Home Q&A Wednesday Q&A Wednesday: Do’s and Don’ts of Working Out at 300lbs

Q&A Wednesday: Do’s and Don’ts of Working Out at 300lbs

by Erika Nicole Kendall

Q: Have you already answered the question of “What do I do in the gym when I’m 300lbs?”. What are the do’s and don’t do’s when you are a newbie to working out? (Of course I know I’m not going to jump on the treadmill and start jogging because I already know I physically can’t I tried lol) but what are your suggestions or what were some of the things you did when you started?

So, there are very genuine concerns for folks who start working out at higher weights, but it’s not as bad as you think. The advice basically boils down to the same thing I’d tell a person at a lower weight: don’t do more than you feel able to do. The only difference is, the person at the lower weight is able to get away with more risk without incurring much damage. This isn’t necessarily the case for the person at the higher weight.

The issues with being 300lbs and a newbie at exercise aren’t necessarily the “fat,” so much as it’s the lack of muscle to facilitate safe movement at that size. Running is hard, because there’s not enough muscle to support your joints as you leap forward diagonally from the ground and come crashing back down into it. The same could be said for most aerobics courses—movement is characterized mainly in the muscles being required to work hard in supporting your joints, to protect you from injury.

Your hips, knees, ankles, those are all joints protected by the surrounding muscle groups. We strengthen them to help support movement. If there isn’t enough muscle to support the intense movement you’re trying to engage in, injury happens. Soreness—the bad kind—happens. Frustration, disappointment, and ultimately quitting happens. We don’t want that.

The truth of the matter, is that the answer for what you can do will differ for everyone. For some, their lower legs are stronger than their upper body. For others, their arms might be strong but their back is weak. If you’re not active in a well-informed way, your body develops to accommodate the world around you. So, if you’re someone who works all day on their feet, your legs might be strong but, because you’re not lifting anything or using your arms or back in any real meaningful way, your upper body might be weak or poorly developed. It’s hard to give general advice in that regard, without it being horribly wrong or bad.

It’s much easier, however, to talk about what to avoid. Once you know that, the world is pretty much your oyster.

All exercise is characterized in three ways—low impact, moderate-impact, or high-impact—and it all depends on what it requires of you. Is it like basketball, where you’re constantly leaping into the air to score, or football where people are crashing into you at high speeds? Those are high-impact. Is it like a casually-competitive game of volleyball, where you leap into the air every so often to return the ball over the net? Moderate-impact. Is it yoga or spin, where you’re not running into anyone, and you’re not repeatedly banging into the ground to make something happen? Low impact activities.

The degree of impact an exercise requires is important because, as beginners, the demands on your joints affect you differently than they would a person who was more active.

Each joint in your body is supported by the muscles on either side of it. Your muscles operate in a sort of contract-expand relationship, where muscles on one side of a joint squeeze, and the muscles on the other side relax in a way that allows your joints to move properly and safely. Without that muscle ability, your joints can’t perform to the best of their ability and, the more high-impact an activity is, the greater risk you’re at for injury.

A sedentary person can be a couch potato and not be active outside of work at all, but have a physically demanding job on their feet all day that leaves them with strong legs, but a weak upper body. A sedentary person could have a desk job where they work somewhere where they sit often but spend a lot of time passing packages across a desk, meaning their arms are strong but their hips and knees are weak.

Make sense?

What I did at my heaviest weight, is I started out going for a daily walk. This helped solidify my commitment to this hour of the day being dedicated to my exercise, helped me relieve stress, and allowed me to start successfully losing weight. Once my legs and joints started feeling better, I added on yoga, and did it a few times a day. Once I started feeling stronger and my knees stopped making that weird creaking sound, I started trying to run and did so in intervals. From there, I stuck to running, added strength training, and the rest was history. Now, as I’m at my heaviest, I take spin classes and go for daily walks again.

See how I gradually increased the impact level of my activity choice? Walking and yoga, which are low-impact, to running, which becomes more high-impact the faster you go? See how I decreased my impact level post-baby, with spin classes, to help me re-acclimate to not only my post-baby body, but to help me get back to my old ability level?

The best advice I can give a newbie is to pay very close attention to how you feel during an activity. If it’s intense for you, it doesn’t mean the exercise isn’t for you—it means you need to scale it back a bit, find some workarounds for the things that are too hard, cross-train in ways that help you develop muscle memory and strengthen your joint health, and take it easy. Before long, you’ll realize that the things that were once super-challenging are now things you can blitz through, onward to the next challenge, and you’ll crush that, too.

You may also like

7 comments

Melanie August 10, 2016 - 2:35 PM

This was very informative and thank you! Though I’m not a beginner but I haven’t worked out for a year. Had my second daughter in March via repeat c section. My oldest is 2. I’m also at my heaviest at 231, trying to find time to workout, be a mom and work full time While finding time to sleep is insane. Every time I try to workout I usually hurt myself (knees) which then discourages me. Perhaps I need a new approach?

I prefer workouts like p90x3 and piyo. Things I can do at home. i know not to push myself but trying to get back into it is scary. I’ll keep reading your site for motivation!

BNYC August 14, 2016 - 12:48 PM

It can definitely be difficult trying to find time to work out with very small children at home because they depend on you. If you can rent or buy workout DVDs and get access to weights, 30 minutes a day should be something. However if you have family/friends who could support your desire to exercise by watching your children for you during that time, it’s also helpful. Squats, lunges, planks, jumping jacks/jump rope, sit-ups, push ups etc and exercises you can do for strength without leaving your home. Just consider the alternatives. You could even strap the baby to you in a carrier when doing lunges and squats for extra weight.

Tremekiah August 14, 2016 - 2:50 PM

Very informative. It gave me a better reason to keep up with my workout routine.

Purple one August 14, 2016 - 5:31 PM

This was informative. I weigh around 400 lbs. I work as a secretary and I unfortunately live a sedentary lifestyle. I just started walking 2 times a week. It’s so hard.l can barely make a mile without making like 20 stops. My back hurts so bad when I walk and it makes me want to stop. I hurt so bad when I walk.

Terrisigns August 18, 2016 - 7:53 AM

Keep it up! You’re doing great. I’m going to start today after reading this article. I weigh 306, largest I’ve ever been. We got this!

Natasha September 2, 2016 - 11:38 AM

I’m new to your website, and I’m actually Cherokee, not Black, I hope that doesn’t matter to you. 🙂

I admire what you’ve done to better yourself and others. I am currently considered morbidly obese, a name that brings a lot of hurt to me. I’m 5’4, around 350lbs, and 34 yrs old. I have had one child and she is 4.

I’ve always been overweight, and honestly, a lot of my family is too. I’m on a tight budget with food stamps and SSD benefits. I want to eat healthy, and after all your information, I’m starting with this weeks shopping trip to eat clean, not only for myself, but also for my daughter who depends on me. I don’t want to die young, who does?

Any help or support you could give, would help me a bunch (I live in NY state, close to buffalo)

Thank you!

Erika Nicole Kendall September 3, 2016 - 3:27 AM

Everyone is welcome here, I promise. 🙂

I have an entire comment thread about eating healthily on a tight budget. Also check out my “save money on eating clean” section. 🙂

Comments are closed.