Morbidly Obese Workout Program Question

[theunknownn]

Hi Everyone,

TLDR
Good workout for morbidly obese person who wants to get stronger and lose weight.

A little bit about myself,

I used to be a football player in college but had many many surgeries, went through depression and sky rocketed to 500LBs+. Before all of these issues, I was a huge gym lover and been lifting for quite a few years but I've lost all of my strength and gained fear of the gym due to surgeries. My mom recently had a stroke/diagnosed diabetic and that just scared me. I joined Lindora (strict diet program weight loss) April 1, 2015 and weighed in officially at 515 lbs. As of today I am 497lbs. The problem I am having is I see so many workouts but not sure what to do realistically. Currently I go 6 days (1 Chest Day, 2 Arms Day, 3 Legs Day, Rest, Repeat) a week just to force myself out of the house (I sit on the computer way too much from work and feel depressed when I'm not at the gym, or lose motivation) It seems like that is insane (read some articles on overtraining and most workouts focus on rest etc) and I don't want to harm myself anymore. For the past week I have been trying to find a workout regime that I can do almost everyday (I can only go to the gym at night time sadly, LA Fitness 10-12pm usually is when I go). I can't do anything extreme because I am morbidly obese with surgeries on ankle, knee, l2-l3 but I am working hard (Cardio is usually swimming or elliptical). The reason I'm asking here is I figure someone has already gone down this path (I'm not sure if anyone has done it at 500lbs though, I am ashamed of myself for that) and would be willing to share some advice on which workout program would be one to really dig into. I'm in it for the long haul, I want to live for my family, friends and myself.

Thank you to everyone who takes the time to read this. I appreciate the help!

[iam8bit]

It seems you'd benefit the most from light cardio to burn extra calories daily. How about a walking program?

If you want to lift, try AllPro or any of the beginner routines in the "Workout Programs" board. I recommend starting lifting with a LOW weight and go from there. Just make small, incrementing changes to your exercise/eating habits and be consistent and you'll do fine. Don't try to rush into a complicated lifting/cardio/diet regimen only to get burned out in a month or so. Be in it for the long haul.

Best of luck!

[armz_ha]

just clean up your diet+ cardio and weight training

[dmacdonal9]

I think you might do well on one of those machine circuits at the gym. After you drop a hundred pounds and heal up some of those joint problems, you'd be in a position to lift with free weights again.

Swimming and the elliptical are great choices.

[theunknownn]

Thanks for the tips you guys. I appreciate it!

[FaronLB]

I think diet is the biggest thing but...

I would stick with the swimming (or water aerobics) and try to get in some walking time.

If you're going to be use free weights or machine - try to start with light weights - high reps.

Anything to get a good sweat going but make sure you listen to your body.

Good luck man!

[wesleytimmons41]

congrats on getting moving in the right direction, any exercise will help but none will be as important as your diet.

You're going to have to be patient and consistent.
I totally understand where getting to the gym helps motivate you , 6 days a week sounds great, don't worry about the typical rest to grow theory and enjoy yourself. Keep the reps in the 12-20 rep range to burn more calories.

It would be a good idea to read all the stickies in the nutrition section, everything you need to succeed long term is there , learning to eat a quality whole food diet is way ahead of any strict diet plan long term for success.

I sincerely wish you the best of luck!

[theunknownn]

Thank you again guys,

Dieting is my biggest issue like you've all mentioned, I am really trying my best to get on that slowly. I've managed to go without sodas for almost 2 months now, my next goal is to stop fastfoods or limit my choices to healthier options such as grilled chicken etc. I am still going to the gym 6 days a week but I will aim for higher reps, I've been doing what I was trained since football sadly, thats why I've been browsing this website to find a new one as I think the football stuff I do is not for losing weight currently/or too much. Trying to educate myself, going to read those stickies on the nutrition. Thank you so much for the heads up guys!

[AmirWins]

probably the best thing you can do for now :

Focus 90% of your efforts on nutrition. This will get you better results than any workout ever can. Literally focus all your drive and effort on diet. The mental part of it will be difficult but you already know you're at an unhealthy state and need to change.

The other 10%, I would walk. While walking, listen to either audiobooks or watch YouTube videos over fitness from guys like AthleanX, OmarIsaf, and Elliot Hulse. Walking can be replaced with low intensity cardio like biking, low resistance eliptical , but best would be walking. Spend your time walking learning a new skill possibly, a new language, anything that you can do in your head while walking. You an also entertain yourself while walking say on a treadmill watch a movie or something.

If you do want to go to the gym, I would be careful for injuries as that would be extremely counter intuitive.

Focus on Squats, Deadlifts, and Bench press, go nowhere near your max. 10-15 reps, don't go to failure, don't max out. Get your muscles working and blood flowing.

You need to drop to around 300 honestly before worrying so much about workouts (in my opinion) your current problem beyond anything else is the body fat. Simply carrying it around right now you're stronger and probably "bigger" than the vast majority of us.

Hope you listen, GL

[theunknownn]

Thank you AmirWins!

I will take that advice and everyone elses, I can't walk yet due to the ankle/knee surgery + with my weight but once I get down in weight I will definitely do that and check out those youtubers you told me to check. I agree with you 100%, the nutrition is where its at and my biggest weakness. Thank you for taking the time everyone to write out your thoughts, they all have been very helpful!

[residesinAZ]

at 5'11" 280 I was probably morbidly obese.

What worked for me is lifting and walking.
When you're knee/ankle is good, DO NOT EVEN TRY TO RUN. Stick to walking, its all you need.

When you fix your diet, make sure you get a lot of protein in there. I am a big time chip fan, and with enough protein, my craving for chips went away.
Make little changes. Instead of a combo meal, get a single item and a water.

Drink tons of water, I mistook thirst for hunger and would eat when I was thirsty. Then I would drink soda, and remain dehydrated. Its a vicious cycle.

Good luck. Always remember it took you 28 years to get to the size you are, it will take a few dedicated years to get back down to size.

[Znik]

Thank you again guys,

Dieting is my biggest issue like you've all mentioned, I am really trying my best to get on that slowly. I've managed to go without sodas for almost 2 months now, my next goal is to stop fastfoods or limit my choices to healthier options such as grilled chicken etc. I am still going to the gym 6 days a week but I will aim for higher reps, I've been doing what I was trained since football sadly, thats why I've been browsing this website to find a new one as I think the football stuff I do is not for losing weight currently/or too much. Trying to educate myself, going to read those stickies on the nutrition. Thank you so much for the heads up guys!

As others have said, the main thing to focus on at 500lbs is your diet and limiting the calorie intake.

I agree with Dmac on the machine circuits, it's easy on the joints/tendons until things get healed and you are stronger while weighing less.

As for others who has done the change, check out wetbreasts : http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...0565211&page=1
He started at 653lbs and is now down to 290lbs.

[iam8bit]

Focus 90% of your efforts on nutrition. This will get you better results than any workout ever can. Literally focus all your drive and effort on diet. The mental part of it will be difficult but you already know you're at an unhealthy state and need to change.

The other 10%, I would walk.

You need to drop to around 300 honestly before worrying so much about workouts (in my opinion) your current problem beyond anything else is the body fat. Simply carrying it around right now you're stronger and probably "bigger" than the vast majority of us.

I think this is great advice.

Whenever you're ready to start walking as cardio, maybe check this program out. You just need Phase I, which is the walking part. It's how I started and it worked well for me, IMO it's a good way to go from not working out to doing "something".

Keep at it!

[cherrygarcia80]

Just wanted to wish you all the best on your journey

I think what most have said above is really good advice. Focus 90% on nutrition (if you count cals that would be great using tools to help keep track of them like myfitnesspal etc) and the other 10% on exercise. It will save you alot of heartbreak. In my case, I did the opposite, after 3 months of focussing 90% on exercise, and only 10% on nutrition, I am realising I had it the wrong way round all along and it actually stalled my weightloss. So now I'm starting all over again, this time focussing 90% on nutrition counting calories (been about a week tracking cals), and then thereafter doing my workouts but secondary to making sure I'm eating right first.

I think starting a weight loss log here as well as reading others shall help loads as well as reading the stickies particularly on nutrition have helped me immensely. So i feel like i'm starting all over again with my new found knowledge from the site.

In terms of exercise sounds like you are doing great (as you mentioned elliptical or swimming), I have a bum left knee so on my cardio days i will usually also focus on low impact exercises so i swim or instead use the stationery recumbent bike or elliptical.

Wishing you all the best on your journey There's many of us on the same path too.