Exercise question

Once everything gets squared away and I get up on the table I have no doubt in ky mind that I'm going to have to deal with excess skin when I make goal.

My question is this, can strength training in arms, legs, and core replace the flab with muscle to the point you wouldn't need cosmetic or would there just be too much there even with muscle growth?

Truth be told I'm a big fella at 6' 4" and pushing 419 now...its actually better to say than 450...for that matter 200 will be a helluva lot better than anything in the 4s or 3s.

 Unfortunately at that size, there isn't hope for complete skin retraction. You're lucky that as a man you will be able to bulk your abs and arms to the point that it won't be AS bad, as say, a woman at that weight. You've just strectched the skin far too much at that point for it to shrink entirely. It's a good problem to have, though, compared to extreme obesity. Make sure you have your doctor document your skin as you lose, so the insurance company has proof of any negative side effects, You can con them into paying for your plastics this way.

It's a long shot at your weight, and even if starting at a more moderate weight it's a crapshoot of genetics and history. I only had to lose about 100 lb and will have to get some remedial work done. Think of the differences between your body starting out and the ideals that we strive for - arms and legs you might be able to replace the fat with muscle with enough work, but think of the ideal six pack abs compared to what we start with - there's no way that we are going to replace that mass of fat with muscle, it's just not how our physiology works. I have been surprised at how well my thighs have reduced - I did have good muscle form there from years of pre-op workouts, but also carried a lot of flab there and that has shrunk a lot more than I thought it would, but it will still probably need a bit of a tuck to get things they way they should be there - I'll see in another year how things work out now that I'm at maintenance. My arms are salvagable - never had that much arm strength but that is improving as is the muscle tone so while I have a bit of looseness there, they are workable. The abs are going to need some tucking, no question about that; my trainer is big on core work, which will help give things a good foundation, but even with some shrinkage, I'm still wearing a 2X suit (down from a 3X) on an L body.