Obese....best excercise

Jrodsway
Jrodsway Posts: 9 Member
edited December 3 in Fitness and Exercise
So I started at 430lbs and now I am at 360....I tend to go all in and push myself to a place where I fail....what are some good ideas on excercise for someone as heavy as me?

Jrod

Replies

  • SonyaCele
    SonyaCele Posts: 2,841 Member
    you can lift weights, or do yoga . just avoid high impact stuff until your weight is down.
  • Jrodsway
    Jrodsway Posts: 9 Member
    A few of my friends....skinny punks like to push pretty hard and I end up hurting my knees....tough to not feel like a freaking wimp....ready to be down so I can never feel that way again
  • morefirejules08
    morefirejules08 Posts: 1 Member
    I would suggest swimming and cycling, both low impact so shouldn't cause pain in your knees. I went from 21st to 15st by swimming and cycling 3-4 times a week as well as changing my diet. Just build up lengths/distance slowly over a few weeks until you're burning your calorie goal.
  • dead1te
    dead1te Posts: 8 Member
    brisk walking and swimming, swimming is an all body exercise
  • olymp1a
    olymp1a Posts: 1,766 Member
    Swimming is the best I can think of. Full body exercise, great for any body type and weight and 0 chance of injuries. If you do not have access to a swimming pool then walk.
  • BigGuy47
    BigGuy47 Posts: 1,768 Member
    Jrodsway wrote: »
    ...tough to not feel like a freaking wimp
    You're not a wimp, you're simply out of shape. Pushing too hard too fast will lead to injury putting you farther away from your goals. The habit of exercise and the physical adaptations take time. Think of it as a flywheel that takes months to spin up to speed. On the upside, once you.get the wheel moving it's hard to stop.

    FWIW, I agree that a low impact.exercise is a good starting point.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    Please elaborate on "push ... to fail". I've heard of exercising muscles 'to failure', but I don't get that this is what you're talking about. Are you, instead, saying that you exercise really hard and get discouraged with the scale not moving and then give up ... failure? I get the sense from your brief introduction that you want a hard way to get slim. Sorry, we only have the easy way here. Eat a little less and move a little more.
  • janettles
    janettles Posts: 69 Member
    edited September 2016
    Yes, I am wondering what you mean by "push... to fail". If you are overtraining, which results in a kind of burnt-out feeling of despondency or depression or anger, then learning how to use a heart rate monitor can give you early warning when you have pushed too hard.
  • wolfgate
    wolfgate Posts: 321 Member
    Swim, cycle, lift weights
  • Jrodsway
    Jrodsway Posts: 9 Member
    I have several guys that weigh about 150lbs less than me.....when we workout together their pace has to be much higher than mine....my heart rate gets to 155-165 with brisk walking and occasional burst of jogging.....the friends of mine push me to run and sprint more and it becomes very discouraging when you feel like your heart is going to beat out of your chest and are in pain.....therefor in the past I have given up and avoided them or exercising with them.
  • jessiferrrb
    jessiferrrb Posts: 1,758 Member
    Jrodsway wrote: »
    I have several guys that weigh about 150lbs less than me.....when we workout together their pace has to be much higher than mine....my heart rate gets to 155-165 with brisk walking and occasional burst of jogging.....the friends of mine push me to run and sprint more and it becomes very discouraging when you feel like your heart is going to beat out of your chest and are in pain.....therefor in the past I have given up and avoided them or exercising with them.

    They may not be in the right place to guide your training, even if their hearts are in the right place. you just can't go from 0-60 without hitting the speeds in between. brisk walking for longer distances may be a good place to start, occasionally jogging, if it doesn't hurt your joints or cause you to really lose your breath should be ok, sprinting may do more harm than good at this point.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    Jrodsway wrote: »
    I have several guys that weigh about 150lbs less than me.....when we workout together their pace has to be much higher than mine....my heart rate gets to 155-165 with brisk walking and occasional burst of jogging.....the friends of mine push me to run and sprint more and it becomes very discouraging when you feel like your heart is going to beat out of your chest and are in pain.....therefor in the past I have given up and avoided them or exercising with them.

    You need to walk (and exercise) to your own drummer. They might not be the best exercise buddies for you right now and that's ok. Keep doing what you need to do FOR YOURSELF.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Jrodsway wrote: »
    I have several guys that weigh about 150lbs less than me.....when we workout together their pace has to be much higher than mine....my heart rate gets to 155-165 with brisk walking and occasional burst of jogging.....the friends of mine push me to run and sprint more and it becomes very discouraging when you feel like your heart is going to beat out of your chest and are in pain.....therefor in the past I have given up and avoided them or exercising with them.

    Perhaps these aren't the best exercise buddies to have right now...you can't compare your fitness to other people who have been doing whatever for however long...building up fitness takes time and patience and being at your weight, you really shouldn't be doing high impact stuff...

    Stick to low impact stuff...hell, I'm not even overweight and I stick to low impact stuff...I much prefer cycling and swimming and going for a nice walk to running...and frankly, all of the HIIT/sprinting stuff is just trendy and not particularly necessary from a general fitness standpoint...
  • rankinsect
    rankinsect Posts: 2,238 Member
    Jrodsway wrote: »
    I have several guys that weigh about 150lbs less than me.....when we workout together their pace has to be much higher than mine....my heart rate gets to 155-165 with brisk walking and occasional burst of jogging.....the friends of mine push me to run and sprint more and it becomes very discouraging when you feel like your heart is going to beat out of your chest and are in pain.....therefor in the past I have given up and avoided them or exercising with them.

    Don't exercise with them. Frankly I don't like trying to keep anyone else's pace, period, and even fit individuals have a wide variety in terms of comfortable paces. If it's a walk or run, go individually and meet up at various points when you stop and rest.
  • tcunbeliever
    tcunbeliever Posts: 8,219 Member
    No matter what you weigh you are going to injure yourself if you don't listen to your body and keep your exercise to a level appropriate FOR YOU. Exercise is not a competition against other people, it's about growing what you can do over time and improving on your previous self. Try to put away the ego and focus on doing your best without hurting yourself. Time lost to injury is no progress at all.
  • janettles
    janettles Posts: 69 Member
    Congratulations on your new, more active, lifestyle! And it is super that you are monitoring your heart rates!
    The heart rates you have mentioned of 155-165 beats per minute are general guideline target heart rates for ages 20-29. If you are in that age range, then yes, keep doing what you are doing (brisk walking with occasional jogging) and perhaps find different workout buddies who will support the wisdom of your efforts.
  • cerise_noir
    cerise_noir Posts: 5,468 Member
    I vote for weightlifting, walking and swimming.
  • upoffthemat
    upoffthemat Posts: 679 Member
    You need to stop listening to people that aren't in your fitness universe. I am in similar shape to you. I have started working out before in better shape and in worse shape in previous weight loss journeys and I have had a huge tendency to start too fast, go too hard, expect too much and hurt myself.
    This time I am going slow, I am walking, when I finally get a little extra money I am buying some time with a trainer to get some weightlifting advice and I will slowly add more. But I am losing most of my weight in the kitchen for now.
    This weekend I went out and my dog and I went out and did at least 11 miles of walking around the local trails at various paces. That is something I have worked up to and in the past I would have been embarrassed I didn't run or do more, but I am dragging 390 pounds around and I am doing it. The good thing is I am still feeling good enough to do more today.. and tomorrow etc.
    This is about making new habits and consistency. I can add intensity later. Every little bit I am doing now is so much more than I was doing a few months ago. I expect in a few months I will be doing a lot more, but I don't want another injury to sideline me and stop me from consistently going out and doing SOMETHING.
  • irtrail
    irtrail Posts: 18 Member
    I have been at 360 before. It's not fun. You'll spend a lot of time at the gym wondering what it's like to be the guy with ripped abs and probably more girlfriends than he can remember names for.

    But, you must make it clear in your own mind that your ONLY competition is your self and who you were yesterday. When your goals are yours and not someone else's, the pain of failure will be far less. You'll learn how to work out that pushes you to YOUR limit. If that means 10 minutes on the elliptical and two laps around the track at a brisk walk. Fine. But, tomorrow, push for another minute. Another lap. Another rep.

    Also, being a big person means you do quite a bit of lifting throughout the day. Capitalize on that with some good compound lifts. Your muscles are already strong, so beef up a bit with more strength training. The extra muscle burns more fat as you walk around, take the stairs, or whatever you normally do. I don't do a lot of reps. I lift as heavy as I can and enjoy the feeling when I put another 20 on the machine that I couldn't a week ago.

    For more practical advice:

    If you can get used to the elliptical, it doesn't have the impact that the treadmill has. The added resistance is nice and gives a better cardio.

    It's always intrigued me why people tell guys my size that swimming is a good idea. There are obvious reasons we don't prefer that.

    Also remember that fat is a very efficient energy storage mechanism. It takes a long time to burn it off. So, an hour or two at a medium-fast pace on the machine is better for us. I tried HIIT once and it was embarrassing and ineffective.

    The most important thing is that you get to the gym. Do what you can. Don't over do it. We're in this so we can be around a few more years. Don't kill yourself getting healthy.

    Hang in there. I know what it's like.
  • sunnybeaches105
    sunnybeaches105 Posts: 2,831 Member
    edited September 2016
    Jrodsway wrote: »
    I have several guys that weigh about 150lbs less than me.....when we workout together their pace has to be much higher than mine....my heart rate gets to 155-165 with brisk walking and occasional burst of jogging.....the friends of mine push me to run and sprint more and it becomes very discouraging when you feel like your heart is going to beat out of your chest and are in pain.....therefor in the past I have given up and avoided them or exercising with them.

    Never pass up the chance to work out with people in better shape than you. Just be honest with them (they already know you're not going to keep up) and honest with yourself (don't let your ego get you in trouble). When I started this I worked out with a group of marathoners who wouldn't stop pushing me. Obviously, you don't want to work out with jake legs, but if they're supportive and good natured then keep it up. I personally always found that motivating and still do.

    As for your question, walking, weightlifting, bodyweight work, and pretty much anything else you can do and that keeps you coming back.
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,590 Member
    Anything low impact or non impact. Don't try to run when this heavy, you'll bash your knees and ankles into oblivion and be unable to breathe. Walking on a non concrete surface is good, swimming is good, elliptical or stationary (or regular) bike. Lifting.
  • cindijojo
    cindijojo Posts: 1 Member
    Can I just say first of all...WOW! You've lost 70 pounds man, that's incredible!! Congrats to that, I'm impressed. Now I'm not a dude, and our overall situations are very different, except for the "all out" approach. Like you, in the past, I almost set myself up for failure by trying to go balls to the wall when I felt highly motivated. I would start some exercise "program", do it religiously for a coupke weeks, Then...when the least thing gets in the way (chest cold, or waning motivation/bad day etc), its so easy to just stop, and then I would cycle all over again....usually after gaining back all or more of the weight I had lost.

    Well no more! Ive been walking, doing structured weight lifting workout plans that get my heart going, but at a pace that won't leave me completely exhausted the next day. The biggest change for me is truly following a smart calorie reduction plan.

    I have been doing the exercising alone, without a workout partner, but have lost 10 lbs so far. I feel ya, and Im sure your buddies mean well, but don't try to "keep up" with them. My biggest competitor now is myself. Im going to beat "her" at her bad habits and poor excuses. :) good luck and again, be proud of those 70 lbs, and your motivation level!
  • fredericktambunan
    fredericktambunan Posts: 63 Member
    Lift weights and don't quit
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