. Millard, M.D. and Alfredo Hoyos, M.D.)
“Patients will start to see definition after about two weeks of the procedure,” Millard says. “They’ll have their final results at about four months.”

(Courtesy John A. Millard, M.D. and Alfredo Hoyos, M.D.)

Most patients who undergo the procedure are in good shape to begin with, and Millard says they aren’t “cheating” by having surgery to get the body they want. “I don’t think so, no,” he said.

(Courtesy John A. Millard, M.D. and Alfredo Hoyos, M.D.)

Millard says he has performed the procedure on approximately 200 patients, and that he and Hoyos have trained 26 other surgeons worldwide in the procedure. The surgery costs $15,000-$20,000.

(Courtesy John A. Millard, M.D. and Alfredo Hoyos, M.D.)

Millard says in order to achieve a six-pack "you have to get to 3-to-5 percent body fat. Unless your job is working out at the gym and the rest of your job is eating broccoli, you’re not going to be able to work that off."

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 11th, 2008 at 10:22 pm and is filed under misc., Colorado Connection. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.