Discouraged but swimming

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kjnsweets
kjnsweets Posts: 7 Member
in Motivation and Support
I just started this whole thing over again. I seriously need to lose weight for health reasons. I started using an app to help me exercise and riding my bike. I’m gonna incorporate something walking in there too. It’s just some of the exercises I’m having trouble doing because I’m over weight and bad knees. The yoga my balance is not good. My daughter says to keep at it that my balance will get better. It’s just muscles I have not used in years. The HIIT workouts I have trouble getting in some of the positions and with the speed. Will that get better? I really don’t want to give up on this.

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  • AKTipsyCat
    AKTipsyCat Posts: 240 Member
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    I started up with Yoga last summer and let me tell you - it was HARD at first, and it's still hard. LOL. But I feel 100% better when I do it consistently. I haven't been able to go since my studio closed down due to the pandemic and ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING HURTS. If you go to the right class, maybe start off with a simple stretching class, and let your instructor know about any medical issues you may have, they will suggest alternate poses that won't stress you out as much. I do the Hot Yoga 26 (previously known as Bikram until everyone found out what a schmuck he was) and alternate it with Deep Stretch classes and the occasional meditation class. Also, you mentioned swimming in your post... I just started swimming and that's a great way to exercise and not hurt your knees!
  • Shortgirlrunning
    Shortgirlrunning Posts: 1,020 Member
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    It’s all hard at first but it does get easier! Don’t work about not being able to do the moves fast, if you need to slow them down, slow down a bit until you get the hang of it or even do modifications.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,077 Member
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    kjnsweets wrote: »
    I just started this whole thing over again. I seriously need to lose weight for health reasons. I started using an app to help me exercise and riding my bike. I’m gonna incorporate something walking in there too. It’s just some of the exercises I’m having trouble doing because I’m over weight and bad knees. The yoga my balance is not good. My daughter says to keep at it that my balance will get better. It’s just muscles I have not used in years. The HIIT workouts I have trouble getting in some of the positions and with the speed. Will that get better? I really don’t want to give up on this.

    Everything will get better, if you keep it up, and keep challenging yourself steadily just a bit, but not going so far as to risk injury or cause actual exhaustion (other than maybe just a few minutes of "whew!" right after you exercise).

    It's fine - a good idea, even - to modify exercises a little at first, in order to get an on-ramp to doing the moves safely. That can be done by starting with "part way" versions of moves, making sure you have safe things to catch yourself with if balance fails, and sloooooowing down movements to a manageable safe pace. It will gradually get easier, faster, and less needful of modification. You'll surprise yourself by what you can do, by chipping away patiently at improvement, over a period of time!

    In particular, I'd encourage you to slow down/modify the HIIT exercises for a while. The benefits of HIIT are way overstated, and the risk of injury is higher when trying to do fast repetitions of things. It can be good to use slower calisthenics or circuit-training exercises at first, very controlled, focusing on good form. As you get stronger, balance gets better, etc., you can start to speed things up. Injuries can cause major setbacks, so avoiding injuries - a bigger risk right at first - is very important.

    I was very inactive for most of my adult life, until after cancer treatment (surgery, chemo, radiation) in my mid-40s, when I realized that if I ever wanted to be strong and energetic again, I would need to work at it. I started with yoga, some manageable weight training, tried some group classes, and eventually joined a rowing team for breast cancer survivors. I would never even have dreamed it was possible, but within a few years I was competing in on-water and machine rowing races, and occasionally even finished in the medals.

    In my case, I stayed obese (class 1) despite being active, because weight management is really more about managing eating than about doing exercise. Finally, with various health problems cropping up, at age 59-60, I comitted to lose weight, and lost back down to a healthy weight (130s at 5'5", female) and have stayed at a healthy weight since. I'm now 64, and still pretty active, though no longer competing. (I have bad knees, too, BTW :) - have had for a long time. Exercise helped, but it was really weight loss that made big improvements in discomfort/pain for me. It also turned around my high blood pressure, bad cholesterol numbers, etc.)

    With weight loss, too, it's good to adopt a sustainable process. It can be easier and more sustainable to make a series of small, manageable changes in a healthier direction, and those changes will build on and reinforce each other. Before you know it, there's very real progress.

    You can do this: Patience and consistency are your best friends. Wishing you great results!

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