Jogging while overweight - is it safe?

Ggghhhhh7tgygbftbjjuhhhhfuyy66

I've ALWAYS wanted to jog, the area I live in has a lot of beautiful outdoors spaces. However I've been too scared to do it because I thought I'd injure myself due to my excess weight (lol).

Recently I've lost 45 lbs, but I'm still over 200 lbs so I'm a little nervous about jogging / running still.

I know the risks for my knees / joints being overweight and jogging. I'm just looking for some opinions, does it seem safe to start jogging now or should I wait til I've lost a bit more weight?

All opinions welcome, thanks.

Phaedra2014

It wasn't safe for me. Too much weight caused me an injury I still deal with.

365andstillalive

Run/walk intervals are a great place to start. I've been running/jogging since I was 200lbs or heavier.

If you're really concerned about injuries, take it slow. Listen to your body. If you're sore or feeling pain in a specific place (ex. an ankle) take time off.

Running is like any other type of exercise, you ease in and then invest in the equipment you need -- which in this case, is a good pair of runners.

peejaygee1

Why don't you start walking first and ease into jogging once you get fitter?

desidieter

I'm at about 172 pounds (5'1") at the moment, and I'm finally able to run a little. You may want to start with something like the Couch to 5k program which is designed for non-runners/first time runners. But always listen to your body. If you find it's still too strenuous on your joints, muscles, etc., then maybe try walking until you get a bit more weight off. Every person is different.

zoeysasha37

I've never been interested in running, but when I first started my journey a trainer told me if I wanted to run or jog, to take it slow and work up to it. He said start by walking, then after that do a brisk walk and so on until you've worked up to running.

LKArgh

Start with walks, e.g. 30 mins, then gradually increase the pace and try some intervals, like 2-3 min walk, 1 min jog, at whatever pace makes you comfortable. If you feel comfortable, gradually (like in the course of weeks, not days) increase jogging time over walking time.

Kevalicious99

I was about 152 lbs when I injured myself running ... so it is not so much about weight. It is about doing it right. A large percentage of runners injure themselves. It is very common .. so I would suggest walking if you have thoughts about not doing it. All be benefits and none of the risks that running has.

heybales

It can be, it could also be found several years later it was not.

Is it worth the risk to you to find out you may enjoy it, and then several years later when finally able to enjoy it, you find your knees are ground to dust and you can't do.
Plenty have had that experience.
Plenty also share that hasn't happen. Yet. After a whole 6 month experiment time.
So when some says yes worked for me - ask how long they have been running, and how overweight when they started. 15 lbs obviously a fair difference to your question.

I'd recommend interval jog / walk based on how much you have to lose.
Each time you lose 5 lbs, you increase a level and run more walk less.
Down to within 5-10 lbs of goal weight as the point you run constantly.

Spreadsheet on my profile page has this system from a coach years ago that did exactly that, and kept coaching these folks so he knows they had no problems later on, at least not from this training. But since he coached them in to marathons, I'm sure something showed up.

Spreadsheet on the HRM tab, at the bottom. Input goal weight about 5 or 10 above your true healthy goal weight.
It then shows what your weight ranges are, and when in that range, how much jog time, how much walk time.
If you do more than 30 min, then the levels shift to keep the effort realistic for you.
The benefit here, is this turns in to intervals basically at the shorter run times, because you get on up and run that part hard as you like or feel safe with, then walk. That increases fitness even more.
Worked for many, and if I investigated C25K, I'd likely find they got it from there too, except they do time based changes, not weight based.
I think weight based works better. Just because muscles are stronger and cardiovascular system is better to handle longer running, doesn't mean weight has been magically lifted off the knees and ankles to make it a smart idea.

cw106

the old adage. " walk before you can run " will let you know if it feels safe for your body.
i use a treadmill as i can can control time,speed,distance,intervals and heart rate.
i started 11 weeks ago only being able to walk 400m in 7 minutes at 235 llbs.
i now do a combo walk / jog intervals for 3-5k.
i build up from 5.7 kph at 150 m intervals to. jog speed of 7kph.then recover slower,rebuild and repeat.
have had one tendon/ligament injury that i rested for 10 days then restarted a lot slower walking to rebuild.
am now < 200 and find i can set intervals for jogging slightly longer and more frequent.
can now walk/ jog 7k, with an end goal of 10k by end of month.
its a long ,slow journey that i hope will lead to me jogging outdoors next spring.
hope this helps.

_Zardoz_

I was 280 pounds when I started. Yes if you leap straight into anything you'll injure yourself . Start with walking once you can walk for 30 minutes at a brisk pace then introduce some gentle running intervals. Build up slowly. You'll find that those that have had problems are the ones who go to fast. Nothing is 100% guaranteed safe but for the majority of people with no standing joint issues starting to run is perfectly fine and a lot better for your health than sitting inw your *kitten* all day. For every activity them always be someone who can give you a horror story

Snip8241

Walk first. When you are comfortable with walking then increase your speed gradually. This will take time but it will keep you from overdoing it.
Walking us an excellent exercise. If you can't go fast, go far!
When I can jog/walk now I will go a shorter distance than when I just walk.

Good luck to you!

runnerchick69

Trust me when I say don't over think it, get out there and do it I started walking, then walk/running and now I'm a die hard runner. I had lost about 50 pounds when I started and then dropped an additional 50 plus pounds as I started to run. Many here suggested taking it slow and that is great advice. My running intervals were something like one minute of running to four or five minutes of walking. Eventually I realized I was running two minutes, then three, then four etc... As you become lighter the running gets easier and you find you are running longer. I'll never forget my first mile when I ran the entire thing, it was an amazing feeling of accomplishment!

Ggghhhhh7tgygbftbjjuhhhhfuyy66

Thanks for the input everyone ! I think I'll start with some walking and intervals of jogging to start
Wish me luck!