How long until I am fit enough to do serious exercise?

Dionysos4

My question is about fitness and not weight. At the moment I am a completely sedentary obese sloth, and I get very tired walking up stairs. My question is how long would it take for me to be able to run perhaps 3 kilometres (1.8 miles) averagely without undue fatigue with regular training? I once was very fit, and I want the old me back.

procyonlupus

It depends on your body and what it's telling you. I'm 270 pounds currently, and I do 30 minutes of low intensity cardio 4 days a week, and 7 pound weight training once a week.

Dionysos4

My body is telling me it could take years.

999tigger

wouldnt that depend on how much training you do in frequency, type, duration and intensity? You don say when you were very fit, but I think youll be surprised how much comes back in 4-8 weeks. I think uoi should manage your goal in 12 weeks, thats a wild guess, but my fitness improved reasonably quickly. I did take it reasonably seriously.

afacetocallhome

I agree that it depends on the factors given above. I've been quite lazy for most of my life but I've started exercising (at least 30 minutes) a day everyday with one rest day a week. I'm not about to run a marathon and I'm still unfit but I've noticed an improvement in how I feel. I feel more energetic and don't feel like I'm about to pass out when I go up the stairs.

You can get there if you dedicate enough time and effort to it.

AllonsYtotheTardis

no one can accurately answer that question for you.

But if you push yourself to do a little more each day than you could do the day before (walk a little further, or walk a little faster), it will improve.

sofaking6

You will only know after you try.

Sued0nim

From couch potato I got significantly fitter in a matter of weeks

And then it all just built from there ...merging into an ongoing strength and fitness..constantly being pushed by my trainer and always feeling like I'm not quite fit enough

But I an so much stronger and fitter and healthier than I ever was

azulvioleta6

It looks like you are very young and not extraordinarily overweight.

My totally unscientific guess is about 6 months.

Once you get your general activity level up, you might consider trying something like Couch to 5K. If you find any of the workouts too hard, just repeat them as many times as you need to until you feel comfortable.

Good luck!

eileensofianmushinfine

I started with a personal trainer when I was 243 lbs. We did a combo of cardio, strength training, core work and flexibility. It took quite a while to build up the stamina to easily handle 12 minutes on the elliptical. Now, I can walk on the treadmill for an hour. I still can't jog/run for any real length of time but have been interspersing my cardio workouts with high-low intervals (walk, jog) for about 20 minutes....If you were in shape not that long ago, you will be surprised by how much your body "remembers".

eileensofianmushinfine

i should also add that I'm constantly impressed by how much I can do now, that I couldn't do when I started. Just start.

retropactum

Any amount you can do is progress.

I went from being a 240 lb couch potato to taking a cardio intense hour-long dance class every week. From there, I start walking 4 night a week. You just gotta start... take a stroll, take a class, use the fitness equipments in parks even if its low reps. Do what you can and it'll build from there. Plus you'll feel great!

Nony_Mouse

Start out by walking, building up how far and how fast you can go. Add in bursts of jogging after a few weeks, slowly extending those until hey presto!, you're running the whole way

callsitlikeiseeit

start with what you can do. aim to do a minute or two more each time. it all falls into place.

i could BARELY do 10 minutes on the elliptical when i started. now i can do 40.
i could barely walk to the end of my street and back (quarter mile, flat surface) when i started, now I routinely go 3 miles (and could go further)
i used to get tired going up flights of stairs. now its no big deal.

i get better every day. i get stronger every day. i get fitter every day.

futuremanda

djmclay4 wrote: »

My body is telling me it could take years.

Bodies are REALLY dramatic at first. Especially with cardio. Starting any kind of cardio feels a lot like you're definitely going to die, you've probably set your lungs on fire, now you have a sore throat, and wow, that was only 10 seconds?

Bodies adapt really fast though too. It does NOT feel like that for very long. Like, within a week of doing one set thing (walking x minutes, running for half a minute, whatever), you'd be seeing drastic improvements. From there, it's just about pushing yourself to not stay where it's comfortable. Do a little more. I've also found that once the drama period subsides, you can actually push quite a bit more.

Couch to 5k is a decent program, though I found that from sedentary, I actually couldn't do the first week like, I could run for 1 minute and break for however long (don't remember) but only like... 3 reps? And then it was like "crawl practically while crying for 1 minute, wonder why I'm doing this again for 2 minutes, repeat". I think I finished out my sets by doing extra of less time? And I repeated it more days until I could actually complete as listed. After that, my body responded to the program more as it was written. That initial week or two was painful though!

htg20

I second Couch to 5K. I just started P90 after being pretty sedentary and getting winded after walking up the stairs in my home, but I surprised myself and saw improvement in one week. Don't overdo it and injure yourself, but do push yourself because you are capable of more than you think! Also get a physician's go ahead before beginning exercise, if you haven't already.

jgnatca

It depends on how overweight you are now. My mobility freedom started after I lost my first thirty pounds. It wasn't long after that. A month of forty minutes treadmill daily, a few 5K walks, then I joined an 8 week running program. You are ready for running if you can run ( doesn't matter how slow) for one minutes you are ready.

For now get used to moving. That's it.

BWBTrish

An impression of my Milestones that i log at my profile

Keep in mind that it is different for everybody. I train now 90 minutes a day. 6 days a week
Monday till Saturday i do my power walking 60 minutes ( with my jogging in it...as long as i can keep it up.)
than 3 days a week next to the hour i do light weight lifting and the other 3 days i do 30 minutes of Aerobic/dance like nobody is watching you.

So 5 months ago i started off with just slowly walking for some 18 minutes.
49 years old btw

******************************************
Milestones:

*10/1/2014 at 260.1 pounds... i decide its enough! BP is high plus blood sugar levels, heart is racing by any form of moving. Walking 0.5 miles and i am out of breath. (18 to 20 minutes).

*10/23/2014 at 231 pounds ( lost 29 pounds) i joined MFP ( 3 weeks into my new life style) BP is slowly dropping and heart racing is gone. I walk a mile in half an hour

*11/18/2014 at 220.6 pounds ( lost 40 pounds) ( about 7 weeks into my new life style) I walked 2 miles in an hour And added some lifting.

*12/1/2014 I RUN...... walking 3 miles an hour now ( 3.0 or 3.1 mph) and i can slowly jog 10 times a minute woohooo.

*12/2/2014 wanted to know what i could do...and pushed it today...20 minutes of jogging at 3.1mph. Cant believe it really.

* walk 3 miles at least 6 days a week now. With the slow jogging in them. Sometimes 5 minutes sometimes 10. however i feel. Going great and do some other exercising 3 times in the week for 15 minutes. Lifting ( 12/9/2012) i did the calorie intake up.

*12/15/2014 We went shopping today. I needed some new pants and underwear...and its official...i went from (X)XXL ( 22/24) to an L (12/14). I can buy at the "normal" size department..yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

*12/16/2014 BP is back to normal 121/78 and heart rate of 78

*12/18/2014 I hit the 50 pound mark today Happy happy! Almost half way in 11 weeks. Got my Polar HRM yesterday. So going to wear it at my training today. Feeling marvelous and happy.

*1/4/2015 Today i reach my halfway goal.
And feeling damn good.
Only down thing today is its my "rest day" So no training. And i really miss it. I have to force myself to stay home. How quickly life and a body can change.
I never thought when i started about 3 months ago that it would be this good and fast.
That i would be longing for the gym when i know my body needs a break while my mind has something like i want to go.
Of course i had to post my halfway milestone. And it made me proud to see this favorite tweet from David Beckham.

*1/18/2015 Today i am 200 pounds!! that's 60 pounds lighter since this journey started at the first of October 2014. 60 whole frigging pounds! in less than 90 days! Just not Onederland but maybe tomorrow or a couple of days. Tomorrow some new pictures. After all it is a 10 pound mark again. Woohooo feeling marvelous. Training goes really well. Walking at least 4 miles a day now. 6 days a week. and lift 30 minutes 3 times a week. Still light lifting but that will change when i approach my goal weight.

1/19/2015 ONEderland oh yeah!

*2/28/2015 190 pounds..yeah lost 70 pounds in total in 129 days! About 4 months and a week WOW. Feeling awesome and exercise has become a real habit. Love it and jog now regular about 20 minutes in each 60 minutes walk training.

*3/2/2015 Lost a couple more pounds, but big NSV for me today was that i jogged 1.7 mile straight ( 26 minutes). Normally i jog 5 or ten minutes straight. Sometimes a total of 20 to 30 minutes in my 60 minutes power walking. But today for the first time straight in one go jogging of 26 minutes and i was able to squeeze a bit more in. The total time jogging was 30 minutes. I proved some surgeons wrong when i said i would walk normal. I proved them wrong by jogging more and more....Now will i come that far that i really can run a mile or maybe even 3 We will see.... for now i am really planning to do it and reach the point were i can run a mile!
My back and knee are holding up now for 4 months. Woohooo. I am not a medical wonder dont get me wrong, i am not a special snow flake..not at all. Only very determined and as long as i can and could walk there is nobody who tell me that i cant do something i really want. Maybe i even can ride a horse again, now that would be the ultimate dream at this moment.
***************************************

jgnatca

http://jgnatbuzz.blogspot.ca/2015/02/before-and-after.html?m=1

Liftng4Lis

Have you thought of starting with swimming?

mskinner1091

Just to speak from my experience. I'm 5'6" 23 years old starting weight 183, current weight 160. When I first started running I could run only 1 minute at at pace of 4.6 with no incline. In about 2-3 months I'm up to running 30 minutes without stopping at a pace of 4.9 with no incline.

rbiss

I am currently 270 and I do vigorous exercise 5-6 days a week. I get tired fast but you go as fast as you can. It's been 5 weeks and I am already making huge fitness gains. Running might take some time but you can condition your body doing low impact stuff so when you're ready to run, you have a good cardiovascular base. Also, as the weight comes off, it just gets easier to move.

LavenderLeaves

Even if it's only 10 minutes to start, just start walking every day. Add on 5 minutes every week. I weigh 400 lbs. I walk an hour a day. I go fairly slow. I up the speed for a few minutes when I feel I can, and then drop it down again because for me, that 60 minutes is my goal. I can do a faster pace for 30 minutes, but I prefer to go for a bit slower, because it keeps me moving more for longer.

I keep myself in my target heart rate. ANY type of additional movement will be beneficial to you, if you are completely sedentary right now. Your body will adjust. Push yourself gently, but stop if you ultimately need to stop. It will get a little easier each time, I promise.

svirds

You are fit enough now to start a walk program. Set some goals for yourself - maybe a 1/2 mile to start. Walking is the best way to get moving. Running will come with time, but walk first. Get you body used to moving, getting your heart rate up, and being active on a schedule. Once it is used to that, you will know when you are ready for running. If you jump into running too soon, you will get discouraged. What you start running, start with a walk/run program to build endurance, breathing, etc.

MythicalMe84

Nony_Mouse wrote: »

Start out by walking, building up how far and how fast you can go. Add in bursts of jogging after a few weeks, slowly extending those until hey presto!, you're running the whole way

This is exactly what I was going to say! Today I walked 63 minutes and jogged 10 minutes. 5 of it at once which is a personal best for me. You have to start somewhere.

Sophiasmomma

Best thing I ever did was find Leslie Sansone dvds get one at walmart for 9.00 . Buy one that has just walking . You will be amazed how soon you will be able to walk a mile.. I hadn't worked out in 5+ years and I couldn't walk the stairs without huffing and puffing. I was never obese but just had zero stamina tired all the time . Starting slow with the dvd brought me so much energy that now I can do her 4 mile dvd with jogging and barely break sweat. So you can work yourself up to running!!! Good luck

DopeItUp

Somewhere between a couple months and never. There's only one way to find out.