Advice for exercising at home whilst obese?

PughTooFew

Hi, I started on MFP in January and am getting to grips with diet but the area I'm lacking experience in is exercise.

I am intending on trying the 30DS again soon (got 3 days in and fell ill in Jan) but it is HARD! I'm 239lbs and most of my weight is on my stomach and chest, so all that jumping around is very uncomfortable and really takes it out on my knees and ankles. I am unfit and have little strength, especially upper body strength, but luckily I have no injuries to worry about at the moment.

I have Xbox 360 with kinect and various dance/exercise games, I live in a house with stairs (added exercise) plus I have hand weights, an exercise mat and a treadmill at home so I'm able to do a variety of exercises every evening for up to an hour....I just don't know what's best to begin with when I'm so overweight and unfit!! Help please? Walking and dance games alone don't seem to be producing much of a result : (

What have other people found to be the best exercises for toning up and losing weight in the first few (tough) months before fitness improves? Thanks :flowerforyou:


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fiberartist219

YES, this is a huge problem for a lot of people, and a point where it is very easy to get discouraged. Cheers to you for keeping a positive attitude for this!

My best tip is to do what you can, when you can do it. If you can only do a walk around the block, just do that until you can do more. If joints are your trouble, you can look up low impact workouts and try those.

If you want to do squats, lunges, etc, make sure you keep good form and don't let your knee go in front of your ankle. Try to see your feet. That will protect your knees. It might feel weird to stick your butt out but it will be worth it.

Also, don't worry about what your friends are doing. We are all different, and you have to find a workout that works for you in this moment. Someday, with lots of practice, you might be able to keep up with them, but for right now, work with what you've got!

Yoga DVDs might be a good start if you are looking for something easier on the joints that you can do at home. You can also look up body weight exercises or calisthenics.

When it comes to workout DVDs, I'm not afraid to press pause or to just stop for a few seconds and go back into it when the hard part is over. When you are really out of shape, moving at all is better than not moving or not doing it the way they video suggests. Do what you can and work your way up. Yes, you want to be challenged, and no one gets anywhere if they aren't putting effort in, but if you're hurting, you probably put too much effort in or you have problems with form.

You might want to consider seeing a trainer for a session or two if you aren't sure what good form looks like. I don't think you need a gym membership or to see one all the time, but you should know what your body is supposed to look like when you're doing the exercise the right way to avoid injury.

CoryIda

When I first started, all I could manage was to walk around my neighborhood and occasionally some Wii Fit.
Beyond that, if you have Netflix, there are a lot of good streaming fitness videos and if you have cable, the "on demand" feature often has workouts as well.

hiker282

I am going to say that if you're that overweight and out of shape (not judging, just saying) I think you'd do better just to do simple exercise like walking around the neighborhood or a mall or just walking up and down flights of stairs. Things that will get your heart rate up, and just do them in small increments. Twenty minutes or so three or four times a week. Perhaps part of the reason you fell ill was because you pushed your body too hard too quickly. Watch what you're eating and start out slow, take your measurements and you should start to see a change. As you get more fit, you can try more intense activities.

Lesa_Sass

try exercise.com

EmilyLStuart

At 5'6 and 240 lbs, I began slowly walking around my neighborhood2-4 times per week. A few months later I began short stints of light jogging. That was 77 lbs ago.

I now do Kickboxing and Zumba classes along with lots more running... real running which I just started. Got 25 lbs more to lose.

It sounds like you have too many options ...IMO. find 2-3 LIGHT activities and rotate between them until you can increase intensity or graduate to harder activities.

fguillory

Leslie Sansone walk away the pounds. I am 338 lbs and I manage to do it, I gotta do it in 15-20 minute intervals because I get tired, but it is a work out. But walking in general is good exercise I can walk for a long time if I have music.

2fit4fat

when i was 5'5" and 206 I did my elliptical (the very cheapest i could find) and some of 30 ds (i still cant really do level 2 though because i have a back problem and not the best knees in the world lol i do what i can though!) a walk, a bike ride, walking up and down stairs at home, I personally LOVE callanetics. (i just skip one thing on there that is a little rough on the knees) but its a great stretching DVD (the old one not so sure about the new copycat ones.)

MeticulousMom

Hi, after suffering from a dislocated knee in July, and giving birth to my second baby in 20 months
(weighing in at 10.02 Pounds,) I am finding it difficult to exercise the way I used to. I received the " Insanity" series as a Christmas gift and found it was to challenging to start with. I recently purchased several of Leslie Sansone's in home walk and tone dvd's and they are incredible. Her programs are low impact on your joints, yet give a big calorie burn. You can start with one mile and work up to five miles. She incorporates strength training with most of her programs. Good luck on your weight loss journey!:happy:

PughTooFew

Thank you all so much! I'll get there eventually. It's nice to hear some good advice as I was afraid I'd just be told to hammer it out at the gym everyday or run til I drop and I'm just not at that level yet......but I will be someday soon! :bigsmile: baby steps...

StrugglingtoMove

I feel the same way, Dropped almost 30 lbs now and I have 90 left still. I think march is my month to start movement more. I do little zumba wii, maybe 10-15 mins here and there, not even at once. I walk here and there. nothing too much, but i know I will get there. You will also get there too.