130 Kg x 180cm, FAT guy need advice

anotherFatGollum

Hi,

Here I am, 40 year x 130 kg x 180cm fat guy. I have recently (15 days) started working out and also trying to control my diet (since 3-4 days).

I use Polar Loop and during workout I also use Polar H7 heart rate monitor.

I only do cardiovascular exercises. Usually, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I go for a walk. I walk around 5 Km in 55-60 minutes. Polar says I burn usually 520-550 calories during this.

On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, I go to gym. I only do stationary cycle and cross-trainer (elliptical) for 20-25 minutes each. Again, according to Polar, this helps burn 520-600 calories.

But I am repeatedly told by my friends that mere cardiovascular workout is not enough and I have to do weight training (strength training), stretching, etc. But I have no ambition to become muscular or anything. For now, I just want to become less obese.

So my question is - am I doing it right? Or do I really have to do strength training?

TavistockToad

strength trainging wont make you muscular if you're obese and eating in a deficit, it'll just help retain your LBM, so then when you lose the weight you'll look better.

IMO your friend is right... keep the walking but do strength training on your gym days. this can be bodyweight stuff as well, doesnt have to be just weights.

Shropshire1959

The food that we eat has a larger impact on our overall weight than exercise... Even if your calorie burn figures are accurate ... 500 cals of exercise a day is GREAT but we can eat that in a single meal.

So certainly carry on with the exercise BUT address your consumption too ..... it's a larger proportion of the total daily energy equation.

999tigger

The strength training will improve how your body looks. It will also help you train harder. Most stories ive seen from the board are people who did cv and wish they had done resistance training at the same time. A good part of the exercise is about becoming healthier and fitter, which is about more than weight. Get the people up at the gym to set you up a basic resistance plan. It will also give you some variety.

Dont forget as everyone here will tell you that losing weight is 80-100% diet depending on who you speak to

stackhsc

i do cardio only, running. I started on treadmills and moved to outside. I know you dont NEED strength training but i am sure it wouldnt hurt. Basically do what you can do and want to do and will keep doing. If you want to do only cardio and will keep doing it then go for it. Just be sure to continually challenge yourself by either pushing the distance and or the speed up slowly as your body condition improves.

anotherFatGollum

Thanks for all the replies.

Yes, at present it is easy for me to burn calories. It takes a lot of effort to move 130 Kg lump of fat. But I understand that as my weight goes down, I will have to work harder to burn the same number of calories. In other words, a 120 Kg person will have to do walk more and/or walk faster than a 130 kg person in order to burn same number of calories.

I think I am more or less convinced about adding some strength training to my workout routine. I am thinking of this:

Monday, Wednesday, Friday: Walking

Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday:
Either cross-trainer (elliptical) or stationary cycle for 30 minutes, followed by strength training for 30 minutes.

I don't have much faith in the gym instructors at my gym. And I fear injuries. I have a bad knee which hurts when it takes weight (staircase, ingress-egress from car, etc.). I also have minor back problem. A friend of mine is severely suffering from bad back (spinal cord injury of some sort between L4-L5) which is result of his thoughtless use of gym equipments. And thus I have this fear of adding to my injuries.

So where can I look for safe strength training? Internet is full of such stuff but how much of that is reliable? Tavistocktoad mentioned bodyweight stuff. Where can I read more about them? If someone can name few strength training exercises, I can do some research of my own and add them to my workout routine.

I love food; can't help it. But I will have to control it. I reckon that if it were not for my food habits, I wouldn't be so fat in the first place. With the help of this website, I am trying to count and control my intake. Besides, the output from Polar helps in resisting eating urges. One weak moment can undo all the efforts that I put in my workout - it takes hell of a work to burn even as much as 100 calories and one small bite of milk chocolate can reverse that in a second. So monitoring these figures - calories burnt and calories consumed and a conscious effort to keep things in balance go a long way in controlling the urges. Easier said than done.

Thanks

PS: On a lighter note, I wish there was some app for Google Glass which shows the number of calories as soon as you look at food stuff. That said, I don't have Google Glass; too expensive.

cw106

Hi,

Here I am, 40 year x 130 kg x 180cm fat guy. I have recently (15 days) started working out and also trying to control my diet (since 3-4 days).

I use Polar Loop and during workout I also use Polar H7 heart rate monitor.

I only do cardiovascular exercises. Usually, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I go for a walk. I walk around 5 Km in 55-60 minutes. Polar says I burn usually 520-550 calories during this.

On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, I go to gym. I only do stationary cycle and cross-trainer (elliptical) for 20-25 minutes each. Again, according to Polar, this helps burn 520-600 calories.

But I am repeatedly told by my friends that mere cardiovascular workout is not enough and I have to do weight training (strength training), stretching, etc. But I have no ambition to become muscular or anything. For now, I just want to become less obese.

So my question is - am I doing it right? Or do I really have to do strength training?

hi, am 172cm and was 127 kg when i started.over 50 now.

i lost most my weight from swimming and counting calories.
swimming is great for us heavier guys and easier on the body/joints.cardio plus resistance in one.thats my top tip.

i tried strength training 2x. hurt all the wrong muscles and stopped me swimming! maybe add later as losing kg your priority.
your cal loss from polar readings seems high to me, although i am down 25kg from peak. i only burned half what your reading.
maybe cross check online calcs or using treadmill in gym?
plenty of others in our age/ weight groups in forum threads.seek them out for like minded advice and to compare.
good luck.
fr sent.

ps. open diary and weight loss ticker helps others give you advice too.

anotherFatGollum

Thanks a lot for your advice. I also feel that my calory burn count shown by Polar is bit too high. It is 30-50% higher than some brands of equipments but with some other brands (STAR TRAC esp) it is in-line. Maybe Polar doesn't consider my heart rate at rest; there is no way to enter that value and it doesn't ask.

Even during walking, my heart rate goes up to 130-135 bpm. I haven't much cared about my heart rate at rest; but once I did an experiment and after an hour of rest it was 68 bpm. So I guess it is not off the chart. One thing I have noticed is that it goes up rapidly once I start working out. I haven't pushed it beyond 154 bpm though.

I think I will add swimming and strength training / weight lifting to my routine. Swimming makes a lot of sense to me as it is a non-impact workout; thanks for pointing that out.

What is open diary? I will add a weight loss ticker soon.

cw106

your welcome.we are alli in this together here.

open diary. in profile make diary viewable to all.currently only your added friends can view this.

eta. open diary. > settings> diary settings > move tick to open. to public etc.

cw106

ps. entered 130kg and age 40 male into startrac treadmill. at 5kmph. it calculated 460 cals loss.
i did 40 mins at 12 min p km. ie 5kph at 92 k age 52 and used 202 cals.