obesity and training

[accismus]

I'm wondering if any of you have suggestions about training the very obese. One of my new clients is very large, and I'm stumped as to how I'm going to go about training her. I'm pretty sure she will not fit into the curves hydraulic equipment or the cybex equipment. I will start her walking on the treadmill but I'm sure she won't fit onto a recumbent bike. We don't have NUsteps at this location and we also don't have a pool. What do you recommend? Light free weights? Therabands?

[Erik]

I use bodyweight exercises.

[accismus]

Can you give me some examples? Or just suggestions of web links or books to look at?

[char-dawg]

If she's up to working with weights (and may not be), probably dumbbells would be your best bet. Can start light, don't have to worry about fitting into a machine, teaches coordination, can spot lateral imbalances quickly...lots of advantages.

[Strive2Define]

How obese are we talking? Is she having mobility issues?You can always start with functional stuff.like stepping up and down on a low step, sit squats(squatting into a chair)Leg extensions and lifts from a seated position.You can also use bands.Try a stability ball..it can help with balance as well as help strengthen the core.Here you could also use light dumbbells as wellwhile havving them sit on the stability ball..perhaps do light curls, overhead presses ...

[accismus]

Definitely mobility issues. I was thinking I would start out by having her walk on the treadmill, then do a seated workout. I found some useful stuff on a website last night. Stability ball is out of the question right now. The low step idea is good, but we'll probably work up to that. Thanks for the replies.

[Steve]

Definitely mobility issues. I was thinking I would start out by having her walk on the treadmill, then do a seated workout. I found some useful stuff on a website last night. Stability ball is out of the question right now. The low step idea is good, but we'll probably work up to that. Thanks for the replies.

I would appreciate a link to the website you found.

[Tony]

WESTSIDE!!11

[smuggie]

WESTSIDE!!11
:pimpslap:

[jaleena]

:pimpslap:
Hey, they already Got FH, so they're halfway there, right? :shrug: :p

[smuggie]

Hey, they already Got FH, so they're halfway there, right? :shrug: :p
:sad:











:razz1:

[accismus]

I would appreciate a link to the website you found.

http://exercise.about.com/cs/exerciseworkouts/l/blobeseexercise.htm

:)

[Lydia]

Definitely mobility issues. I was thinking I would start out by having her walk on the treadmill, then do a seated workout. I found some useful stuff on a website last night. Stability ball is out of the question right now. The low step idea is good, but we'll probably work up to that. Thanks for the replies.

Just curious...why a seated workout? Wouldn't having to support her bodyweight be a good thing?

[Steve]

Just curious...why a seated workout? Wouldn't having to support her bodyweight be a good thing?

You would be amazed by the tolerance some obese individuals have when it comes to supporting their own bodyweight, let alone supporting it while exercising.

All relative to the individual and weight of course.

[Lydia]

You would be amazed by the tolerance some obese individuals have when it comes to supporting their own bodyweight, let alone supporting it while exercising.

All relative to the individual and weight of course.

Obviously you mean lack of tolerance??

[Steve]

Obviously you mean lack of tolerance??

Yes sorry.

[accismus]

In case anyone is interested, here's what I ended up doing today:

I put a chair next to the treadmill. She walked until her back started hurting, then she sat in the chair to rest. While she waited for her back pain to ease up, I gave her other exercises to do.

So the first round she walked for 3 minutes 20 seconds, then sat down and I had her do shoulder presses (2lb dbs) and bicep curls (one set of 10 for everything.) Then she walked for 4 minutes, then sat and I had her do isometric chest presses with a ball, then thigh squeezes with the ball, torso rotation with a light med ball, and toe taps on the ball. Then 4 more minutes of walking, then some leg extensions. After that she said she was done.

I think she did very well for a first session.

[Denny_J]

Hope this is a good place to ask this....

I'm not obese, but from a strength-to-weight point of view, I have too much weight/not enough strength to perform a complete chin-up. So, I get as far as possible (not far at the moment), hang, then let my arms extend and again and then just hang till hand fatigue. Is it damaging anything to hang till fatigue. It actually feels like my shoulder sockets are a bit streched in the process, making another attempt feel like like I'm over-stretching something.

Are there other exercises that would better prepare me for chin-ups? I actually like the challenge, just don't want to damage anything. I don't belong to a gym so dont have access to a pull-down machine.

Doing other things like cardio to loose a little weight in the process.

Thanks!

[accismus]

Hope this is a good place to ask this....

I'm not obese, but from a strength-to-weight point of view, I have too much weight/not enough strength to perform a complete chin-up. So, I get as far as possible (not far at the moment), hang, then let my arms extend and again and then just hang till hand fatigue. Is it damaging anything to hang till fatigue. It actually feels like my shoulder sockets are a bit streched in the process, making another attempt feel like like I'm over-stretching something.

Are there other exercises that would better prepare me for chin-ups? I actually like the challenge, just don't want to damage anything. I don't belong to a gym so dont have access to a pull-down machine.

Doing other things like cardio to loose a little weight in the process.

Thanks!


Welcome to the board! I suggest that you start a new thread in the training section and post your full workout so that others can give you advice. That way more people will see your question.

[Denny_J]

Thanks for the welcome. I don't have a full workout yet (why I posted a single question) so perhaps should search for other beginner-type info, get a base, then start a thread. thank you.

Back to your thread now; what you are doing for the other person is wonderful. Sounds like it was great first day.

[Alicrmt]

In case anyone is interested, here's what I ended up doing today:

I put a chair next to the treadmill. She walked until her back started hurting, then she sat in the chair to rest. While she waited for her back pain to ease up, I gave her other exercises to do.

So the first round she walked for 3 minutes 20 seconds, then sat down and I had her do shoulder presses (2lb dbs) and bicep curls (one set of 10 for everything.) Then she walked for 4 minutes, then sat and I had her do isometric chest presses with a ball, then thigh squeezes with the ball, torso rotation with a light med ball, and toe taps on the ball. Then 4 more minutes of walking, then some leg extensions. After that she said she was done.

I think she did very well for a first session.

How did she feel about the workout? Was it what she was expecting?

[Fitwolf]

thanks for posting what you did... I would be curious to hear about your clients response also.

[Strive2Define]

How obese is your client? Does she have any other medical conditions that prohibit what types of movements she can perform?

[char-dawg]

Hi Denny, welcome to the board.

I don't know why you want to do pull-ups in particular if they're not part of a larger general workout, but something to try would be negatives. This basically means that instead of working against gravity, you try to resist working with gravity. In your case, instead of trying to do a pull-up when you don't have the strength, you would get a chair or something that allows you to start at the top of the movement (chin over the bar), and then you just lower yourself as slowly as possible until you're at the bottom position. Then repeat two or three more times.

This should do more for you than the method you're using now. Good luck.

[accismus]

How did she feel about the workout? Was it what she was expecting?

How obese is your client? Does she have any other medical conditions that prohibit what types of movements she can perform?

She is 400 pounds, has type 2 diabetes with retinopathy, high blood pressure, and degenerative joint disease which mainly affects her knees. She also has back pain after walking or standing for only a few minutes. She's on about 10 medications, I didn't even know what they all were for, I need to look them up.

I don't really know what she was expecting. She told me what she had done in the past, and about her current condition, then I decided we would just try walking. However, we got out to start walking and it made sense to do other exercises while she was sitting to rest. It worked out pretty well.

I think she felt like she had a good workout, which was my goal. I hope she will come on her own to walk like she said she would. I will meet with her once a week for 12 weeks as a part of the YMCA diabetes outreach program.

[VannaRae]

I know this is a late reply but since you've got 11 more sessions, I would suggest getting her into the pool.

[accismus]

I know this is a late reply but since you've got 11 more sessions, I would suggest getting her into the pool.
Yes, I thought of that. She is only a program member though, and we don't have a pool at my location. I'm going to talk to the director about letting her go to a different location to use the pool.

[Alicrmt]

She is 400 pounds, has type 2 diabetes with retinopathy, high blood pressure, and degenerative joint disease which mainly affects her knees. She also has back pain after walking or standing for only a few minutes. She's on about 10 medications, I didn't even know what they all were for, I need to look them up.

I don't really know what she was expecting. She told me what she had done in the past, and about her current condition, then I decided we would just try walking. However, we got out to start walking and it made sense to do other exercises while she was sitting to rest. It worked out pretty well.

I think she felt like she had a good workout, which was my goal. I hope she will come on her own to walk like she said she would. I will meet with her once a week for 12 weeks as a part of the YMCA diabetes outreach program.

This must be a challenging client for you. Probably a stupid question, but does she have weight loss goals or anything like that which she's shared with you?

Hopefully her 12 weeks with you will be a good start for her to get more active....of course there is also the diet aspect...

[accismus]

She also gets 3 sessions with the RD as a part of the program. I am not allowed to talk about diet at all, but the RD handles that. She hasn't shared any goals with me, but I think she just wants to lose weight so that her joints stop hurting so much. This is easily the most challenging client I've ever had, but then again I just started this job so who knows what I'll have in the future.

[funnyesq]

My guess is that one thing you could do is encourage them to get a pedometer that counts steps as well as distance. This might encourage "more movement" during the normal day. Say she normally does about 2,000 steps. If she has a counter...she might try 2500 the next day...3,000 after that until she gets up to say 10-15,000 steps. More movement, more weight/fat loss. I "guess" that one big problem with the obese is that they just can't move enough. Slow and steady to move MORE.

[lchristine100]

Can you give me some examples? Or just suggestions of web links or books to look at?


modified body weight exercises like push ups, squats, crunches...