Workouts For Obese People

I would suggest starting with walking. Walk for 45mins-1hr a day and your fitness levels with start to improve so you can do more types of exercise. Also, a little weight lifting would not hurt but walking is my suggestion

Hi, been in your shoes! At one point in my life, 262 lbs and no idea what to do with a dumbell! In fact, I felt like the dumbbell Anyway, here's what I used in order:

1) Walking using the couch to 5k intervals on C25K.com. The program is made for running, but just walk at two different speeds.
2) Beachbody DVDs: Body Gospel (It uses gospel music)
2) Also had a gym at work, used exercise bike and rower at lunch.
3) Beachbody DVDs: Rev Abs (modified). You will need a set of dumbells (I had the 1,3, and 5 lbs)
4) Couch to 5k - running this time
5) Beachbody DVDs: Les Mills Combat (modified)
6) Beachbody DVDs: TurboFire base kit + advanced discs

Now I'm in the process of working my way back through the DVDs doing them unmodified.

Somebody's probably gonna call me out for being a Beachbody coach. I'm not. Yet. But I'm thinking about it. This year, I'm down to 226, so I'm not done yet. But I did it.

You can too. Just put one foot in front of the other and do something

From what I gather from everything everyone has been saying is that I should walk more and swim if I am able to. Unfortunately, I do not have the luxury of a pool.

Are you comfortable with finding a gym or local YMCA? The YMCA near me has a pool, and I believe they did classes there as well.

I am really uncomfortable working out in front of people at this point in time. Once I feel more at ease, I will start to go to the gym at my university since it's included in my tuition/fees.
It also has classes, like Zumba and what have you.

Which reminds me: is Zumba hard on the joints? I've heard that it is a lot of dancing and movement, which doesn't bother me as much as crawling around on the ground or whatever.

Personally, my classes don't involve much time on the ground, minus the short breaks!
It's great because you can go at the pace you want; I don't copy my instructor verbatim, and slow down when I feel my heart rate peaking to an unhealthy level (I have an arrhythmia). I never feel like anyone is staring at me or judging me, because I'll see other people doing the same thing too. I think it's a really good program that encourages you to just move and have fun.

Like others suggested...walking or the elliptical. I've done Zumba, and the nice thing is, you can do it at your own pace/style if need be. Just keep moving your body. When some type of step is too complicated I just do as close as I can. I'm too focused on what I'm doing to really give a crap what others are doing.

I just want to add, and I'm not discouraging you from exercising, but you don't HAVE to workout to lose weight. Do what you can, and as you lose weight and are able to do more, use different machines at the gym or try out classes when you're more comfortable and aren't in as much pain.

I was 370 pounds when I started and I didn't push myself because it was too much so I started off slow 5 minutes 2x a week in the very beginning. I walked outside and on the treadmill. Moving is moving. To lose a lot of weight you have to start out slow and work your way up into a routine. You are not going to be training for a marathon, yet so be realistic. I now work out 4x a week about a half hour each time. It took me two years to get to that amount. If you feel uncomfortable pushing yourself, don't. I had that same feeling. That's why I started off slow. Eighty percent of your weight loss will be with your diet. If you eat whole and healthy and stay within calories giving yourself bad food once in a while, you can still lose a lot of weight and not kill yourself with exercise.

I started at 400lbs and I doing things on the floor was no where near comfy so I changed it out for my bed because it wasn't so bad. I'm not a big fan of body weight exercises because there is too much of my body getting in the way so my main source of exercise was and still is walking. It was easy to do and doesn't cost or have equipment to buy. I didn't like the idea of people being able to see me working out so I go to a local school and use the track after the kids have left. it seemed a little more private that way. The only people I see are others using the track too most of the time.

First off, I want to cheer you on for making an effort to lose weight!! Yay! I think it's a very brave thing to do.

I am also obese and have always had difficulty losing weight and keeping it off. I completely agree with you. It is not only awkward, but also painful on your joints. I also have flat feet, so the extra weight adds pain to my feet. In the past, I've done exercise classes at a pool. Check around your area. There might be one at a local college or gym. It's called Aquatic Fitness. The pool reduces the pressure from your joints, and the water act as resistance. So the faster you move, the harder it is and the more calories you burn. You burn a lot of calories, while staying cool.

I just started this running program on my phone. It's based on the Couch to 5K program. The app is called Run Double. It's a 9 week program that builds your endurance. It starts out by running 60 sec intervals and then progressing to long time intervals and distances. You have the option of repeating the workout if you feel you are not ready for the next one. I'm on week 6 and I feel really awesome. It's 3 times a week, and really progresses slowly.

Also, definitely listen to your body. I once used a personal trainer, who had me do a lot of strenuous exercises. I ended up hurting my knee, and had to completely stop working out until it healed. It was a real bummer. Exercising a couple of times a week may not seem like much, but it actually really helpful. I used to workout 5xs a week thinking that was the only way to see results. I only ended up burning out within a few months.

I hope this is helpful. Keep it up!

They're kind of old school, but I loooooove Richard Simmons Sweatin to the Oldies series. I love the music, the dancing, and that he uses real people, not crazy then sports models. The people in the videos are obese people and they're shaking their booties all over the place. And, if they can do it, so can I!!! You can find them on amazon