Still in the "obese" category when should weight training be

i started when I was 7 pounds away from being underweight. BAD IDEA. I wish i would have started sooner. Personally, I would start now, but do not make it your main focus! I would focus more on cardio. As you lose more weight, add more strgenth

I totally agree! Just know that you may not see a loss initially because, as with any new exercise, your muscles may retain water as they heal...but once your body adjusts, it will release the excess. Make sure you're eating plenty of protein too!

7 weeks sounds like you have started to get in shape a bit, not sure where you heard you should wait to do weights, but I think if you are feeling up to it, you should do it. I know I didn't start losing size much until I started building more muscle. Start slowly, small weights, few reps and build up to more as you gain strength. You'll love the results!

I am still in the Obese category myself and I do weight training every other day. I alternate between Cardio and weights. I've never heard anyone say that you should wait till your slim down . Muscle burns more plain and simple. Cardio is great too. I use to be afraid of weight training because I thought I would look like those women who you could barely tell they were women anymore. But I realize that wont happen or at least not by doing the program I am using (P90X Lean). Good Luck to you.

Echo everyone above. No reason not to start.

Yes, you also just need to be prepared to IGNORE your scale for a week or so since your muscles WILL cling to more water and your weight could level or go up slightly - but remembering that your main goal needs to be long-term fat loss, and that muscle weight gain is ALL GOOD for that will help this shift. Focusing instead on measurements, which WILL dip even if the scale doesn't when you start weight training, can help a great deal.

Ideas for getting started: Best choice, pay for a session with a personal trainer at your local YMCA or other affordable gym. Get them to show you exercises you can do at home, too, using body weight and light hand weights (I do not have a gym membership and do all my strength at home). Ask them to explain some principles of circuit training and try it out. A circuit of quicker resistance will make your muscles sore and also give you a cardio workout at the same time - big metabolism booster.
In absence of a trainer, I'd definitely look at women's fitness magazines, which publish various routines monthly with notes and pictures for form, and do modifications if necessary, or check out any of the major free fitness sites (including magazine sites, but livestrong and sparkpeople come to mind). Also check out www.collagevideo.com and look at their toning and mixed aero/toning DVD choices - they rank all DVDs by difficulty level so you can tell that quite easily, and you can watch long clips from all the videos and read user reviews. A good instructor on a DVD is priceless.
Finally, you won't be able to hurt yourself doing the following body-weight moves: pushups modified as needed (either from your knees, or on your feet but with your hands on an elevated surface, from chair to table height, if needed); triceps dips from a chair (slide your butt forward off a bench or chair, holding most of your weight on your hands, but using your feet to assist if needed, and dip down, bending elbows as far as you can stand, and back up, as many times as you can with good form); squats, lunges and one-leg step-ups to a higher step or bench, one-leg squats. You can find examples of all of these moves on youtube or on the Web sites for women's fitness magazines, Livestrong.com, Sparkpeople.com etc.

Start YESTERDAY. I started strength training about 2 months into my weight loss & I firmly believe it has everything to do with minimizing the amount of flab I still have & reshaping my body in general. I think it's even more important for those of us trying to lose lots of weight (I'm shooting for >100 lbs myself) since we have more reshaping to do.

It will help you retain the muscle you have & depending on how aggressively you train, you can even increase your muscle mass, which you want because the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn at rest = faster metabolism!

Not to mention that feeling strong is AWESOME.

Weight training should always be incorporated to a weight loss routine.

Otherwise you could very well only be losing muscle. If your watching what you eat and exercising to include weights no matter how small then you should lose fat.

Plus if you just lose fat and gain no muscle you run the risk of skinny fat.

I need to lose about 75 pounds, and I do weight training as part of my routine. I do 30 minutes on the elliptical, mainly to build endurance and heart health. I also do about 25 minutes of strength training (arms and abs every other day, legs and abs every other day). I'm not sure why someone told you to wait until you'd lost weight, because strength training will help you burn more fat when you're not working out.

You might want to read "New Rules of Lifting for Women". I'm getting a lot of good info from it. I want to start the workouts as soon as my doctor allows it (I'm recovering from gallbladder surgery). I'll continue doing my cardio, because I find it's helping with my endurance (used to not be able to climb a set of stairs without getting winded!), but I want to step up the weight training. Women are not going to bulk up without the use of pharmaceutical help, and weight training actually helps strengthen bones as well as muscle. So go ahead and start! Just consult with a trainer or something so your form is correct. Wrong form can cause injury, so you want to make sure you are doing the exercises the right way.

Good luck!

I just wanted to say that I agree with everyone; start weight training now! I started at the beginning, when I was 3 lbs obese. I am now 3 lbs into the healthy category just 4 months later! It burns a lot of calories & building muscle makes you stronger & healthier! I am a big advocate for strength training! Good luck & congrats on your success so far!

Per the American College of Sports Medicine Guidelines on exercise for Overweight and Obese:


Frequency: >= 5 days per week

Intensity: Moderate (40-60% of Heart Rate Reserve) and progressing to vigorous (50-75% of Heart Rate Reserve)

Time: 30 to 60 minutes per day to total a minimum of 150 minutes per week progressing up to 300 minutes per week. Some people may need to progress to 450 minutes per week in order to see weight loss.

Type: Primarily aerobic activities that involve the large muscle groups. Resistance training exercise should be incorporated as part of a balanced exercise program that is consistent with the recommendations for healthy adults.


The ACSM recommendations for Resistance Training for Healthy Adults:

Frequency: 2-3 days per week with at least 48 hours separating exercise training for the same muscle group

Type: Multijoint exercises affecting more then one muscle group and targeting agonist and antagonist (opposing) muscle groups. Single joint exercise targeting major muscle groups may also be included.

Repetitions and Sets: Adults should train each muscle group for a total of 2 to 4 sets with 8 to 12 repetitions per set with a rest interval of 2 to 3 minutes between sets to improve muscular fitness. For older adults and very deconditioned persons, one or more sets of 10 to 15 repetitions of moderate intensity (60-70% of 1 Rep Max) resistance are recommended.

Yep, that's right. The ACSM recommends not only resistance training for the obese population but to do it at 60-70% of 1 rep max. So, go grab your weights!