best exercise for the very unfit over 300lbs?

aquasize classes one hour feels like 15 mins in the water, you dont feel a thing on your joints and depending how hard you work and your weight you can burn 500-1133 calories i lost alot of inches doing that twice per week, you just have to build up your confidence to jump in a one piece bathing suit. add me to your friends list then you can brag to me how right i was.

make sure you have good, supportive shoes and replace them every 300-500 mi or 3-6 months

Not to sound like an infomercial but... Walk away the pounds! It probably is the best exercise you can do. It's easy, free, you can do it alone or with a friend... wait this is starting to sound like something else...


For me I can find find the gumption to go walk for 30 minutes when I can't find it to do anything else, it's a very small pain investment, and as I mentioned in several other posts, per the ADA it helps stabilize your blood sugar as well as improve insulin use if done after a meal even in amounts as low as 15 min.

As most other have said, walking is great exercise. You might also try adding a few pushups for your upper body. I realize you probably can't do a military-style pushup right now, but you can get a good workout by doing them against a wall. Just stand back from the wall, put your arms out with hands against the wall at about shoulder height, then lean in and pushup back, keeping your body straight. Do several sets a few times a week. Once it gets easier, you can move to a table, desk or stairs. Stairs are great if you have them because you can increase intensity by dropping a step whenever it gets easy.

Resistance bands are also something that are cheap and a great way to work your muscles.

I love walking and my boyfriend and I frequently go for long walks on the weekends together.

It's not free, but I'm also a huge fan of bicycling. My boyfriend just gave me his gel seat which was wider than the one that came on my bike and now I'm golden. I can bike for hours. I'm 53 and weigh 230 to give you an idea of my fitness level.
Luckily, we have several excellent bike paths here where I'm away from traffic and it's more relaxing than biking on the road.
We also drive to a Provincial Park close by and bike there amidst nature.
Cycling makes me feel like a kid again.

Sorry ... I went off there. I love cycling!

Here's an easy simple silly one - if you pick up something in your house and it feels heavy (lifting laundry soap bottle, vinegar gallon down from top shelf etc) repeat the lifting, sitting etc until it feels like you will barely do another. Do with both arms. I lift my laundry soap, vinegar, milk gallons, small boxes, trash etc like this - I wouldn't say it's some fancy smancy gym thing - but it's a small start when you need small steps.

Look at C25K (couch to 5K). Use the running parts as "faster walking" instead on your walk home sometimes. I learned from someone else you don't HAVE to run to use the program.

Also - someone posted recently in another forum called "you can't outrun your fork" - brilliant. I'd read that diet is more effective than exercise because it's easier to not eat it than to burn it off. It repeats that thought in another form - but says the same. Remember that. It has affected me a lot. I can't burn off a binge I can eat - because I don't have the stamina. So I have to just move on afterwards.

You could also look at some stretchy bands for some extra strength/flexibility moves - they are a decent workout especially starting out and are inexpensive. Lots of videos around for them.

Friend me if you want - I have a long way to go and have had to slow myself down lately to keep from quitting. I'm a long term work in progress.

Hi guys, I've started walking more. forcing myself to walk home from work (approx 2.72m), which is currently taking me about an hour. Runtastic tells me I started walking at 2mph, I'm not up to 2.5mph.

I'm working up to swiming....or at least being seen in public in a swimsuit! and I've been advised not to run until I lose a lot more wieght because it will put stress on my joints.

What else could I be doing? (preferably free/cheap)

You're wise to take it easy.

When I started losing weight, I used an elliptical and got very good workouts. Another excellent, no impact workout is riding a bicycle.

There's nothing wrong with "just walking" - until the early 1900's, long distance runners did a lot of walking while training for their races. And these were very hardcore folks, including people who ran across the US (think about doing that 50 years before Interstate highways!).

Walking and swimming are great for you to start out with. Go slow and work up your endurance.

All I did was walk in the begining.

It may sound strange or outdated.... But I am also 306 lbs...... I have Began working with Richard Simmons "Sweating to the oldies" Three times a week and yoga two days a week, along with resistance bands. Here is my strategy

Richard Simmons - Gets my heart rate to 120 for at least 25 minutes per workout

Yoga- Builds flexibility and strength ( AND has the added bonus of stress relief) I started with Hatha Yoga which is beginners and easier for the bigger body.

Resistance Bands- Give me the ability to add muscle tone- which increases metabolism and calorie burn.... These are not harsh on joints.

I am hovering right around 300 lbs......and I've been doing water aerobics (like jogging in place, using styrofoam water weights for arm exercises.....yeah, it looks dorky, but who cares?! lol).

Exercise in the water as a big person is AWESOME because, as you sweat, you can just cool off really quickly by dunking your head in the water. That's what helps me keep going!

Dancing. Turn your radio up and dance your butt off. Just keep yourself moving and that heart rate up.