Anyone else feel they are too heavy for some exercises?
 

So in the past my usual workouts consisted of WATP videos, well they are tapes and getting old so this time around I wanted to change it up and maybe make it more fun for me to get my cardio in. We have amassed a decent home gym downstairs (an all in one weight system, a bench and a boat load of freeweights, a speed bag and punching bag to keep the hubby happy) and I have been trying to add to my video collection every time I find a deal.

Well fastforward to this time around. I have learned my lessons hard, and plan on making this last forever, so I have to make it something I WANT to do. Well Zumba looks fun to me, so I got it. Well it took me 3 days to get through the basics steps "workout" and well yes it must be a workout because I sweated alot..lol. The downfall, my ankles were KILLING me by day 3 of wokring out (but I finally was able to get through all the steps, even if I didn't get them quite right). Yesterday I decided well if I could manage almost an hour for the basic steps, the 20minute express should be do-able. Ten minutes in I had to stop my ankles hurt so bad I was about in tears.

So put the disks away, have decided they will have to be one of my rewards when I hit a milestone <sigh>

eta: today I did the 2 mile WATP for abs and then went down to the weights for 20 minutes.

Anyone else have the same kind of problem??

Yes, when I weighed more, I had trouble with different exercises so I kept it at walking (and WATP) until I was able to do more. I think the 2 miles you did and weights is awesome though :D Keep at it :hug::hug:

I used to have problems with muscles in my shins. Shin splints, I believe. The muscles in my shins would ache so bad, I would have to stop. It doesn't happen any more. I think I have built up the muscles.

Make sure you have good foot wear, too.

I didn't, but I really, really push myself. I was doing Zumba at my heaviest (302lbs) - I did not start doubling up on classes, however, until recently because of stamina. What kind of shoes are you wearing?

They are a cross trainer, but nothing fancy.

I actually Zumba in my running shoes (very lightweight) instead of my cross trainers because I always felt really clunky in them. My feet and ankles feel a lot better in lighter shoes with the fast pace of Zumba.

Yes, I have been concerned about several exercises and activities the older (and fatter) I've gotten. I would be willing to bet that after you get closer to your goal weight and get those muscles built up, you will have better luck with the Zumba.

I used to do a cardio-salsa class that I loved, until the instructor started having us run in class. I could tell it wasn't doing my body any good because it hurt my knees (and not in a good way), so I decided to revisit the classes when I am in better shape.

I like the WATP videos, they are inclusive of all body types.

Wow, I have the same thing..home gym, weight bench, just have an eliptical machine instead of the speed ball.

I too, have a few videos (including WATP) but am starting to get bored with them. I thought about trying the Zumba vids too, but wasn't sure how I would like it, and didn't want to spend the money if I didn't!

Since I've lost 70 lbs, a lot of things have obviously gotten easier for me, but I still have problems with my knees. Vids that ask me to do a lot of lunging, squatting, etc. I usually end up having to modify.

So yes, I feel your pain!

What I bolded was the key for me in the beginning - I modified whatever I couldnt' do (major plyo/jumping and squats, etc) and just kept moving!

Contrary to what a lot of folks on 3FC seem to believe, it IS possible to overdo exercise. I had thought I wanted to try Zumba until I watched one class. No way. Same thing with spin classes. No way. I'm just not a masochist! And I'm not planning to be an athlete! I'm better off in something like a step class, and I had to stop doing that for awhile, too.

That said, I am an older person. Someone in their 20s probably has a better chance at hard exercise than I do. Just don't let any trainer or peer pressure make you do something beyond your ability. It's not necessary to be a boot camp junky to lose weight.

Off my soap box now.

Jay

Excellent points Jay!!

Lucky for me, I can't afford a gym membership (nor the daycare for my kids so I could use it... nor do I want my kids in daycare but that is a different story..lol), so the only one pressure here comes from me, and well if I'm needing to stop, by golly, I'm gonna stop! More than I can't afford a gym membership, I really can't afford to hurt myself with 4 kids that I homeschool, a hubby and a house to care for... everything would fall apart in an hour ;)

fitkristi, I will have to check out different shoes. I'm sooooo not a shoe person..lol.

I definitely think that there are some things that I can't (or shouldn't) be doing at this weight. I was running for a while, and was really having problems with my knees. I really like to run, but my knees were hurting me during EVERYTHING then. I have since stopped running, and my knee pain is gone. I am going to wait til I am lighter and then try it again. Also, plyometrics is something that I don't think would be a good idea for me right now. I know it's great exercise, but I'm guessing that a lot of jumping and landing wouldn't have a good effect either at 240! I'd try something with a little less impact for now and then try again after you've lost a little more.

Yes!! I have been there. I also too suffered from shin splints when I was heavier. Not a problem anymore. But I do find that even now I have mental barriers that "I can't run!" and interesting enough lately I have tried mental techniques that have helped me break that barrier. I just did my fastest mile yesterday which was 12 minutes 5 seconds, and I cannot believe that it is me running for 5 straight minutes at a time!!
Walking is great though, its how I started! You WILL lose weight just moving more, so focus on that not on what you can't do, but what you can!!

OF course! We have to invest in the BEST shoes with gel insoles and I just plain can't do jumping (my boobs would knock me out). Just keep trying and just do the level you can. It does get easier.

I got the Enell bra too. It is the best and I am something like an H!

FindingFawn - I sooooooo admire your ability to work out at home. I have NEVER been able to do that. It is just too easy for me to say "Later". Before I realized this about myself, I bought and sold more exercise stuff than Walmart has stores!

Anyway, just one more thought on the subject - I was wondering if you were doing an adequate stretch warm-up? The stuff in the video might not be enough or the right kind of muscle warm-up for YOU.

A pair of Asics really helped me with shin splints..I couldn't walk around the block without my legs hurting and now I can walk and walk and walk!

Any tapes involving upper body strength (pushups in 30 day shred) kill me! And the jumping jacks, fuggedaboutit! I'd give myself two black eyes in a heart beat! :D Ahem sorry.. New York accent alert :rofl:

It's great to know I'm not alone.

As far as running, a treadmill is on my wishlist for income tax. We do have an elliptical down there, BUT it's a very cheap all manual one and about kills me just to get the movement right, so I don't use it. The second day on it I pulled a muscle in my leg so bad that I couldn't walk for a week, it has been a dust collector since. Probably should just sell it and buy a better one. Oh and yeah the bra thing.. I have anywhere between an H and a J cup depending on the bra.. the girls will need rolls of duct tape to keep me safe when I start to run...lol.

Definately going to look for other shoes come payday and see if I can find something lighter maybe.

I really like my Asics gel shoes, but every one is different!

This is one of the things about The Biggest Loser that bugs me. They work them to the point of tears and puking! It's ludicrous, unnecessary, and makes people think you have to work out that hard to lose weight and it's simply not true.

For me? I can do anything for five minutes. So no, I guess nothing was too hard at my heaviest, except probably running. I didn't attempt it until I was 200 and even then it was verging on too hard. I ran a mile in 12 minutes and spent the next few days recovering. :D But if I could do it for five minutes, I pressed forward over the next few months gradually adding speed and time.

I had the same problem with an elliptical and I am not surprised at 5'3" that you had difficulty with the elliptical. They are made for the average sized person - that means 5'6"+ or long legs. The stance required on the foot pads can overstress connective tissue and muscles in a bad way after just a short period of time - even when the stride is adjusted.

I have tried professional grade ellipticals and I still had a problem. And yep, had a nice one and sold it on Craiglist.

ORLY? That makes me feel alot better actually. My husband at his heaviest was on the elliptical for ages at a time and I was dying by about minute 3. He's also five foot six to my five foot three so them being designed more for his height makes sense. Kind of like the rest of the real world, us short peeps are not included in the designs, kwim?

My problem exercise at my heaviest was a yoga class. The instructor didn't grasp that even some of the gentle moves were not possible for me due to physical limitation of running into my own fat! I purchased a DVD called Heavyweight Yoga that did take body shape into account. I'm thinking of trying the Yoga class again this winter.

EXACTLY!! Even though I will admit I get sucked into the show, it really bugs me at the same time. I will not buy any Biggest Loser products because of it. Its not real life. Exercise incessantly, totally controlled enviroment where someone else makes your food. I just don't IMHO think they set people up for success on keeping it off...
I digress, but its how I feel! Sorry to hijack the thread. :D
I bought some new running shoes called Ryka and I LOVE them!!! I moved from New Balance to them, and as far as I can see right now, I will keep buying them! :)

Nope. I've been back at the gym for a year now. Treadmill, I started out walking and now I'm running. Circuit training, anybody can do that. Swimming, ditto, you are never too fat to swim, you are more buoyant! Started taking Zumba about six months ago and I do it all except some of the more vigorous leaping (our class is taught by a young 20 something man, he can dance like nobody I have ever seen), and I tell you, it is really flattening my stomach plus I lost 4 inches so far in my waist.

Don't tell yourself you can't exercise, start out slow and keep moving, it WILL get easier. I'm 56 years old and need to lose about 80 more lbs, so I'm definitely old and fat, so what. I'm doing it.

Another vote for Asics gel. I wear them for Zumba, treadmillling, the elliptical (which I HATE), etc. They're a nice, light shoe with good arch support. When I do Zumba, I try to jump and leap as much as I can, but I do find that if we do certain songs back to back, my feet will be sore for a bit. I play through the pain, though, as I do love my Zumba...

yeah, I agree too. esp since I just spent 2 weeks with an injured knee bec I went overboard with the leg presses (!). In general, I have a tough time with knee exercises like lunges too. (that leg pain mentioned may be a build up of lactic acid rather than shin splints.)

sometimes it's not so much not being able to do them at a bigger weight as it is a matter of a little more building yourself up to have the stamina and muscles that will support the exercise.

honestly, I figure I'd better pick physical activity I'm willing to stick to bec I like it and can handle it in general. If I'm dreading doing an exercise, I'm much more likely to skip doing it altogether, which isn't a good thing.

I say all this as a woman in her 40s (if I were in my 20s, I'd probably be more gung ho about pushing boundaries, ha)

I agree completely!! I'm not even sure I'm all that inspired by the show anymore, but I still watch it because.. well I don'[t know..lol

Now I did make it 10 minutes of the Zumba workout before I was about to cry and well if I'm going to cry it's going to be over something more personal than Zumba..lol.

Today I didn't do any "exercise" BUT I spent 3 hours out in the woods helping hubby with firewood.. so loads of lifting heavy logs and dragging lots of "trees" by hand closer to where he was cutting. I hurt like crazy so I am sure it was more than I would have done doing any other workout today!

My feet sometime hurt when I'm jogging. I think it is because I was in a motorbike accident a few years ago, and the bike landed on my foot. I never got x-rays but I believe something is not right. If I do too much, my foot will pain.

I don't feel too heavy for exercises, but I do feel somewhat out of shape compared to where I was last year. It is depressing to know that if you stop for any length of time, you lose what you've gained.

http://www.enell.com/size_and_measurement_chart.php :D

I, too, wear an Enell while working out.. I'm a 44G and I buy my regular bras from Lane Bryant (Cacique brand). I wear a 5 or 6 from Enell.. LOVE IT!!

My husband bought the Insanity DVDs and I tried it out. It was AWFUL! I was flapping around everywhere and could barely get through the warm up on the first disc before collapsing. Awful!!! People with my current body shape simply were not meant to do jumping jacks. I'll try it again 100 pounds from now.

On the flip side, for some reason my body is perfectly happy with running. I run outside and on a treadmill and I feel great afterward. Getting to the point where I feel good after running took awhile, but it seems to be the ideal workout for me, as long as I have adequate support!

Something happened at the gym the other day that struck me as funny. I had just gotten off the leg press machine, and I was on another machine. A lady who was about to get on the leg press got off, came up to me, and said how on earth were you pressing 170 pounds? I looked at her and said I'm carrying all this around every day ... It never struck me, our legs have to be really strong just from going about our daily routines and carrying all of our weight. That machine is nothing to me. So we are stronger than we know!

Paula, our all in one thing has a leg press on it.. and when I have used it in the past I have always been floored at how much I can press with my legs. I haven't used it in over a year but it's on my list to add in soon ;)

The thigh muscles are the strongest muscles in the body. Just about anyone can do really well with leg presses. :) I love them.

What I avoid are squats. They are hard on my knees and back, even though I have good form when doing them. If I want to work the leg muscles that way, I find that sitting on a hard chair and just getting up and down from the chair without using my hands is quite enough of a workout.

Jay

after several weeks of hobbling around after leg presses, ha, I'd say watch your form and don't be afraid to build up to a weight/number of reps (esp if you've had a period of time where you haven't been doing them, doh)

I don't know, I think I may be more vulnerable to problems in the knee area too.

I buy my bras from the Just My Size site. I buy Glamorise brand 99% of the time. I do need to look at those enel bras but for now what I have holds the girls enough for the workouts I do.. now when I start running well then I will definately need something amazing..lol.

I just looked at the Enell site.. yikes I would need a 7 to accomodate the girls. It's also something I would have to save for, the budget of a housewife is tight..lol.