Too "heavy" to work out... Any tips??

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  • FitOldMomma
    FitOldMomma Posts: 790 Member
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    Find the right exercise for YOU.

    I started at 296.5 and I have one knee that is so bad with arthritis I'm going to have replacement surgery this fall. I can't walk but 1/2 a block, but I can swim for a mile now.. And THAT is what has helped me shed 42 pounds since March. Also, recumbent style stationary bikes work great for big people with bad knees.

    In fact, if you talk to many obese people it is usually their knees that give them hell. But lo and behold; they start moving and losing weight and the knee pain is greatly reduced.

    So, find the exercise that will work for you. Good luck.
  • wheird
    wheird Posts: 7,963 Member
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    When you are still at a heavy weight, ANY movement that you do is simply amazing for your health.

    I always recommend that you start out walking. Start slow as needed. Start taking 5 minute walks 4x per week or even daily. Then the next week increase to 10 minutes. Then next week 15 minutes. And so on. Once you get to over an hour or 3 miles of walking in one session, I would consider starting a "Pre-C25K" type regimen of jogging/walking. Get good shoes. Shoes are important.

    You can also get exercise bands and start to slowly strengthen your muscles. Many of these things you can do while watching TV.


    Once you feel more comfortable, THEN you might consider going to the gym to start a weight lifting program or a fitness class, depending on your goals and preferences.
  • sweetnsassy1491
    sweetnsassy1491 Posts: 95 Member
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    I was 39 and over 297 pounds at 5'4, when I first started I felt the same way. I started very slow. Light weights, then very light cardio. I started on the bike, doing 10 minutes at first. I slowly added more time and then resistance. It hasn't been very long at all, but I'm in way better physical health. Just keep trying...before long you will be doing cardio for 45 min- hour and wonder where the time went.
  • JulieGirl58
    JulieGirl58 Posts: 158 Member
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    I bought an expensive life time pass to a gym and drove there once a week. But I never went inside. Right next door was a movie theater, which is where I ended up each week with buttered popcorn. After a year my husband said, "All that working out doesn't seem to be helping." I had to confess, but I sure saw a lot of great movies. Gyms aren't for me. I ride my recumbent bike in the privacy of my own home. It is low impact, I set the time and resistance and I dress however I want, without any social anxiety. It's the best!!
  • cheripugh1
    cheripugh1 Posts: 357 Member
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    My heart wants it, my mind wants it, I feel motivated... Then I get to the gym and my body says Nope! I'm 5'2, 244, so I just feel too heavy to get moving and it's very discouraging. I also have knee pain from an old injury. Sigh... I don't know what to do.

    WATER... find a pool and use it! You can work out in it and not have any pain... it's how I started and still what I do and trust me if I can do it YOU can too! So if you don't have one at your home to use, then find the YMCA or Public pool... heck even the lake! Swim laps, jog in the water, aerobics' in the water, jumping jacks... tons of choices and the water makes it real easy.
  • jillxmadelynne
    jillxmadelynne Posts: 75
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    I have similar issues with both the weight and a bad knee. I was in a bad car accident last year and broke my leg. I had to have a rod put in and surgery on my knee. It has caused me chronic pain and my knee is always swollen. I started riding a stationary bike in physical therapy and it helped, but I got lazy and stopped. I just started back with the bike and have significantly improved my knee pain as well as burning lots of calories.
  • breefoshee
    breefoshee Posts: 398 Member
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    Do whatever you can do-- it doesn't have to be any crazy workouts like the ones you see on television. Make sure you are eating less than you burn, and you will lose weight. I started at 270lbs (now at 230) and would do things like trying to run up and down stairs for 20 minutes.. then I would be discouraged because I couldn't do it. Or I would try to do 100 squats with a bunch of jump and jacks and then wonder why I hated working out. Just take it slow and really focus on eating less than you burn. Log/ weigh everything you eat and do what you can do without completely hating it- exercise-wise.
  • highcarbveganzombie
    highcarbveganzombie Posts: 68 Member
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    Oh honey, I feel you. I'm 4 ft 10 and 260. Walking and a little bit of elliptical is all my poor body can handle. It's working though! Just start slow, five minutes if that's all you can do. I've finally built up to 36 minutes today. You can do it! <3

    Edit: I also agree with what someone above said. Swimming is great too!
  • bidimus
    bidimus Posts: 95 Member
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    I was 280 lbs and climbing when I was watching enviously as people ran through my neighborhood. For years I would say how I'd love to try running too but I had to lose the weight first. I never did. But in 2010 I got tired of waiting and started the C25k program. It starts out with walking and just a few seconds of running mixed in. That was the start of an obsessive and happy relationship with running.

    I lost 50 lbs during the first six months and ran my first 5k (which I thought I'd never do) that same year. There was no dieting or calorie counting going on at all. It was hard at first. I could feel the weight pull at my body and I felt large and clumsy. As I got stronger and lighter it became easier with less pain in my shins and knees. I also learned better technique which reduced the stress even more and allowed me to go further.

    Do what you can. Find the thing that sparks the fire in your belly and cease it. Don't let your weight hold you back. You're not too heavy to work out.
  • simplydelish2
    simplydelish2 Posts: 726 Member
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    Walking and the stationary bike are probably your two best bets. When I started this journey a good work out was to the end of the block and back, now I do a 5k 4-5 times a week.

    Push yourself further tomorrow than you went today. Listen to your body and it's pain - don't over do it so much that you injure yourself.

    Try all the machines and trainers at the gym. You'll find a trainer that is a good fit and machines that help build strength as well as the cardio. And don't be afraid of taking a Zumba or aerobics class - do the best you can and you'll be out doing the leader before long!

    Good luck!
  • Fatandfifty3
    Fatandfifty3 Posts: 419 Member
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    Every forest fire starts from a spark... just do what you can. Log everything you can including all the stuff you do generally. (I'll get some abuse about that I'm sure but before anyone kicks off at me, go and do a days housework carrying a 100lbs and then tell me that's not a work out!).
    The more you lose, the more you will be able to do exercise wise.
  • simplydelish2
    simplydelish2 Posts: 726 Member
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    Kettle bells are a great workout too!
  • dakotababy
    dakotababy Posts: 2,406 Member
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    I would highly suggest Leslie Sansone at home dvds. They are very good for beginners, you still get your heart rate right up there and it is all in the comfort of your own home. I add dumbbells to the workouts, after I lost significant amounts of weight.

    It is easy on the joins, enjoyable and effective. You need to start slow, work off some of the weight first. More importantly - find an exercise that you LOVE.
  • AmigaMaria001
    AmigaMaria001 Posts: 489 Member
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    I lost 45 lbs without exercising due to medical reason... NOW with that 45 lbs gone I can work out just like I used to. Don't worry about the exercise yet, just concentrate on losing the weight, then in 6 months you'll be shocked at how much better you feel and are able to work out.
    Best of luck.
  • nurit1979
    nurit1979 Posts: 88 Member
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    Like the others have stated, start slow. The elliptical is awesome. I also have an old knee injury and the elliptical is my best friend. Also, make sure you are eating healthy as well. While working out is a great way to create a deficit and lose weight, eating healthy will do that as well and you can actually lose quite a bit of weight up front just by eating properly. Once some of the weight comes off, you'll be able to be more active. You can do it!
  • AMHouse85
    AMHouse85 Posts: 285 Member
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    YouTube Leslie Sansone-Walk Away the Pounds. This is where I started at 5'7" and 260 lbs.
  • Adc7225
    Adc7225 Posts: 1,318 Member
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    You are where I started . . . July 2012, 5'2" and 244.4 lbs, 44 years old. I initially joined the gym before working on my diet and I went and did 15 minutes on the Stationary Bike and 15 minutes on the Ellipitical - remember Rome wasn't built in one day!


    You can do this, take your time, ignore all others around you and just remember this is all about you and your health :smile:
  • flatlndr
    flatlndr Posts: 713 Member
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    I started the year at 279 lbs (5'10", 51yr old male), with significant knee pain (400 mg of Ibuprofen, 3-4x a day, every day).
    I was on the verge of having to choose between losing weight or losing a knee, as my doctor put it. I didn't have access to a pool, so I started walking.

    When I started, I was all sweaty after walking a mile. Initially knee tenderness made it hard to go any farther, so in the second week, I did one morning walk, and one evening walk. Then I added a mid-day walk. Eventually I got to the point of doing a 3-4 mile walk in the morning, and another 2-3 miles in the evening. On the last two Saturdays, I did 9.5 mile walks on rolling terrain.

    So, I pretty much walked off the first 80 lbs, and the subsequent 20 lbs I burned off via the elliptical at the gym, 3x a week (plus some weight lifting as well).

    At this point I'm entirely off pain meds ... in each of June and July, I had just one dose ... that's one dose in the whole month, not one dose per day.

    Now I'm adding squats to my routine ... my goal is to be back on the slopes this winter.

    Net ... I was carrying a lot of weight, I had knee pain, and between changing my eating habits and ramping up the walking, I've dropped a significant amount of weight and virtually eradicated my knee pain. Some day I'll still need that surgery, but now it won't be until my 60s, rather than my early 50s.

    Take it one step at a time - literally and figuratively - and hopefully you'll get there as well.

    Best of luck!
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    I started in a similar position--5'3, 220, and recovering from a foot injury. If you have access to a pool, that's a great way to start, but what I mostly did was just decide I was going to walk as much as possible in my daily life. I switched up my commute from the bus right outside my place to the el that required a half mile walk, started walking to the store and for other daily errands, planned some longer errand-based walks on the weekend (I was not able to complete all of these in the beginning and had to hop on the bus when my foot started bothering me). At first I was frustrated and shocked by how out of shape I'd gotten (before I was so sedentary I walked everywhere), but my stamina improved very quickly. The only other thing I did at first was ride the stationary bike, starting on the lowest setting and moving it up as I could. The point was not to focus on workouts that would discourage me, but just starting where I was and working on it. The most important thing is just get started!
  • Jessie24330
    Jessie24330 Posts: 224 Member
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    I started at 280 on the elliptical. That is still what I use for 99% of my cardio. I try the treadmill every so often but it is too much impact on my knees and feet. This time I started out with 20 minutes of "walking" on the elliptical. The last time, a year and a half ago, I was working out I started at 5 minutes and added 5 minutes every week. It doesn't matter where you start, just start. Set a goal and stick to to. If you say that you are going to walk 5 minutes on the elliptical, then walk 5 minutes on the elliptical. Slow down if you have to or lower the resistance (if you even use it in the first place) but don't stop. Every time you stop short of your goal, no matter how small, it will make it that much easier to stop next time. Of course, if you are having chest pains or something is actually wrong than by all means stop. Sometime you have to deal with discomfort/pain in order to make that discomfort/pain go away. Exercise strengthens your muscles which will make it so you can exercise without pain. If it is unbearable pain than you really should have that checked out but if you go to PT for it they are just going to make you exercise it anyway. Just go slow and know that it will get better and you don't have to start out by outdoing the guy on the machine next to you. Try to match or outdo your last session and feel the pride in knowing you are making progress.

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