Morbidly Obese, How Should I Start Strength Training

WisheeNY

I am very early into my weight loss journey and have decided that I want to start strength training bc I don't feel like I'm doing enough to gain muscle right now. Most of my exercise is cardio and sometimes I'll use machines at the gym like the leg press and arm pulldown things but I really want to get serious with strength training. I am 296 lbs and I don't have any kind of issues or injuries that'll keep me from lifting heavy BUT... I think my knees might be a bit weak and they make a really gross crunchy sound when I bend down most of the time. It doesn't hurt or anything... just sounds gross. Don't know if this'll affect the kind of strength training I can do. Can anyone tell me what kind of things I'll need for beginner strength training? Also am I supposed to lift as heavy as I can handle or do I need to start off light? I have no idea what I'm doing here or where to begin.

SharAnWil

You and I are in the same boat. I haven't weighed myself for a long time but I know I should be under 300 now. Strength training 3 times a week has helped. My pants have gotten looser since April. I do strength training 3 times a week and cardio 2-3 times a week. My trainer said if I want to avoid sagging skin it's better for me to do weight training as opposed to strictly cardio. I get small popping sounds when I move my joints too sometimes but I've gotten to a point where I just ignore them. And I love going to the gym! It's really nice! Helps me to feel good especially from the motivation others give me and now the progress that I see.

MsPrada

Hello!

I too weigh 296 as of this morning!! I started by walking 1 hour per day to build my stamina. I am also trying a very low calorie diet and pumping the water. Are you following any kind of diet?

Good Luck!
Sandra

_Resolve_

Take a look at this http://stronglifts.com/5x5/


But before you start I would suggest talking with a trainer to go over form. Lifting heavy is fun and rewarding but if done wrong you can get injured.

.... and please don't listen to the VLCD bs already started here.

WisheeNY

You and I are in the same boat. I haven't weighed myself for a long time but I know I should be under 300 now. Strength training 3 times a week has helped. My pants have gotten looser since April. I do strength training 3 times a week and cardio 2-3 times a week. My trainer said if I want to avoid sagging skin it's better for me to do weight training as opposed to strictly cardio. I get small popping sounds when I move my joints too sometimes but I've gotten to a point where I just ignore them. And I love going to the gym! It's really nice! Helps me to feel good especially from the motivation others give me and now the progress that I see.

What is your strength training program like? How did your trainer start you out?

Kenazwa

I hope this doesn't sound rude because I am truly wondering if moving yourself around at that weight counts as strength training, at least where your legs are concerned. Under the assumption that it does, I'd concentrate on upper body and core strength training. The general rule is work large muscle groups before small muscle groups and do multiple-joint movement before single-joint movements. The picture on each machine should help you determine whether you are working large muscle groups or small.

Most core work is done with body weight only. A pilates class is good for learning techniques for strengthening the core.

Also, at the beginning you want to start with a weight that you can lift at least 10 times. When you can lift it 15 times, increase the weight.

(P.S: I am studying fitness at college currently; these answers are based on class discussions and instructor PowerPoint presentations.)

WisheeNY

Take a look at this http://stronglifts.com/5x5/


But before you start I would suggest talking with a trainer to go over form. Lifting heavy is fun and rewarding but if done wrong you can get injured.

.... and please don't listen to the VLCD bs already started here.

Thank you for that link!

WisheeNY

I hope this doesn't sound rude because I am truly wondering if moving yourself around at that weight counts as strength training, at least where your legs are concerned. Under the assumption that it does, I'd concentrate on upper body and core strength training. The general rule is work large muscle groups before small muscle groups and do multiple-joint movement before single-joint movements. The picture on each machine should help you determine whether you are working large muscle groups or small.

Most core work is done with body weight only. A pilates class is good for learning techniques for strengthening the core.

Also, at the beginning you want to start with a weight that you can lift at least 10 times. When you can lift it 15 times, increase the weight.

(P.S: I am studying fitness at college currently; these answers are based on class discussions and instructor PowerPoint presentations.)

That wasn't rude at all and thank you for your help I don't know what "core" is but I'll Google lol. That is how clueless I am about all of this :blushing:

shawruff

Hi

I at one point weighed 280 and I started strenght training. Like a poster said, you can start using your own body weight to strength training. You can starts with squats, lunges, leg lifts, wall push-ups, arm raises. Also, buy a beginners toning video and start with light weight like 3s and 5s. BUT, consult with a doc first.

eazy_

http://www.thenewrulesoflifting.com/nrol-for-women

SharAnWil

You and I are in the same boat. I haven't weighed myself for a long time but I know I should be under 300 now. Strength training 3 times a week has helped. My pants have gotten looser since April. I do strength training 3 times a week and cardio 2-3 times a week. My trainer said if I want to avoid sagging skin it's better for me to do weight training as opposed to strictly cardio. I get small popping sounds when I move my joints too sometimes but I've gotten to a point where I just ignore them. And I love going to the gym! It's really nice! Helps me to feel good especially from the motivation others give me and now the progress that I see.

What is your strength training program like? How did your trainer start you out?

Mondays are legs... We start of by super-setting between the chair squat machine and the leg press machines (3 sets of 15)
We flip tires the length of the the gym and back (3 times)
We do leg extensions and curls for the front and back of the thighs (3 sets of 15)
Then we work the inner and outer thigh machines (3 sets of 15)
We finish on the floor by working and and legs (in pear shaped so I really need my legs gone)

Wednesdays are arms and chests we work mainly with dumbbells there are three exercises that I don't know the names of but we do 3 sets of 15 completely on our backs then we raise the bench to a 30-45 degree angle. Then we go on the butterfly machine to press our arms and finish with the floor again. I can do sit-ups with a 15lb weight in my hand.

Fridays are back exercises... There's one machine where basically most exercises are done... There's one where you pull down a bar one set with arms wide the other with them close together ... myweightlossdream.co.uk/theweightlossshop/v-fit-herculean-lfg2-lay-flat-gym/ it's similar to that.
Then we work triceps and use dumbbells to lift while working triceps then we finish again on the floor...

Tuesday and Thursday we walk 5 miles for cardio.

whitebalance

For someone who's morbidly obese, I would suggest starting with walking, swimming, and body weight resistance training; e.g., You Are Your Own Gym (YAYOG) or Convict Conditioning.

WisheeNY

@whitebalance I wanted to start using the gym pool anyway so that's good to know

@Shar Thank you for that

psych101

Good on you hun! I second the suggestion for body weight exercises to begin with

good luck! :flowerforyou:

theguyg

I'll apologize for this long post. I just recently had a very similar conversation with a friend that's 350+ lbs.

Work up to a brisk walk of an hour in length. Helps with endurance, light cardio, lower impact so you doesn't put as much stress on your knees. At higher weights, that's an easy injury that can be so incredibly disheartening. Plus, use that time to mentally prepare yourself. Your mind runs your body, it activates your muscles, etc. Having the right mindset, determination, and focus can keep you going during those times doubts might creep in.

As previously stated you can also work in some bodyweight exercises, some you can do at home. Bodyweight squats for instance are fantastic. You can do them in as little room as it takes to stand with some moderate arm range freedom (for balance). Work up to 5 sets of 30-50 reps. Do knee-pushups, set a goal of total reps and do however many sets to failure (be that 2 or 40 reps) until you achieve your total rep goal. 10 sets of 10 reps? that's 100 reps. Then step it up, do regular pushups to failure and then do knee-pushups as needed, with the mindset you're working towards meeting your rep goal in regular pushup form. Remember doing jumping-jacks as a kid? The rapid fully body movement is great to get the heart moving a little.
I know, I feel silly when I do them also. But you know what, I do them between sets of walking lunges and my fat just cries for me to stop (i.e. I'm sweating like crazy).

Do some leg lifts, knee lifts, medicine ball crunches. Grab a dumbell and while standing, do some side bends. Work those obliques a little. Strengthening your core will help with keeping the proper form in other exercises and reduce injury risks from not properly supporting your body.

Mix it up, find exercises you enjoy but don't avoid the ones that are 'just tough' to do. Over time you'll find some 'favorite muscles' but don't forget about the other ones.

Also, those body squats, jumping jacks, and pushups? Mix them in with split routines for a little added HIIT action. Doing arms/shoulders/chest that day? Do a set of 20 bodysquats (or more, push yourself) between sets. Or, 10+ crunches. Leg day? Drop and give me 20 pushups! You'll be proud of yourself when you realize that during your arm day, you also do 240 bodysquats.

Don't forget though, it's not just about reps or weight moved. The better you can be on your form (get those squats down to hip/knee parallel or better to activate the glutes and hams, feel the chest and triceps contract during the pushups) the better return you'll get from your hard work.

And it's okay to use light weight. 3lbs on the shoulder press? No problem. Control it, get full range of motion, and squeeze the contraction. Get the most out of every rep. Be effective and efficient with your time in the gym.

Also, start reading around. There are a ton of workout programs out there, some focused more on fat burning, others building mass, etc. Ex. Dr. Jim Stoppani's shortcut-to-shred or a Musclepharm's Bizzy Diet on Bodybuilding.com (you can search for it to find it quickly on that site). Substitute exercises you can't do yet, ex. do tricep push-down machine or bench dips instead of regular dips.

You're on myfitnesspal.com so I'm going to assume you're tracking your diet. That's a great start, so you know what you're putting into your body. Some of the workout plans (Bizzy Diet for example) also has a diet plan in there. Now, everyone's body is a little different, but general guidelines can be beneficial because there is soo much information out there. It's nice to just have a list going into the gym or the grocery store in the beginning to help you in a direction.


Remember you're just starting out, so work in slow but don't cheat yourself by sandbagging too much
You'll get out of it what you put into it. And this isn't just about losing lbs or inches. If you truly want to transform yourself, it's a lifestyle change.

Remember we all have faith in you, but you must first have the drive and faith in yourself. Wish you the very best!

Tanya949

I'll apologize for this long post. I just recently had a very similar conversation with a friend that's 350+ lbs.

Work up to a brisk walk of an hour in length. Helps with endurance, light cardio, lower impact so you doesn't put as much stress on your knees. At higher weights, that's an easy injury that can be so incredibly disheartening. Plus, use that time to mentally prepare yourself. Your mind runs your body, it activates your muscles, etc. Having the right mindset, determination, and focus can keep you going during those times doubts might creep in.

As previously stated you can also work in some bodyweight exercises, some you can do at home. Bodyweight squats for instance are fantastic. You can do them in as little room as it takes to stand with some moderate arm range freedom (for balance). Work up to 5 sets of 30-50 reps. Do knee-pushups, set a goal of total reps and do however many sets to failure (be that 2 or 40 reps) until you achieve your total rep goal. 10 sets of 10 reps? that's 100 reps. Then step it up, do regular pushups to failure and then do knee-pushups as needed, with the mindset you're working towards meeting your rep goal in regular pushup form. Remember doing jumping-jacks as a kid? The rapid fully body movement is great to get the heart moving a little.
I know, I feel silly when I do them also. But you know what, I do them between sets of walking lunges and my fat just cries for me to stop (i.e. I'm sweating like crazy).

Do some leg lifts, knee lifts, medicine ball crunches. Grab a dumbell and while standing, do some side bends. Work those obliques a little. Strengthening your core will help with keeping the proper form in other exercises and reduce injury risks from not properly supporting your body.

Mix it up, find exercises you enjoy but don't avoid the ones that are 'just tough' to do. Over time you'll find some 'favorite muscles' but don't forget about the other ones.

Also, those body squats, jumping jacks, and pushups? Mix them in with split routines for a little added HIIT action. Doing arms/shoulders/chest that day? Do a set of 20 bodysquats (or more, push yourself) between sets. Or, 10+ crunches. Leg day? Drop and give me 20 pushups! You'll be proud of yourself when you realize that during your arm day, you also do 240 bodysquats.

Don't forget though, it's not just about reps or weight moved. The better you can be on your form (get those squats down to hip/knee parallel or better to activate the glutes and hams, feel the chest and triceps contract during the pushups) the better return you'll get from your hard work.

And it's okay to use light weight. 3lbs on the shoulder press? No problem. Control it, get full range of motion, and squeeze the contraction. Get the most out of every rep. Be effective and efficient with your time in the gym.

Also, start reading around. There are a ton of workout programs out there, some focused more on fat burning, others building mass, etc. Ex. Dr. Jim Stoppani's shortcut-to-shred or a Musclepharm's Bizzy Diet on Bodybuilding.com (you can search for it to find it quickly on that site). Substitute exercises you can't do yet, ex. do tricep push-down machine or bench dips instead of regular dips.

You're on myfitnesspal.com so I'm going to assume you're tracking your diet. That's a great start, so you know what you're putting into your body. Some of the workout plans (Bizzy Diet for example) also has a diet plan in there. Now, everyone's body is a little different, but general guidelines can be beneficial because there is soo much information out there. It's nice to just have a list going into the gym or the grocery store in the beginning to help you in a direction.


Remember you're just starting out, so work in slow but don't cheat yourself by sandbagging too much
You'll get out of it what you put into it. And this isn't just about losing lbs or inches. If you truly want to transform yourself, it's a lifestyle change.

Remember we all have faith in you, but you must first have the drive and faith in yourself. Wish you the very best!

This... totally.

My trainer made me do tons of jumping jacks in between sets of circuits etc. Day one I couldn't do more than 10, then worked up to a minute, then 90 seconds. Added in butt kicks and high knees and was doing non stop rounds for a total of 8 minutes. Now, I can run 30 min non stop. And I started with incline pushups, and he kept lowering the bar. Now I can do 3 sets of 10 floor push ups in a circuit. Weights are great, but it can be the simple standard exercises that can get you off to a great start.

WisheeNY

You're awesome for taking the time to type that out. Helped so much. I should print it out and stick it on my fridge lol. Thank you guys

rexroars

Does your gym have a water aerobics class? It's easy on the joints but it's also good beginner strength training since moving through the water creates resistance And swimming/water exercise is the best!!