Workouts For Obese People

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  • running4myboys
    running4myboys Posts: 44 Member
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    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! :smile:

    I love the Run Double app! I started with couch to 5K years ago and have since used the Run Double app and use RunKeeper lots. Good luck! You never know what it will lead too. :) I've run I think 6 half marathons now and I'm running my first full in November! EEEK!
  • mobrien0527
    mobrien0527 Posts: 412
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    swimming seems like an awesome idea!

    I would say just start walking! Find a walking buddy and just walk and walk and walk! I live next to a pond with a cement trail around it and there is a woman who literally walks all day. I see her out there every time I pass by. Now, it may not be possible to walk all day because well life gets in the way lol but find someone to talk to and start off by doing a ten minute walk. then everyday try to add 5 minutes to your walk. if you keep up that pattern you will end up with over an hour within two weeks! try to carve out the time

    then when you're comfortable you can start jogging. Take a few minutes out of your walking time and just try to jog even if its for two minutes. the more you do it, the easier it will get and the longer you can go. even if you have to jog for a minute, walk til you feel better then jog again, it will really help if you stick to it!

    Also, if you have a treadmill, walk on it ALL the time! put your TV in front of the treadmill and instead of sitting and watching TV, you can walk (it can be slow!) and enjoy your favorite shows.

    good luck i hope this was helpful :)
  • scubasuenc
    scubasuenc Posts: 626 Member
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    I started at 310 lb and most of my exercise was walking and a recumbent bike. Now I also swim and do aquatic aerobics. I'm going to add rowing and elliptical in the next week or so.

    Like you I was not comfortable doing anything in public. Leslie Sansone DVDs are a great in home walking system. Wonderful for hiding inside or rainy days. Many of her DVDs include a stretchy band or light hand weights to add a little resistance training. Use them or not.

    Kelly Bliss (kellybliss.com) is an instructor who focuses on the obese. She has a series of DVDs including chair aerobics, stretching, and various levels of low impact aerobics. Kelly is plus sized and she usually has someone very large doing modifications. I still use them because she is very good at coming up with moves that do not hurt, but her videos can get my heart pumping.
  • JG762
    JG762 Posts: 571 Member
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    Don't have access to a pool? Go to the local Y or join a club.

    Just do something.

    Walking for 30 minutes a day is a good start, you're 19 years old you should be putting in more than 30 minutes a day. When you get started you'll tire quickly but that will pass, hell I'm 51 and started at about 330lbs and I'm down about 50lbs and I try to do an hour of cardio a day (treadmill/stationary bike/stepper etc) and 3-4 days a week I add weights to that. Just start moving, it doesn't matter if you're walking peddling swimming stretching jumping or whatever else you might want to do, just make it happen!

    You need to start counting calories and determining what you're REALLY eating not what you think you're eating. Once you start logging calories and exercise most everything else will start to fall into place.
  • Point202
    Point202 Posts: 55 Member
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    Hmm, I started last year at over 300 lbs (and over 40 yo) with no exercise experience, but now I workout for an hour a day 6X a week, plus walking.

    When I started I focused on being gentle to myself. So I started with just stretching and "warm up" exercises only, probably less than 10 minutes a day. Pretty quickly got the hang of that and gradually added more minutes and actual workouts, though focussing on low-impact ones. Modified anything that my body wouldn't do or that hurt, but TRIED everything. Always gave new things a chance.

    If you go to FitnessBlender.com you can stream lots of free workout videos. They seem to cater more to people who workout regularly (definitely not customized for the obese!), but their site rates every workout from easy 1 to crazy hard 5 and they are pretty good about talking through how to do things properly. The easiest workouts at "1" are just stretching only. There are plenty of "2" workouts though that actually do move you around and are pretty challenging when you're new to exercise and obese.

    Start there, and be gentle and forgiving with your body, but also stay determined and don't give up; 90% of success is just showing up. You'll get used to it faster than you might think!

    Just wanted to say thank you for sharing the info about FitnessBlender.com. I've found that variety is good for me, but I don't want to buy tons of workout DVDs. This site looks perfect for some activities I can do at home.

    Also wanted to add for the OP another vote for walking. It is free, and all you need to do it is a decent pair of tennis shoes. I'm on the charts as obese as well, and I've spent the past three weeks just doing some walking. Some days I can get in only a 15 minute walk, other days a 45 minute walk. But it has already helped me to shed a few pounds.
  • Gwennie9476
    Gwennie9476 Posts: 45 Member
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    Honey...there are so many things that obese people can't do as well as others. We learn to modify, move differently, or go without. I applaud you for asking such a question and I applaud everyone for not judging! I absolutely adore this group of people. The best thing I have ever done for myself when I was so big I couldn't do anything else was walk. I would walk and walk and walk some more. Even if it was a minute longer than the day before I would count that as a huge gain....it wasn't a loss.

    Just keep plugging and remember not all are cut from the same pattern. Some obese people can jump right in to walking an hour on the treadmill and whatever else and some have to delicately move themselves into it. Whatever you do...just don't stop moving at all.
  • Sapporo
    Sapporo Posts: 693 Member
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    I started out at 282 lbs doing Jillian Michaels videos like 30 Day Shred and Body Revolution (repeating workouts 1 and 2 for a very long time before going on to 3 and 4). I'm still obese and have been doing CrossFit for a few months now. I went hard and pushed myself and still do. Make sure you are challenging yourself and progressing in some way, go further or faster, increase weight depending on what you're doing.
  • chargraves
    chargraves Posts: 65 Member
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    I started at 319 lbs walking (treadmill & outside) and working out with Leslie Sansone dvds 10 or 15 minutes at a time. Keep in mind that exercise does not end with workouts. Just wearing a pedometer motivated me to move more. When you go to the store, park far out and take a few laps around the store before you do your shopping. With one of the big box stores like Walmart or Home Depot you can easily get at least a ½+ mile walk in. Best of luck to you!
  • Gemini24K83
    Gemini24K83 Posts: 18 Member
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    Leslie Sansone walking DVDS are great for beginners and heavier people. She is low impact and as you get stronger you do more of the workout without even realizing it. Pool excercise is also a good idea because its not as hard on your joints! Good luck on your journey. :smile:
  • topshopperwantabe
    topshopperwantabe Posts: 112 Member
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    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.
  • LifeJacketWaterJogger
    LifeJacketWaterJogger Posts: 231
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    leslie sansone 1 mile for 15 days, then increase to her 2 mile walk, they are free on you all the way to her five mile walk, also look on you tube for workouts for people with back problems.
  • rlb918
    rlb918 Posts: 2 Member
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    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.
    If you don't have a pool, then walking is probably your best option. Don't go nuts with it; start with a block or two and work up so you don't end up with plantar fasciitis or other foot or knee problems.

    And don't forget strength training. Again, start with something you can do and work up. If you can't do one push up, do a half. Get on your knees with your back straight as possible and your arms straight and lower yourself to the floor with your arms. Do that every day and then work up to several half push ups. As you build strength and lose weight, try to do a full push up starting from the floor and then try to increase that by one every week or two (or three or four...whatever it takes).
  • AllieBear88
    AllieBear88 Posts: 170 Member
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    Echoing the comment about Leslie Sansone's Walk at Home videos! You can find her on Youtube, and her DVDs are rarely more than 12 dollars, if that much!! Trust me, as a big girl, they're great!
  • VoodooSyxx
    VoodooSyxx Posts: 297
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    Walking is great, like others have said. You can always modify normal moves to do at home. Instead of jumping jacks, do half-jacks where you step an alternating foot out to the side. Do lunges. You're in control of how extreme you go. If it's just a little lunge, that's cool. Same thing for squats. Push-ups. Not only can you do half-pushups on your knees but you can do semi-standing push-ups on a counter top or a table (make sure the table is against a wall or something so it stays put).
  • wandaswan
    wandaswan Posts: 1
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    I find yoga to be something I can do without pain. I am quite large in the belly, so I can modify the pose so that I can do it without pain. Google "Yoga for large people" you should get some good hits with that! God Bless!
  • apeacefulway
    apeacefulway Posts: 43
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    I was morbidly obese when I started the Couch25K program this past January. I graduated from the 5K app last week and started the 10K app yesterday. I'm in my mid-30s, have back, knee, and other health issues, but have still been able to run thanks to good form and great running shoes.
  • SunofaBeach14
    SunofaBeach14 Posts: 4,932 Member
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    lift weights

    If your goal is to lose fat and maintain muscle mass in the process then this is the way to go. It is also going to be much better on your joints, and far more effective, than jumping around to some exercise video.
  • SharonNehring
    SharonNehring Posts: 535 Member
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    When you are ready to move on to more than walking, a recumbent stationary bike is fabulous when you have back problems. I ride mine almost daily. Light hand weights (or use 2 cans, 2 jugs, 2 bottles etc) are good for upper body strengthening. I have an exercise ball and video which are fun. Stretch bands are inexpensive and easily adjustable to your fitness level too.

    Truly, just move more than you currently are in whatever manner is comfortable to you. Push yourself to go a minute longer, a few feet further or just a tiny bit faster each week. Slow and steady progress is all you're looking for.
  • SusanL222
    SusanL222 Posts: 585 Member
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    Lots of great suggestions so far! Our local hospital has made a series of exercise videos designed with larger people in mind. The 20 minute warm-up got me started on my path to a healthier me and I now do hour long workouts full tilt. I had to get willing to be completely soaked with sweat and not be worried about what others thought. You can check the videos out here: http://www.wcgh.org/community-classes/exercise/exercise-videos/
  • 40DayFit
    40DayFit Posts: 246 Member
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    bump

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