By Asia Collins
Congratulations on starting your journey to be healthier. Obesity can take a negative toll on your life, making everyday actions difficult, and causing you to feel uncomfortable in your body.
If that’s the case, and you’ve decided you want to lose weight, then prepare for the journey into exercise. Most people have a hatred toward exercise, but it’s mostly because they haven’t found the best exercises for them. Every physical body is different so certain exercises may feel good to some while those same exercises may feel awful to others.
When it comes to being medically obese, there are a lot of exercises that may feel deeply uncomfortable and discouraging as you start off your weight loss journey.
And that’s okay! You don’t have to do those exercises if they don’t help you mentally.
But there is a list of great beginner exercises to slowly feel out what your body can handle at the weight you are currently at.
For Difficulty Standing, Try These
Exercise Bikes
Exercise bikes are a great way to start exercising. They require you to focus on a very specific part of your body, while the rest of your body does little to no movement.
Your hamstrings and calves are primarily at work. The exercise will help you lose weight in your calves and will also make them stronger. This will help you to slowly work towards standing for longer periods of time as your leg muscles gain back their strength on the bike.
Swimming
Swimming is one of the best ways to exercise. Submerging your body in water makes it feel lighter, therefore you can get stronger and lose weight without feeling an uncomfortable strain on your legs.
Whether you decide to swim laps or do an aerobics routine, swimming will take the pressure off the straining of your joints. Thus, giving you room to lose weight and gain strength in your desired area of the body.
For Difficulty with Intensity, Try These
Walking
Whether on a treadmill or outside, walking is a great low-intensity exercise. Walking is another exercise that works the quadriceps, hamstrings, and calves, but in a way that can be considered more casual and manageable for people.
Since it’s an activity that many people do on a daily basis, walking can seem like an obtainable extension of that. It’s easily disguised as something pleasant like a casual stroll, or a nice walk to the nearest park. Walking is a great way to build stamina without pushing yourself too far, making this exercise mentally and physically comfortable.
Lifting Weights
Lifting weights can surprisingly be a great low-intensity exercise. It’s all about the pace and the weights that you decide to lift.
For a good low-intensity exercise, try starting off with smaller weights and lifting to the beat of a song you enjoy. The song and the smaller weights are a good introduction to working out because the song keeps you energetic while the smaller weights make you more capable of a longer workout.
Choosing heavy weights and going at a faster pace might make you too tired to continue for longer than a few minutes. Smaller weights and a well-paced song aid in adding longevity and building stamina without feeling overwhelmed.
For Simplicity of Movement, Try This
Plank
As an avid supporter of plank, I can confidently say that this exercise is one of the simplest exercises you can possibly do.
With an emphasis on your core, plank strengthens your ab muscles without any extra movements or additional things to think about. You can do a plank anywhere in your home. It requires no equipment, no yoga mat, and no proper shoes. It only requires some floor space that’s big enough to fit the length and width of your body.
If you’re tired, you simply come down from the plank and rest on the floor. Possibly going into a child’s pose to stretch yourself out before trying again. Hold it as long as you can and come down whenever it becomes too much.
This exercise is a great way to listen to your body, engage your core, and build focus, and mental and physical stamina.
