Morbidly Obese, How Should I Start Strength Training

Hello!

I too weigh 296 as of this morning!! I started by walking 1 hour per day to build my stamina. I am also trying a very low calorie diet and pumping the water. Are you following any kind of diet?

Good Luck!
Sandra

Hi

I at one point weighed 280 and I started strenght training. Like a poster said, you can start using your own body weight to strength training. You can starts with squats, lunges, leg lifts, wall push-ups, arm raises. Also, buy a beginners toning video and start with light weight like 3s and 5s. BUT, consult with a doc first.

You and I are in the same boat. I haven't weighed myself for a long time but I know I should be under 300 now. Strength training 3 times a week has helped. My pants have gotten looser since April. I do strength training 3 times a week and cardio 2-3 times a week. My trainer said if I want to avoid sagging skin it's better for me to do weight training as opposed to strictly cardio. I get small popping sounds when I move my joints too sometimes but I've gotten to a point where I just ignore them. And I love going to the gym! It's really nice! Helps me to feel good especially from the motivation others give me and now the progress that I see.

What is your strength training program like? How did your trainer start you out?

Mondays are legs... We start of by super-setting between the chair squat machine and the leg press machines (3 sets of 15)
We flip tires the length of the the gym and back (3 times)
We do leg extensions and curls for the front and back of the thighs (3 sets of 15)
Then we work the inner and outer thigh machines (3 sets of 15)
We finish on the floor by working and and legs (in pear shaped so I really need my legs gone)

Wednesdays are arms and chests we work mainly with dumbbells there are three exercises that I don't know the names of but we do 3 sets of 15 completely on our backs then we raise the bench to a 30-45 degree angle. Then we go on the butterfly machine to press our arms and finish with the floor again. I can do sit-ups with a 15lb weight in my hand.

Fridays are back exercises... There's one machine where basically most exercises are done... There's one where you pull down a bar one set with arms wide the other with them close together ... myweightlossdream.co.uk/theweightlossshop/v-fit-herculean-lfg2-lay-flat-gym/ it's similar to that.
Then we work triceps and use dumbbells to lift while working triceps then we finish again on the floor...

Tuesday and Thursday we walk 5 miles for cardio.

I'll apologize for this long post. I just recently had a very similar conversation with a friend that's 350+ lbs.

Work up to a brisk walk of an hour in length. Helps with endurance, light cardio, lower impact so you doesn't put as much stress on your knees. At higher weights, that's an easy injury that can be so incredibly disheartening. Plus, use that time to mentally prepare yourself. Your mind runs your body, it activates your muscles, etc. Having the right mindset, determination, and focus can keep you going during those times doubts might creep in.

As previously stated you can also work in some bodyweight exercises, some you can do at home. Bodyweight squats for instance are fantastic. You can do them in as little room as it takes to stand with some moderate arm range freedom (for balance). Work up to 5 sets of 30-50 reps. Do knee-pushups, set a goal of total reps and do however many sets to failure (be that 2 or 40 reps) until you achieve your total rep goal. 10 sets of 10 reps? that's 100 reps. Then step it up, do regular pushups to failure and then do knee-pushups as needed, with the mindset you're working towards meeting your rep goal in regular pushup form. Remember doing jumping-jacks as a kid? The rapid fully body movement is great to get the heart moving a little.
I know, I feel silly when I do them also. But you know what, I do them between sets of walking lunges and my fat just cries for me to stop (i.e. I'm sweating like crazy).

Do some leg lifts, knee lifts, medicine ball crunches. Grab a dumbell and while standing, do some side bends. Work those obliques a little. Strengthening your core will help with keeping the proper form in other exercises and reduce injury risks from not properly supporting your body.

Mix it up, find exercises you enjoy but don't avoid the ones that are 'just tough' to do. Over time you'll find some 'favorite muscles' but don't forget about the other ones.

Also, those body squats, jumping jacks, and pushups? Mix them in with split routines for a little added HIIT action. Doing arms/shoulders/chest that day? Do a set of 20 bodysquats (or more, push yourself) between sets. Or, 10+ crunches. Leg day? Drop and give me 20 pushups! You'll be proud of yourself when you realize that during your arm day, you also do 240 bodysquats.

Don't forget though, it's not just about reps or weight moved. The better you can be on your form (get those squats down to hip/knee parallel or better to activate the glutes and hams, feel the chest and triceps contract during the pushups) the better return you'll get from your hard work.

And it's okay to use light weight. 3lbs on the shoulder press? No problem. Control it, get full range of motion, and squeeze the contraction. Get the most out of every rep. Be effective and efficient with your time in the gym.

Also, start reading around. There are a ton of workout programs out there, some focused more on fat burning, others building mass, etc. Ex. Dr. Jim Stoppani's shortcut-to-shred or a Musclepharm's Bizzy Diet on Bodybuilding.com (you can search for it to find it quickly on that site). Substitute exercises you can't do yet, ex. do tricep push-down machine or bench dips instead of regular dips.

You're on myfitnesspal.com so I'm going to assume you're tracking your diet. That's a great start, so you know what you're putting into your body. Some of the workout plans (Bizzy Diet for example) also has a diet plan in there. Now, everyone's body is a little different, but general guidelines can be beneficial because there is soo much information out there. It's nice to just have a list going into the gym or the grocery store in the beginning to help you in a direction.


Remember you're just starting out, so work in slow but don't cheat yourself by sandbagging too much
You'll get out of it what you put into it. And this isn't just about losing lbs or inches. If you truly want to transform yourself, it's a lifestyle change.

Remember we all have faith in you, but you must first have the drive and faith in yourself. Wish you the very best!