If Insanity is Not Appropriate for Obese People....

Walking worked well for me, in the beginning. I got so I could walk and jog over 4 miles in an hour back in January...maybe the cold weather helped a little with that.

I started 30 Day Shred in February and really like that...burn more calories in 25 minutes than I could walking for 90 minutes.

I really would like to start running some this summer. Personally, I haven't tried Insanity or P90X, yet.

I was obese (and still are according to the BMI charts) when I started insanity.
I completed the whole thing without missing a single workout, It required an almost military discipline but it was worth it. I did not lose a lot of weight (just around 7 lb) but measurements, looks and body recomposition was literally spectacular. I went from pant size 36 to 33 and from large shirts to medium ones.

In my opinion it is possible to do insanity being obese BUT:::::

be prepared, a GOOD ($$$) pairs of trainer shoes (in my case I used crocs sandals) and PLEASE buy a thick foam carpet!!! (this is the most important thing) and pace yourself, try NOT to stop but to go slow.

I had a lot of pain in my right knee just at the middle of the 63 days, but I kept going and kept pushing hard! and digging deeper! when I finished, I took a 2 weeks rest and my pain magically disappeared. 1 week ago I started an hybrid program (Insanity (only 1st month exercises), a modified version of C25k, stability ball and Body for Life). This is working wonders for me.

I have not weighted myself in a while but I dont really care about the scale, I am feeling so fit and motivated (and I am still obese) LOL

As an overweight person with a bad back and hip, I had to find a routine that didn`t injure me. So I went for a treadmill, water exercise and tai chi. I also have an exercycle that I use off and on. It is an inferior piece of equipment compared to my treadmill, and so I tend not to use it as much. But the exercycle is great if you are over weight because it does not stress your joints. Park it and the treadmill in front of a big screen TV, and there is no boredom factor to discourage you.

I started on the treadmill at about 2 km/hr, and worked my way up through the various programs until I am now walking 4.7 km/hour. Not aiming to run because of bad knees. But this slow working up has had me in a sweat almost every time I get on the treadmill.

Aquafitness puts you through a routine, and uses water resistence to build up muscle strength. It involves a great deal of body movement, but because you are held up by the water, you can jump to your heart's content, and not get hurt. I do about 60-90 minutes of swimming before and after the aquafitness class. This burns a huge amount of calories about twice a week.

Tai Chi is nice and slow, exercises all of your joints, and uses your own body weight to build up your strength. I do 90 min of tai chi twice a week, and this also has an incredible rate of burn. I do yang-style tai chi. If you go this route, make sure you shop for a good tai chi master. They are not all equal, and some practice in a manner that is hard on the knees. All of those I tried would allow for 1 free lesson to see if it was for you. I searched for a long time before I found my Chinese instructor, who is a tai chi champion back in China. Over the past year, I have gained a lot of strength and flexibility from tai chi practice, and would recommend it over yoga. I practiced yoga for most of my life until I had to give it up. Tai Chi does more for your body.

After a year of doing the above, I am now moving into my first classes: a class of exercises for people with bad backs involving mat exercises and weight lifting; and a Pilates class. Both are once a week. Next fall, I will try out a gymn class. I've lost a lot of weight, and am ready for some above ground work, confident that if I don't go too fast, I should make progress there too.

So that is what worked for me. I hope that you will find what works for you, and what you will enjoy.

Losing weight is mostly calorie regulation. The only thing cardio does for you other than heart health is increase how much food you can eat. No matter what cardio you do or do not do, if you're not eating at a reasonable deficit (80%) of your maintenance calories (basal metabolic rate + total daily energy expenditure) you're not going to lose the weight no matter how much of whatever cardio you do.

As for what's comfortable but still effective for those classified as obese, I cannot stress enough the use of the elliptical runner for low/no impact running. 45-60 minutes at a 7-8 mph pace is about perfect, as it becomes easier just up the resistance.

Swimming is also amazing, as well as providing relief for your joints while you're in the water and more buoyant due to fat floating. I warn you from experience however, that if you're in the pool for 45-60 minutes, those that are extremely obese like I was will definitely feel how fat they are when they get out of the pool and the weight on their frames "returns".

The only other thing I'd recommend is weight training to increase your lean body mass, which in turn raises your basal metabolic rate, basically translating into raising how many calories you need in a day just to exist.

I was in that category (about 200 to lose) and started with Jillian's 30 day shred. After day 1 I thought I would die. After day 2, I was sooooo, tired. After day 3, I was surprised when the 20 minutes was up (thought I had much longer to go). By days 5 and 6 I was taking no rests, and powering through on things like pushups that I'd NEVER thought I'd be able to do.

I lost inches from everywhere and never looked back. I haven't tried insanity, but can thoroughly recommend 30 Day Shred.

And for my rest days (because I was addicted by then) I did Leslie Sansone Walk at Home. Exercised different muscle groups so I started to see some big changes in my thighs.

Good luck!

I started with Leslie Sansone's Walk at Home DVDs as well... she just released one that is a 5 day program with some light strength training/toning after each walk. Might be worth looking into.

I highly recommend TurboJam!!!!!!

I also do the Walk at Home, I've been doing some HIIT type stuff at the gym (on the arc trainer), also been doing Biggest Loser dvds...LOVE them!!!

High Intensity Interval Training. I will sprint for 5 minutes on the elliptical, then do strength training for 5 minutes with resistance bands or weights, then sprint for 5 minutes, then do push ups and crunches for 5, etc. etc. I do an hour total, so 30 minutes total on the elliptical and 30 doing strength and calisthenics.

I wouldn't say this is exactly HIIT. To me, HIIT is doing something like jogging/sprinting...going balls to wall for about a minute, recover for two, and so on. Or on the stair stepper or elliptical.....all out for a minute or two, then recover for two.

The training you described is more of a circuit type of training....since you aren't staying with the same exercise. Plus, if you're doing 5 minutes of sprinting....then it's probably more so running, than sprinting.

I agree with the second discription... The first discription is more circuit

I haven't read all of the replies but Turbo Fire just came out with a new low impact "Fire Starter" program that you might love. High intensity, low impact = awesome. Plus, she is FUN.