Too big to exercise?
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I started at 6'0" and 372 pounds - I started cycling, walking and some light lifting. 3 months later and I've lost 42 pounds and still losing. I'd check with your doctor before you start and take things slowly by doing as much light exercise as you can manage - and don't forget to take care of your calorie intake too.0
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Your difficulties probably come more from not being cardio or physically fit than they do from your weight. It doesn't matter what your size is if you're out of shape exercise will hurt. My daughter in law is 5'4" and can run a 5K. I decided to try it at 5'2" and 115 lbs and nearly died. It's not always weight that holds you back. Just get out there and do something, it may hurt, it may hurt a lot but pain is just weakness leaving the body!0
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I was heavy when I started. I was sedentary for about 2 years I had no muscles left really from it. I started at 212 pounds.. When I first started I used a medicine ball an an roller thing (it has you with crunches) and I did an exercise bike.. Helped me build some muscle and start moving. I moved on to power 90 which is a beginners program through beachbody and I could barely even do te workouts, but I stuck to it. If you want it bad enough you will start somewhere. For you may be just walking for a few minutes everyday as you continue you will lose weight and inches. I would suggest walking maybe with the 2 lb walking weights (it helped me a ton in my arms) and now I can lift weights.
Just start somewhere and you will be able to progress from there0 -
I mean, honestly, you can do whatever exercise you feel comfortable doing. When I started I was 300+ lbs, but I'm nearly 6 ft tall. I started out just walking. I also did some Wii boxing. Eventually, I incorporated lifting. Do whatever you enjoy and feel comfortable doing. I really don't believe you are ever 'too big to exercise' unless you are bed-ridden, and it doesn't really sound like you have reached that point. Water aerobics is easy on your joints if you can find a class somewhere.0
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My problem is I jus t had hammerhead surgery. I just started doing pilates and short walks. ( surgery was Dec 7, 2012) anyway. i was healing good started exercieng. Lost 7 ilbs now my foot decided to get a stress fracture. No weight bearing again and the boot is back on. Just had my s-joint injected and will be getting my knee injected with synvics. I was preparing my body for walking. Everything back fired because of my foot again. So fustrated. Of course 5lbs came back on. I guess I really need to watch what I put in my mouth. Now I'm getting bigger and in more pain from laying around. I need some help to get off the chair and at least back to doing floor exercies or someting. Depressed.
Lisa0 -
I am heavier than you and much older. Walking is all you need to do right now. Try to slowly work up to 45 minutes a day 5x a week and you will see tremendous results in weight loss, inches, and an amazing change in your energy level.0
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Help me get motavated again. Just really getting fustrated. I want my body back. I'm always in pain. How do you start your day off?0
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I started with the elliptical because running was too hard on the body, very little impact but you get one hell of a burn. You will learn to enjoy the pain you get from working out so just give it time!0
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I'm 5'4 and 250 lbs and I love Zumba. It's really fun and doesn't really feel like a workout but it burns a lot of calories.0
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Start with daily walks - go for at least 30mins, at a pace where you know you're getting your heart rate up a bit. Consistency is key - that with a good diet. Then go look at what other things you can do, there's a lot you can still do as a bigger person. If you over do it though it will put you off doing any more exercise. Consistency is key and then it becomes habit and keep moving up from there.0
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I"m 5'2 and my heaviest weight was 224. I started slow with just walking a couple miles a day.0
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Up until now I've been raised and lived in a lifestyle where sedentary was encouraged and almost praised. Now I'm at the very unhealthy weight of 220lbs at 5'2 and only 23 years old.
I want to be healthy for a number of reasons; I like to be active and involved with out door activities, I want to have energy to keep up with my daily life, and above all I want to feel great about myself.
But I've tried looking up all kinds of exercises and routines, cardio and strength, but with the amount of body fat I have lots of poses and such almost hurt to do because of the contortions the stretches require to effect my muscle. As embarrassing as it is to say; the fat is in the way of doing a complete crunch or knee-high, or even push-ups.
Where do I start? I literally -can't- do a lot of these muscle-toning activities. Is walking/jogging/cycling really my only option for now?
For some of you "bigger" folk, or some of you that started "bigger", what did you do to shave off your initial inches?
I definitely don't think you are too big to exercise. Making the decision to get healthy is a big first step. Like most people are saying start slow. Walking will help. Try push ups against the wall instead of on the floor. You can also try wall sits and squats up against the wall. You could also try some low weight dumbbells for some arm exercises.
Good luck in your journey.0 -
I started with Richard Simmons - I know it's old but, he really motivated me and he has bigger people doing his workouts with him in the video. I had to buy mine on Amazon but saw a couple at Walmart. I'm still large but have worked my strength up considerably I would recommend starting with Sweatin to the Oldies0
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WALK!!!
When I started, I could barely do anything but walk - bad knees.
Walking is great and it will build you up to other stuff.
Good luck!0 -
Walking is where I started at 258 lbs. I walked in the freezing cold outside to get my butt moving. Once you get better with walking and your body is more in shape for excercise try the BIggest Loser DVDs. I love them and they helped me lose a lot of weight - see ticker. You just gotta get moving and using mfp to log your food intake is key too.
Good luck!0 -
You are NOT too big to exercise. Have you seen those contestants on the biggest loser? Many are much bigger than you and they managed to get something done.
Stop looking for excuses, becuase you'll always find one.0 -
I started at 266 lbs, down to 231 now. I have a recumbent bike that's easy on my back, knees, and legs (which is good, because I have Fibromyalgia. It's the one exercise I can do a lot of as long as I'm careful about leg cramps).
I also do strength training with free weights. At the gym: stationary bikes, treadmills, and weight machines.
You aren't too big to exercise, girly. You just gotta find what works with you.0 -
Find a Zumba class! You can modify the movements to go at your own pace. There are all sorts of shapes and sizes in the class that I take and the age range is 7 years old to 70+! It's a lot of fun and it's a great environment for a work out. I absolutely love it. Feel free to friend me on here to help keep motivated. Walking & biking are great exercises for beginners too. Throw on some tunes and go to it. Adopt a pup or borrow a friend's dog for extra motivation0
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I'm 5'11" and started at 365ish on the elliptical. If I wasn't too big then you should be fine. Did I get on it the first time and do an hour? No. Was I probably sore? Sure. The point is that "I can't feeling" you are feeling is just your mind telling you it'd be easier to just watch TV rather than exercise. Power through it.0
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I too would recommend baby steps. If you make sure you're eating well, you'll see some weight-loss with walking/swimming and then maybe once the first few pounds are off, you'll notice that you can start adding in other exercises. For strength training, you could always try some wall squats, knee-planks, and maybe trying push-ups on an incline against a wall?0
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I'm 5'3 and I starting weight was...well I said 196 because that sounded better then 200, in my head....but anyway, my starting exercise was just walking, walking as fast as I could for 20 to 30 minutes and every week I would increase the walk time. You can do this, it is so worth it0
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Walking is always a good start if you don't have a track or not comfortable walking outside there are tons of dvd's that involve walking "walk away the pounds" is a good start 1,2,3,4 or 5 miles you choose how you want to do it. You can even add hand weights that works for me. You can find her dvd's on youtube Leslie Sanson or dance dvd throwback Richard Simmons Sweating to the oldies that's fun. Check your local Library for dvds I think they are free to check out atleast at my library they are. Add me if you like I love to cheer people on. Good Luck!!0
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Nope, you're never too big to exercise.
My starting weight was 290. I lost my first 15 pounds just playing on my Wii Fit. That was month 1. The second month, I joined my local gym and started doing easy 20 min. walks on the treadmill 3-5x per week. I found Leslie Sansone's Walk Away the Pounds DVD's for home. Lost about 10 more. Then I tried out the elliptical and started doing weight machines. 10 more gone. I then got together with a personal trainer for a month and started strength and circuit training with medium free weights for 1 hour 2x per week. Then I started C25K (running program) and learned to run. By this time, I was 247 pounds. 8 months into exercising, I ran my first 5K at 230 pounds. I didn't have a fast time or beat any records but I finished!! Along the way I also started lifting really heavy weights. I found the Stronglifts 5x5 program. Barbell compound lifts - squats, deadlifts, bench press, rows, overhead press. I didn't lose too much more weight but the inches started flying off. Lifting changed my body shape so much! The jiggly bits started disappearing. My body was noticeably firming up. And man was I getting STRONG! Every day life has become so much nicer since I started lifting. It makes every day activities so much easier like bringing groceries in, moving furniture, ect. Also my chronic back problems have improved by 95%! My back used to kill me all the time. Not anymore
My point is to start small and gradually work your way up. When I first started I could barely do a 15 minute Leslie Sansone workout video. Now I can do her 1 hour 5 mile superwalk. I look forward to my workouts. If I don't exercise I feel weird like something is missing. Find something you like to do that you'll stick to and make exercise a part of your lifestyle. You won't regret it.
You can do it!!0 -
Couch 25k. There is no reason why you can't, unless your Dr says that its a bad idea.
Just don't worry about everyone else, really they don't even care what you do. If anything when I see someone new to running out there, I wave and nod.
Walking is fine, but that just seems boring, and least with c25k you have a plan and a goal in mind.
Also lift, lift, lift heavy. NROL. You want to try to retain some muscle.0 -
I started cycling when I was about 216. I couldn't handle running, but I could handle sitting on my butt and reading for an hour a day.
I started running when I was just under 200lbs. Kept running on the C25k program till I had lost 20lbs, at about 180.0 -
I started at 187 5'2. I lifted weights 3 days a week and started on a elliptical, I was only able to do about 10 minutes. I can easily do 45 minutes now and am 156lbs.0
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To start, erase CAN'T from your vocabulary. If you go into this with a defeated attitude, you may as well quit now because you're not going to get anywhere. This is mental as well as physical.
If the exercises you're doing hurt that bad, take it down a notch. Start with walking or other forms of cardio. Both the elliptical and arc trainer are low impact machines that will burn massive calories. They're easy on the knees and something I was able to do after a complete knee reconstructive surgery.
If you're interested in taking the home DVD route, I suggest the Extreme Makeover Workout dvd. It's a lot like the 30 Day Shred, but Chris Powell has aimed it toward those just beginning and are really out of shape or injured.
What you eat will also play a role in how you feel when you exercise.0 -
Girl, I hear ya. I'm 5'3" and currently 240, but I was almost 250 when I started. I say do what you enjoy and feels right to you...your mind and body. I personally don't give a **** what people think of me, so I do a lot of activities that big girls "shouldn't do"...dancing, Zumba class, body pump class, spinning, yoga (with yoga I listen to my body and do what I can do right now). But I also walk/jog sometimes too. I realllyyyyy want to get into lifting free weights so my trainer friend is going to start helping me with that. My point is...do what makes you happy and what makes you feel good, and just listen to your body. If walking is it, then go with it! You're in charge. Plus it's awesome that you have free access to the center!0
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It helps to lose a bit of weight before starting exercise, but it isn't necessary. I started off 70+ pounds overweight and at nearly 60% body fat. I did the keto diet for 3 months, lost 30 pounds. Then I started Couch to 5k and I lost the remaining weight over the course of another six months. I am now down into the lower 20's in body fat %. Personally I recommend my approach, but only because it worked for me.
You need cardio to burn fat. How you go about that really isn't important. You can walk, hike, run, lift weights, bike, whatever. I am skeptical of the workout DVD's because I always mistrust someone who is trying to sell me something, especially when it comes to diet and weight loss. There are too many hucksters out there and I just default to mistrusting them. However, if they make you sweat, and increase your heart rate enough to get you into the 140-160 BPM range, then go for it. All that matters is you get your heart pumping at a higher rate than is normal. The most important thing is to find something that you can do on a regular basis and not dread it.
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU CAN DO FOR EXERCISE IS FIND ONE YOU LIKE DOING.0 -
I agree that the Walk at Home DVDs were awesome. When I started my journey I was 399 pounds. I was in the same boat - everything hurt and it was difficult to do many of the exercises that I saw others doing. I walked. I walked and walked and walked. I started wih a distance - from work to the end of the road (for example) and then tried to get there faster and faster as the days went along. When I was finally able to get tjat distance down to a science I increased the distance. I made up my mind I would walk rain or shine - snow or wind - every excuse under the sun is available so I chose to not validate any of them. I would also say be aware that you can go too far too fast. I saw someone else mantion that you might burn out if you try to do too much. This is very very true!
I recently had a baby and have 15 pounds left to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. I've started Couch to 5K and we are in week 3 now (running three minutes at a time!) All I can tell you is - if this completely sedentary 400 pound girl can go it and report three years later that it works and she's keeping off the 200 pounds - you can do it too0
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