Excercise for Person Over 250 lbs ??

[jetsy62 0]

I was banded 9/23 and have lost 30 pounds. Started out at 305 pounds so you can do the math. I know I need to exercise more. I walk the treadmill 20 minutes a day at home. I joined a gym and that has turned out to be a joke. A little skinny fit person went through the machines with me and told me what I had to do before and after my workout regarding cardio. Well, no matter how hard I try, I can't do it. I am too fat to do what they are expecting. If I could do the arch machine for 30 minutes I would. It is kind of like a stair climber in a way. I can't. I really thought I was having a heart attack. In fact, one of the other ladies came over and asked if I was alright. The little skinny girl told me after a few times I will be just fine with it. I was the fattest person in there. Maybe I am just making excuses and there is no difference in someone 300 pounds being able to exercise the same as someone 150 pounds. Would someone who has been there give me an idea of what I should be doing at this weight so I can increase my exercise and stick with it without giving up which is what I have done in regards to the gym. Maybe I should just concentrate on cardio for now. Or maybe not. I need advice please from someone who has been there.

[Blaze21 5]

I started at 257 pounds and all I was able to really do was walk and use try to use the elliptical. Have you tried the elliptical machine? It's very low impact and burns a lot of calories.

[rustypup 0]

I have not exercise in years and I am over 300. I bought a exercise bike before I was banded. I started only being able to ride for 2 min for the first month and now I am doing 5 min. I could use some help too! I have bad knees and my Dr. said no walking. Thank for any help you can give.

[Jachut 487]

Dont lose hope and dont listen to the little skinny instructor. Its incredibly hard to put yourself in another's shoes physically, I get really frustrated with DH becuase he wont/cant powerwalk as fast as I can and totally forget there once a time when I couldnt keep up with HIM.

The trick is to slow down. You shouldnt feel like you're having a heart attack, that's too intense. You only push like that if you're doing cardio intervals, you maintain it for like a minute and then you slow down and recover.

If you can adjust your intensity on the arch machine, then do so, otherwise do something like the treadmill, bike, rower or elliptical.

The rules change as you get fitter - I love to grind myself to a pulp these days, lol - but for now, you need to keep it at a level that you can sustain for 20 minutes or so - becuase early on, you need cardio sessions that are like 40 mins to an hour to really burn fat off. So its pointless going so hard that you're whacked after five minutes.

Getting used to the sensation of exercise is hard, if its not difficult and has you sweating and breathless, its not going to achieve much long term. You have to commit to working quite hard. But you shouldnt be about to die or throw up or both.

Dont be afraid to ask for help either - say to the skinny biatch "look, this is just too HARD, I feel like I'm about to die, how can I moderate this a bit to work me until I *AM* able to do it that way".

also, a heart rate monitor can be a REAL help at this stage, where you can read your heart rate and know that your intesnity is safe, until you can read your body more accurately. If you're not a long term exerciser and dont know how it should feel, you can have trouble finding an effective level of intensity.

I've read lots about the "perfect" exercise and I've come to the conclusion that its the one you will do. It can also be very offputting and bamboozling when people scoff at your exercise choice and bang on about how you have to build lean muscle with weights etc etc when you're just starting out. For what its worth, what worked for me was pure cardio for the weight loss part of my journey. Yes, I was lucky to be fitter and I chose to take up running, but honestly, the intensity of what I did over that time was long and slow, with sessions of 30 to 45 minutes. I probably could have lost faster with a high Protein diet and lots of weight lifting, but I just plaind idnt want to do it, I wanted to run. When I got to goal, I upped the intensity of my running purely becuase I had other goals like personal best times and stuff, the cardio on its own WAS and IS fine for me to lose and maintain weight.

But being the perfectionist that I am, I want this perfect body, I need hard cardio interval training and serious strength training now - I'm fine tuning.

If you want to do those things that's great but if you want to keep it uncomplicated, walking, progressing to powerwalking and even running, and things liek the elliptical and bike are absolutely perfect and can be done at a low enough intensity to enable you to gain fitness without killing yourself.

Edited December 12, 2008 by Jachut

[Tess415 1]

I started my exercise program when I weighed 364 pounds...now, down 70 pounds, I do the treadmill pre-programmed for interval walking for 35 min. I started just walking for 15 min at a time, now I use the programs on there for a change on venue!! Also, I do this recumbent cross-trainer (seated stepper) as a warm up for 1000 steps to limber up.

Use the weights that they have shown you too every bit helps.

I have MS, and balance issues so I am limited in some of the things I will put my body thru... but you can't go wrong with walking or biking!!!! Get an ipod, load up good tunes and away you go!!!!!!

[losingjusme 12]

i started at 402(.5).... my first few days at the gym consisted of me walking up the steps to the work out area (i mean really, why put stuff on the 2nd floor *eyeroll*) and going on the treadmill for less than 10 minutes - i think my first was about 5ish ... at about 2 MPH.

as Jachut said, take it SLOW... build up to it.... do stuff you kinda like to do, try to vary it up a bit. i got horrible shin splints after 3 months of just treadmill, so i did the killer elliptical.

i started LOVING going to the gym.... working out replaced my food addiction... i'd go 8-12 times a week for 90+ minutes each time. i was dropping the pounds like nothing (lost 100 in under six months)....

you can do it.... do give yourself a break though, dont listen to skinny young things trying to 'help' ... follow YOUR body, listen to it, it'll tell you when it really has had too much.

good luck!!

[jillrenee15 0]

You can see my ticker, so know where I've been. I just joined the free employee gym at work. I'm not losing very much and am hoping this will help me lose. I'm starting SLOW. I walk on the treadmill, I can only do about 20 minutes at 3.2 mph, with a 3% incline. Then maybe I'll do some arm work, and a little ab work. But I take my time. The elliptical scares me to death, but I'm hoping I can try it some time down the road. You have a treadmill at home, if you're not comfortable in front of other people, stick to that until you are more confident in your abilities. Use your treadmill, say 15 minutes in the morning, 15 after dinner. Nothing says you have to do all your exercise in one session. ANYTHING is better than nothing after all!!! I use my 5lb weights to work my arms at home. They are inexpensive. Use a jug of Water if you don't want to buy weights. I too am the biggest person there I feel, and don't like going when it's busy. I wish I had a treadmill at home! Good luck and don't give up, you are worth it, and the more often you do it the easier it will get!

[Tabithan 19]

Hey there!!!!

You may want to consider GROUP CLASSES that allow you to self-pace at the gym - go to the back of the class and follow the instructor, just pace yourself and do what you can do, without OVER or UNDER excerting.

The beauty about group classes is that you are in the presence of others, and that always does something to a person's motivation to accomplish.

And dont mind those skinny people - what do they and their judgemental selves know? keep in mind that MOST people there will NOT be thinking "ooh she is so fat" - they will Be thinking - WOW - if she can make the effort to come to the gym, what's my excuse? You in yourself can be motivation to others.

Also, come here to LBT for motivation.

Wishing you the best!!!

[Fluffynotstuffy 0]

I am now 266, started at 304. I have been using a recumbent exercise bike, for the last 2 months. I started out only able to do 15 mins, now I can do 50 mins, using the uphill button. I have severe arthritis in both my hips and knees, and it is the easiest thing I found to use. Just start off slow, you can do it, just don't give up.

[kossde 6]

I do a 2 day on, 1 day off exercise routine. When I exercise I do 15 minutes at approx. 6 mph on the elliptical then 16 minutes on the treadmill. On the treadmill I currently do 2.5 mins walk followed by 2.5 mins jog at three sessions. I also spend about 10-15 minutes doing various weight lifting.

I should make it clear that I can run 2.5 mins now as opposed to 30 seconds when I started. I could always do 15 on the elliptical, but started out at 3 mph. I’ve been exercising for about three months now. I’m really not pushing myself too hard, although I am burning 300 calories per exercise session.

Also, my exercise routine is a bit shorter than other peoples because I have to make sure I don’t spend too much time at the gym. I’m the kind of person with about a 2 month activity-attention span. This means, I tend to dive into a new ‘activity’, obsess with it for 2 months, get over it and stop doing it entirely. Basically, if I don’t pace myself, I will exercise about 2 hours a day for 2 months, burn out and stop going entirely.

My goal is to be able to jog for 30 minutes in a row so that I can get in 30 minutes of good cardio at home. That will mean that I won’t have to drive to the gym every day just to work out. Like I said, though, I’m taking it very slow. I read that couch to 5k thing a few minutes ago and it seems like I really need to step it up, huh? I might test myself next time I go to the gym and see how much I actually can run.

[stevegoad 32]

Started at 412 - Water Aerobics and swimming (I have bad enough arthritis in my ankles to where I have been advised not to do running type things, no matter how slim I get).

I also do walk, but it is mostly Water things.

[Jachut 487]

Kossde, I love your attitude. That's exactly what I was like, I"d go bull at a gate at something and burn out. I really really held myself back when I started running and took it SLOWLY. It took me a year to run a 10K, when technically you could start as a newbie and train for that in 3 months.

I have NEVER had a serious running injury, anything that's stopped me exercising. And now I am rewarded for patience by being ble to go out and burn 7 or 800 calories in a session without having to drive anywhere, meet any timetable, get wet, spend money etc. Its fantastic.

[RedTulips3 0]

Jetsy- First of all, congratulations on losing 30lbs! Don't listen to anyone else or think about what others are may or may not be thinking about you. Just do what you can do in terms of exercise. Taking it slowly is KEY! How can you expect to go from being sedentary to extremely active if you don't work your way up?

Last August I weighed 305lbs. I started out at Curves, which gave me a 30 min. structured workout that I could do suited to my level of ability. I also started walking on the treadmill at 3mph. Then I worked my way up to 3.5mph when I felt ready. I could barely jog for 30 seconds without getting out of breath. So I started with 30 seconds, and moved onto 1 min when I felt ready, then 2 then 3 etc. I

And this wasn't in the privacy of my own home on a treadmill. This was right next to people who were running at who knows what speeds. I knew I didn't have the ability to do that yet and I had to just focus on myself instead of thinking that I looked really stupid walking so slowly. I did what I had to do and worked my way up and now, 16 months and -130lbs later, I can run a mile in under 10 min. I walk at 4mph+ and can run comfortably at 6mph.

Aside from Curves which I really only did for the first month and a half, I was mostly doing cardio on the treadmill. I also used a few of the machines. Cardio is good for building up your endurance and stamina. Only a year later did I add in weight training. I was fortunate enough to receive proper instruction from a personal trainer and now I have a large repetoire of exercises that I know how to do now with free weights and it's great! I really enjoy the weight training as an addition to my cardio.

Keep in mind the big picture and don't feel intimidated that you can't exercise for x amount of minutes or at x speed on the treadmill or elliptical. Just do what you can! Keep up the great work! Good luck with everything!

[ninner 0]

I like the elliptical and use it at least twice a week. My only problem with it is that after a while it becomes almost effortless and then I need to change things up, I usally walk more when this happens. I have a tread mill at home also but only use it when I can't make it to the gym or walk outside. when I get below 250 lbs I plan to start the couch to 5k program. Until then my PTA wife wants me to start running in the pool to build bone density or some foolishness, who knows I may give it a try.

[slimteacherin08 0]

I know when I was over 320 pounds I would do Water aerobics. My gym offered it three nights a week. That was a good work out for me. Then two nights out of the week I would walk my neighborhood, just setting little goals while walking (i.e. I will walk to the street light and back) and then add on. GOOD LUCK!