starting to lift, few questions

Absolutely ok for you to do so, but just start out slow. When you build more muscle, you'll be able to burn more fat. Just don't go crazy and hurt yourself. As for reading material, I don't have any suggestions as of now.

I used to watch The Biggest Loser on TV all the time, and I know there were some folks around your weight range and they made miraculous transformations. Good luck to you! Your going to do great!

Yes, lifting is fun, but at your present size, you may have difficulty using proper form on some of the exercises.. which may cause injuries. I strongly recommend getting your form checked by a personal trainer. Biggest Loser is supervised by trainers and medical staff. If you can't hire a trainer, watch lots of form vids on Youtube.

And yes, it's ok to wait until you're below 350-400. Most of your fat loss will come from cardio & eating less anyway.

I would go with NROL4W by the way.

I love your enthusiasm! Lifting is a lot of fun, and it will help you hang on to your muscle as you drop body fat. I agree that working with a trainer to start off with might be a good idea - you might be able to come up with alternatives that accommodate your current shape without putting your body at risk from bad form.

If you're looking for more to read, I recommend Starting Strength - I got a copy a couple of weeks ago, and I LOVE it. Great, thorough, well-illustrated information on the main barbell lifts.

Your post brought to mind this thread:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/824518-fat-girl-dead-lifting

The OP wasn't as heavy as you, but she talks about some of the same physical challenges that she eventually overcame. Also, she's awesome. Also, she took part in a powerlifting competition not long ago:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1145369-fat-girl-dead-lifting-competition-report

I am a big person so i honestly started with just the bar because that and the weight ofmy arms was enough for me to start with, every week add a little more. Slow and steady so you don't injure yourself. Don't think just because you are bigger you can lift more, you have to get your body prepped just like anyone else. Best of luck

small weights to start with to strengthen muscles , nothing too heavy that may cause any injury setbacks , definitely get some professional advice to make sure your posture etc is good

This may sound controversial, but lifting is about technique which also requires some mobility work. A lot of bro's think stretching, foam rolling, body weight exercises are for *****s but they're also the ones who are making no progress in the gym.

As much as I am a FIRM believer in compound movements are key for time efficiency and teaching good body mechanics... you should not do compound movements if you're ingraining bad lifting habits. Lots of people see an exercise and assume they're doing it right. It's not about seeing and copying.

I would start with yoga, pilates, band training, body weight exercises, and modified exercises that TEACH good form. Goblet squats (in my opinion) are a bit more user friendly for beginners that regular back squats. Machines are okay at best. People think machines are where beginners should start... I disagree. I see more odd things on machines than I do with free weight dumbbells.

I love your enthusiasm! Lifting is a lot of fun, and it will help you hang on to your muscle as you drop body fat. I agree that working with a trainer to start off with might be a good idea - you might be able to come up with alternatives that accommodate your current shape without putting your body at risk from bad form.

If you're looking for more to read, I recommend Starting Strength - I got a copy a couple of weeks ago, and I LOVE it. Great, thorough, well-illustrated information on the main barbell lifts.

Your post brought to mind this thread:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/824518-fat-girl-dead-lifting

The OP wasn't as heavy as you, but she talks about some of the same physical challenges that she eventually overcame. Also, she's awesome. Also, she took part in a powerlifting competition not long ago:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1145369-fat-girl-dead-lifting-competition-report

^This guy just said pretty much everything that I was going to, including those links. Definitely read Starting Strength, it's by Mark Rippetoe. It is invaluable for learning proper form.

I honestly don't normally recommend New Rules of Lifting for Women. I actually completed the program. The book didn't really do much to teach proper form and there were a bunch of random complicated lifts that didn't really make a lot of sense.

Might be a good idea to look into Stronglifts 5X5. The pdf is free. The author is a little douchey though and it's hard to get through. There's a really good summary here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/560459-stronglifts-5x5-summary

Do it!!!

I lifted weights right from the start and I've got a much better body now that most of the fat has gone. Even if you have a session with a trainer ONCE to go through the New Rules of Lifting exercises and get your form right, then do it yourself.

Good luck

This may sound controversial, but lifting is about technique which also requires some mobility work. A lot of bro's think stretching, foam rolling, body weight exercises are for *****s but they're also the ones who are making no progress in the gym.

As much as I am a FIRM believer in compound movements are key for time efficiency and teaching good body mechanics... you should not do compound movements if you're ingraining bad lifting habits. Lots of people see an exercise and assume they're doing it right. It's not about seeing and copying.

I would start with yoga, pilates, band training, body weight exercises, and modified exercises that TEACH good form. Goblet squats (in my opinion) are a bit more user friendly for beginners that regular back squats. Machines are okay at best. People think machines are where beginners should start... I disagree. I see more odd things on machines than I do with free weight dumbbells.

I don't necessarily agree with your approach, while body weight exercises are good and I have no issue with any of them including pilates and yoga, what you are asking of a person that weighs over 500 pounds is in my opinion not feasible. Moving around at that weight is hard enough, hell I could barley stand up for 30 seconds at a stretch let alone walk 20 feet across the room... I had a computer chair that I ripped the back off of so my extremely large butt could sit on it straight out of the recliner and wheel myself to the bathroom or to the kitchen or to bed for that matter... When you become that obese the rules are changed dramatically. OP listen the best thing you can do is a 3 phase approach to this..... 1.) You need to get to the doctor, let him run all the test necessary to see exactly what you are dealing with health wise. He will have the ability to assist you with different options such as writing you a script for Physical therapy or Aquatic therapy where you can be instructed from day one on the proper techniques in doing certain exercise that are geared toward someone of your size. Your young compared to when I started (me at 39) so you do have that going for you. 2.) Tackle the mental side of this journey, we never got to 500+ lbs. because we knew exactly what we was doing, you need to work on your relationship with food. Come to an understanding of just how you got to the weight you are... For me even though it had things to do with food, it had even more to do with that fact I just couldn't move past the death of my parents 6 months apart after being their sole (with the help of my wife) caregiver for the better half of a decade. I completely shut down and turned to food to fill the voids in my life. and 3.) Get your doctor to write you a script for a dietician and sit down with him or her and set up a plan of action. One that is sustainable and will give you the best chance at long term sustainability. Sorry to get off topic but those points needed to be stressed.

That being said, there is absolutely nothing wrong with resistance training from day 1 period regardless to whether you can do proper form of each moment... At this point in your journey that is a mute point. That fact that you are putting one foot in front of the other and moving in the direction that will eventually lead you to success is all that matters right now.. You will learn form and function as you go, and right now any resistance equipment you can do will be to your benefit. I remember the very first piece of gym equipment I could do was the Arm bike. I could not stand to walk more than 20 ft. so my PT put me on the arm bike and started slow and I built up resistance as we went and also got cardiovascular out of it as well. but we also work in cable equipment (anything I could get into from a seated position) and they also put me in the pool and we used water displacement to allow me to stand so that I could begin walking from one side of the therapy pool to the other.. and using resistance devices such as water dumbbells, webbed gloves, ankle weights, etc. The key was starting slow, very first workout last 5 minutes and I was exhausted. next time I went back we add a couple minutes and so on and so forth... As the weight came off and my ability to move more increased, we added more and started working on form and technique as we went along.... Fast forward 4 years (3 years weight loss, 1 year maintenance) and a few pounds lost, I am in the weight room 4 days a week and doing cardio 6 days a week with a rest day on Sunday's. I have been left with destroyed knee's which I have had multiple operation on, go in every 3 months to have them drain and get injections, wear knee braces just to exercise, and am facing knee replacements as soon as i am done being stubborn and tell my ortho doctor (who has been ready to do them since I lost the weight) it is time. Point is you have a long road to go, believe me I get that, I have walked a mile in your shoes and the key was to keep putting one foot in front of the other, baby steps but steps none the less.. Use every resource that you have available to you right now and don't limit yourself, You need all the help you can get right now. As you lose the weight and your mobility increase the world will start opening up to you and you need to continue to push yourself to new goals...... But in my humble opinion, yes lift now, don't wait to start, To steal a line from Nike "Just Do It"

Best of Luck to you


Ed