Any obese women doing pistol squats, pushups, pullups?

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Vailara
Vailara Posts: 2,454 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I have been trying for months to do pistol squats, pushups and pullups and finding them very challenging! I wondered if any other obese women were doing them and how hard they found them to achieve. (By "obese" I mean carrying a fair bit of fat, to be honest. I know there are some very strong, muscular women who fall into the obese BMI range, but sadly I'm not one of them!).

I'm starting to think that carrying a lot of extra body fat adds a particular challenge to body weight exercises, simply because it's extra weight. I've never been able to do a pushup or pullup at normal weight, so I understand that it's bound to be harder with a lot of extra weight (that isn't muscle!). My "core" strength is OK, but I'd say my upper body isn't great, despite working on it for so long. At the moment I can do one-legged "box" squats onto a below-knee surface, but if I try to do a pistol squat the lower part feels horrible, particularly on my knees! I'm using "Body By You" (Mark Lauren) and this is getting in the way of progression at the moment (even if I use a doorway for support, as shown in the book).

I thought I would encourage myself by looking for pictures, videos and accounts of obese women doing these exercises, but I didn't find any and it got me thinking that maybe this group find these exercises particularly hard due to our muscle/fat ratio, or something? But it could be just that people aren't putting their results online! If anybody in this group can do these exercises or are successfully working towards them, I'd love to read (and celebrate!) your results. :smile:

Replies

  • maryannelk
    maryannelk Posts: 707 Member
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    Yes, these are more challenging when you weigh more. You can "work your way up" to most of the standard exercises by altering them, which it sounds like you are doing.
  • Vailara
    Vailara Posts: 2,454 Member
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    Thank you! Yes, I've been working up, but it's been months now and although I've made some progress, it's extremely slow. I know the extra weight will make it harder, but after not being able to find videos, I wondered if it was virtually impossible! Or if it's just that the people who can do them are hiding :). How far have you got with them?
  • christiandjoel
    christiandjoel Posts: 28 Member
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    I'm not sure what a "pistol squat" is, but I've done pushups while "obese". I've since had a baby and working by way back up t where I was. But, I started not being able to do I pushup. My trainer forced me to do 10. So, I did 1 ugly lookin half-*kitten* pushup when I first started & did the rest of the pushups with my knees on floor (girl pushups). Gradually, my 1 pushup didn't look so ugly and then I was able to do 2 regular & 8 with knees on ground. Anyways, as I progressed, I did 12 guy pushups. So yeah, it is possible.....don't let someone tell you that u *cant* do something. :) I was working my way up to doing a pullup, but didn't get there.....but, u better believe that I WILL get there!! :)
  • Yogi_Carl
    Yogi_Carl Posts: 1,906 Member
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    Great to see there are people out there who are using and enjoying bodyweight exercises to gain strength.

    Pistol squats are hard work if you are carrying extra body fat, but think how strong you will be as you shed the weight but will have already put in the hard work and balance improvement as you drop the pounds.

    I am doing assisted chin-ups at the moment by looping a couple of resistance bands onto the pull-up bar and sitting one knee into the loop to help take off some of my fat weight. That way you can get more reps into each set and really build up some strength for when you can do them unassisted.

    Great to hear from you.
  • Vailara
    Vailara Posts: 2,454 Member
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    Christiandjoe, a pistol squat is just a deep one-legged squat with the other leg held straight in front. It's great to hear that you could do pushups while obese! I'm going to keep working towards it. I can only do them on an incline, but am gradually getting lower.

    C4RL05, I don't think I could do even assisted chin-ups yet, but will give them a go when I feel stronger. I managed to break our pull-up bar trying to negatives :(. At the moment, I'm doing variations on inverted rows. I have a long way to go, and of all the exercises, I feel pull-ups are one that may be impossible while I'm obese.
  • christiandjoel
    christiandjoel Posts: 28 Member
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    Oh, ok....I've done those before using TRX. :)
  • beautifulcat
    beautifulcat Posts: 7 Member
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    Hi there I am a obese women and I can do push ups and I just tried pistol squats and yes I can do them also. But I can not do a pull up. I absolute agree with you that body weight exersices are harder for obese people. Someone tried to argue that point which happened to be a 130 lbs women and I told her to put another 70lbs on her back and see if she could do a push up, yea she failed!
    It can be done for sure. Are you doing these exersices at home? Are you pushing farther than you think you can? Have you tried the just one more rep method? Meaning If you can do 10 incline pushups where you think you might not be able to finish the last one,try and do one more after that.
    Your body may have gotten use to you doing the same reps and sets. I feel your pain I have been trying to do a pull up for months now,but I have not been consistant with it yet but one day I will the happiest girl alive when I do just one.
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
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    I can do 35 push-ups against the kitchen counter and I still can't do a single full push-up! Of course, today is the first time I tried at the beginning of a workout and I am still super sore from yesterday...
  • NCchar130
    NCchar130 Posts: 955 Member
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    Hey! I'm working through Body By You also. I have about 25 pounds left to lose. I've done one month so far, and still can't even imagine being able to do the exercises at the end of each movement category but I've at least progressed through to more difficult exercises. I'm sure that lower body weight makes it somewhat easier since that's the weight you're pushing or pulling. I'm just going to keep plugging away at it and following his instructions to the letter! Hopefully I will surprise myself one day and be able to do pullups and one-armed pushups and pistol squats... :laugh:
  • FootsoreRambler
    FootsoreRambler Posts: 80 Member
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    I'm not obese and I find all of those exercises challenging (can't quite do a pistol squat yet, but I'm close). Yeah, seems like pretty basic physics that the more you weigh, the harder these will all be ... but the upside is that when you can finally do them, you know you will be proportionately stronger, which is cool.

    ETA: Have you looked at any of nz_deeva's threads (e.g. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/824518-fat-girl-dead-lifting?hl=fat+girl+deadlifting)? She is very, very awesome.
  • nz_deevaa
    nz_deevaa Posts: 12,209 Member
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    I can do a fair number of full (not modified) push-ups and I do assisted pull-ups... Although I feel like it's more assisted than not at the moment.

    Pistol squats are tricky for people who carry their weight in their stomach, because in that position, there isn't space for the stomach. If you don't carry your weight in your belly, you might not have that issue though.

    Regular squats with a wide stance might be a good alternative.
  • upgetupgetup
    upgetupgetup Posts: 749 Member
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    1 lb of extra weight = 3 lbs of pressure on knees!

    Pistol squats aren't easy. Do things that don't hurt (modify if you have to). As you lose (and look to your calorie deficit for most of that for now), everything will be easier.
  • nz_deevaa
    nz_deevaa Posts: 12,209 Member
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    ETA: Have you looked at any of nz_deeva's threads (e.g. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/824518-fat-girl-dead-lifting?hl=fat+girl+deadlifting)? She is very, very awesome.

    *blush* thanks.

    The Squatting post might give an idea of what I'm talking about:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/924179-fat-girl-squatting?hl=Fat+girl+squatting

    As you can see at the bottom of the squat, there is a lot of 'belly' smushed up together, that could cause your balance issue if you also hold your fat there.
  • jenlatham
    jenlatham Posts: 17 Member
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    There's actually research out there that says women who are on the short side and have low body weight can manage pullups, but that for many women it will be difficult to impossible without modification/chair support (even extremely fit women). And pistol squats just seem like a good way to put strain on your knees. There are so many great body weight exercises out there -- keep trying different stuff, modify what you need to, and don't stress about any one move.
  • Yogi_Carl
    Yogi_Carl Posts: 1,906 Member
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    I'm not obese and I find all of those exercises challenging (can't quite do a pistol squat yet, but I'm close). Yeah, seems like pretty basic physics that the more you weigh, the harder these will all be ... but the upside is that when you can finally do them, you know you will be proportionately stronger, which is cool.

    ETA: Have you looked at any of nz_deeva's threads (e.g. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/824518-fat-girl-dead-lifting?hl=fat+girl+deadlifting)? She is very, very awesome.

    I like that upside - that's the reason I am sticking with bodyweight over weighlifting.
  • Vailara
    Vailara Posts: 2,454 Member
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    Thank you all for your replies!

    I have seen your threads before, nz_deeva and and I agree that you are very awesome! I love your pictures! I'd love to see more photos and videos of non-slim women doing things that I aspire to do.

    I carry most of my weight in my hips and thighs and my belly isn't quite as big as it was. I know what you mean about the wider stance and I've found that has worked well for me with normal squats, and I see what you mean about the belly causing more of a problem with pistol squats. I can do any number of unweighted "normal" squats (unlike weighted squats which are really hard work!), so I don't feel I'm pushing myself with those.

    Jenlatham, I have been wondering about the strain on my knees with pistol squats. It feels as if the weight is going through the knee at an awkward angle. I'm trying to follow the programme in my book and I don't know what other exercise would be better.

    Upgetupgetup, that adds up to a lot of extra pressure :(. Not doing things that hurt is difficult because I hurt all the time! It's really difficult to know when to work through it and when to stop.
  • Vailara
    Vailara Posts: 2,454 Member
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    I didn't expect this to happen so soon, but I wanted to thank you all - I can now finally do full pushups! One out of three ain't bad! I'm still obese according to both BMI and body fat %, so I'm very pleased. Thank you again!
  • nz_deevaa
    nz_deevaa Posts: 12,209 Member
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    I didn't expect this to happen so soon, but I wanted to thank you all - I can now finally do full pushups! One out of three ain't bad! I'm still obese according to both BMI and body fat %, so I'm very pleased. Thank you again!

    The best practice is just doing them :)
  • squatsandlipgloss
    squatsandlipgloss Posts: 595 Member
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    This is why strength training is great when you are obese. I started out not being able to do a single push up on my toes. I could do a lot on my knees but who can't, right? After 3 moths I was able to do 10 regular push ups on my toes! I did do weight every other day, including a lot of push ups, so it's definitely possible but do add in weight training for that.

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