Turn down the intensity?

[GrkPwerHouse]

Ok, My buddy was asking me this question today and I didn't know how to respond so maybe one of you guys could help.

He is obese-overweight and has just started to train. He told me when he does cardio though, He gets a pain in his lower back, close to the tail bone. He said he stretches really well, but after he has been running or sprinting he gets that pain and has to stop and just walk the rest of the time.

He wants to know, is this a sign that maybe he should leave it be a while and just do "marching"(fast walking) until his weight gets down? Or is it a sign of something worse?

[Mythos219]

Anytime you get any pain other than muscle fatigue, it's your body's way of telling you to stop doing something. What kind of cardio is he doing? stationary bike would be the best choice for him right now until he gets his weight down a bit.

[GrkPwerHouse]

He is running, basically is doing Run at a Fast pace, slow down to a moderate, and about the time he is out of breath, he continues with a walk until he catches his breath again.

He told me the pain was simiair to when you pick up a box the wrong way.

[Mythos219]

It could be lower back muscle fatigue, but I suspect it's a sharp pain - which is not good. Have him jog or power walk and see if he feels any better.

[GrkPwerHouse]

He said to me that he is Joggs...just after a while the pain kicks in...forcing him to kick back down to walking.

But another thing is, he told me the pain doesn't come until his 3rd for 4th lap around the track.

I think his Will is more powerful than his body...lol

[epote]

if he is obese you souldnt advice him to run fast-sprint.

imagine you sprinting with an aditional 40kgr on you, it's a killer

obese people respont better to fairly low calorie diets and respond almost imidiatly to even the simplest of excersices (Been there done that).

a vague general strengthening program in the weight room and perhaps some stationary bike, or power walk-light jog till some of the weight gets off, then get into the more body building like routine. Get his muscles and conective tissue ready for serious excercise later on.

remember most obese people are VERY sendetery, their myoskeletal system and even neurological functions are rather supressed and inadequate to perform intence excercise. The good thing is that in 99 out of 100 cases the body is desperate to get rid of the excess fat (up to a point that is).

dont have him dead lifting and squating at day one, some light calisthenics (like squatin with body weight, a few jamping jacks perhaps) will help prepare form and general strength, burn calories and keep him healthy

finaly, about the lumbar pain he experiences. Obesety (especially in men) has a profound impact on posture due to the degredation of the iner unit of the trunk. Excess abdominal fat has the tendecy to cause lordosis (just like in pregnant women) because its easier to cary all that weight around. As a result the transversous abdominals, internal obliques and somewhat the erector spinae will atrophie because the person is not using them at all, actually he makes an effort NOT to use them because that would mean he would stand erect and straight which is tiring.

you could see that when he is doing sit ups, place your hands where the side of the abs meets the obliques, his abs will probably be MUCH higher than the rest of his trunk, that is called abdominal doming, it happens when the internal muscles dont have the strength to cause the proper hallowing effect.

make him perform breathing excercises for a month or two to re-learn how to use his iner core, that sould help tremendously with lumbar pain

[GrkPwerHouse]

Thank you for your response epote.

inaly, about the lumbar pain he experiences. Obesety (especially in men) has a profound impact on posture due to the degredation of the iner unit of the trunk. Excess abdominal fat has the tendecy to cause lordosis (just like in pregnant women) because its easier to cary all that weight around. As a result the transversous abdominals, internal obliques and somewhat the erector spinae will atrophie because the person is not using them at all, actually he makes an effort NOT to use them because that would mean he would stand erect and straight which is tiring.

I let him read all of that, he couldn't help but agree and nod his head. He basically is going to tone it down, after yesterday his knees and muscles are fatigued, so he going to switch to Lots of stretching,Push ups, Situps and crunches and Fast walking.

He is basically getting in shape for the military so he doesn't want to hurt himself in the mean time.

Thank you again for your time.