We all know exercise isn’t easy. It’s even harder when you’re just getting started. Add 50, 60, 70 … 100+ extra pounds to the mix? Exercise for overweight beginners can feel damn near impossible.
And if you do get started, the extra exhaustion you feel or the weight loss plateau you hit often becomes too high of a barrier to overcome. So you stop and then face the cycle all over again.
I became a certified weight loss specialist– in addition to being a personal trainer– because I know weight loss for the very overweight has its unique obstacles.
Weight loss is complicated. It involves understanding how your unique body works and why it’s put on those pounds.
An exercise is a great tool for creating a healthier lifestyle. It helps you burn calories, preserve/build muscle mass, prevent disease, perform daily activities more efficiently, boost confidence, and reduce stress. But only if you’re able to get started and keep going.
So here’s what to do.
What to Know About Exercising When Overweight
Real quick, here are some exercise pointers to keep in mind when you’re overweight.
Table of Contents
1. Low Impact Exercise for Overweight Individuals
If you are carrying overweight, one of the easiest ways to get injured is by performing high-impact movements. Think anything with running and jumping.
It doesn’t mean you can’t perform these moves for many months to come; it just means you need to have a solid foundation first. Then you’ll be way less likely to injure yourself and derail your fitness routine.
Stick to low impact cardio exercises like walking, swimming, riding a stationary bike, or an elliptical. And if you encounter jumping or jogging in place during at-home strength workouts, switch those movements for lower impact ones (burpee without a jump and marching in place). Or find a program that uses only low impact moves as my 30 Day Weight Loss Kickstart.
2. Stop If the Exercise is Painful
You may have heard the phrase, “No pain, no gain,” but there are two different types of pain to know about. There’s muscle fatigue, which you should feel when performing movements. But then there’s also very real, not-good-for-you pain.
Pay attention to sharp pains, particularly in joints such as the knee. Also, look out for pains that occur just on one side and linger from workout to workout. Unlike muscle fatigue and soreness, these pains are signals from your body that it’s not tolerating a movement well.
This is especially important for exercise for overweight beginners; you’re more prone to injury due to the excess weight you’re carrying around. If you’ve also had a sedentary lifestyle up to this point, your body may have muscle imbalances or some weak/tight muscles that need to be addressed.
The key point to take away is that if an exercise hurts– and not in muscle fatigue sort of way– don’t do that exercise. There are plenty of alternative exercises that can work that same body part.
And if the pain keeps recurring, you may need the help of a personal trainer or even a physical therapist to figure out what’s going on. They can assess you and figure out what corrective exercises need to be done for your body to function its best.
3. Perform Both Cardio and Resistance Training for Weight Loss
The verdict is in! A combination of both cardio AND resistance training is best for exercise for overweight beginners. (And well, everyone, for that matter).
Why?
Cardio is great for building up cardiovascular fitness. It helps your heartbeat more efficiently to do more without getting so tired. It also decreases your risk of countless diseases. Oh yeah, and it burns calories too.
Resistance training helps you maintain muscle mass while losing weight. This is great because the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn every day. Maintaining muscle also provides better aesthetic results– revealing visibly toned muscles as the fat burns off.
There are so many ways to incorporate a combination of the two into your fitness routine. If you hate classic cardio, try performing circuits that combine cardio and resistance training.
4. If You’re Overweight, Exercise Alone Won’t Achieve Weight Loss
Want to lose weight? You also have to make eating adjustments. Exercise provides those additional benefits I mentioned above, but healthy eating is how you lose weight.
Snag my FREE Weight Loss Checklist to ensure you aren’t missing any key weight-loss components. Get it by clicking the link below:
All right! Now that you have the basics let’s cover the step-by-step guide to starting exercise for overweight beginners.
Step 1: Forget All You Know About Exercise
What you’ve done in the past? What the best kinds are. How painful and time-consuming it is. It’s time to start fresh, and holding on to your prior struggles is rarely helpful.
Some of the many exercise barriers overweight individuals face include:
- – Past unpleasant experiences
- – Thoughts/feelings of inadequacy
- – Doubt in abilities
- – Poor balance or coordination/poor athleticism when starting out
- – Fear of joint/muscular pain
Whether you’re experiencing one or all of these things, exercise can feel extremely daunting at first.
When I first started working with one of my clients, she kept saying things like, “I look so dumb while making this movie.” (And she did not). But her feelings of inadequacy shone through at that moment.
So I’ll tell you what I told her:
- – We all start somewhere. If an exercise isn’t quite where you want it to be, keep working on it!
- – We’re our own harshest critics. You’re working out, and that’s already something to be proud of.
- – As long as you’re performing a move safely, who even cares how you look performing it?
So no more negative self-talk. Wipe the slate clean, and let’s move on to Step 2.
Step 2: Start Exercising Today.
Make a plan for how you can move your body for 20 minutes today. Yes, today. (Exception: you’re reading this right before bedtime or are already in bed– in that case, yes, we’ll start tomorrow).
But if you’re even an hour away from bedtime, let’s get moving!
If it’s light out and not too hot/cold: go walking!
If outdoor exercise isn’t an option: do something that gets you moving inside.
Here are some choices:
– Put on a YouTube video (search something along the lines of beginner 20-minute cardio).
– Use a combination of these low-impact moves, rotating through them until 20 minutes is up: marching in place, side to side lunges, squats, mountain climbers, planks, donkey kicks, and arm circles.
– Do this 25-minute full-body beginner home workout– no equipment, no jumping! (includes warm-up and cool-down stretches).
Step 3: Plan Exercise for the Next Week.
Once you’ve gotten that first workout in, it’s time to plan out this next week.
Don’t bite off more than you can chew!
The most important thing I do when scheduling workouts for clients with weight loss goals is to make sure it’s not overwhelming. There’s no greater exercise deterrent than dreading your workouts and workout schedule. 20 minutes of exercise, 4 days a week, is better than 30 minutes of exercise only 2 days– because you felt overwhelmed after those first two workouts.
Even if you KNOW you can do more; it’s a bigger mental battle to get yourself to work out when you PLAN to do a long workout. So plan out a bite-sized workout schedule for this first week. And you’ve already got one day down!
Here’s an example schedule:
For best results, alternate between cardio (like walking) and strength training (full-body resistance training moves). For example, if you did a full-body workout today, go on a 20-minute walk tomorrow.
Complete this step, and BOOM. You’ve already got one week of solid exercise under your belt.
Step 4a: Plan Out Exercise for the Rest of the Month.
Once you’ve completed a week of exercise, you’ll have a lot more insight into where your body is physical. Could you have gone longer than 20 minutes? Did you have to stop and take breaks to complete 20 minutes?
Use the “data” you collected on yourself to plan out 3 more weeks of exercise. You could keep the schedule the same if it works for you. If you want to add a day, that’s great!
But follow these 2 rules:
- – Don’t back down from the 4 days a week, at least 20 minutes each day.
- – Every week, add AT LEAST 5 minutes of exercise compared to the previous week.
These 2 rules make it, so you’re working out more than half the days during the week (4/7) and mean you’re increasing how much you exercise every week– but in very small increments.
As far as mental motivation goes, these 2 things are HUGE. No matter what, you’ll know you’re working out most of your days. And that you’re continually increasing how much you’re doing.
For more on a long-term workout plan, read this OG post: The Basics of a Healthy Exercise Routine.
Step 4b: Address the Barriers now.
What barriers got in the way of exercise during the first week? Lack of daily motivation, a busy schedule, and little exercise enjoyment are big reasons I see people skip their workouts.
Related: To Lose Weight Check These Amazing 11 Methods
Step 5: Build a Support System, So You Keep Exercising.
Having others to commiserate with makes sticking to a fitness routine so easier, especially with exercise for overweight beginners and the specific obstacles you’ll face. Whether reading a story about someone’s major fitness breakthrough or getting support during a weight loss plateau, having a support system is a great motivator.
