You are overweight/obese. If you are here reading this and you find yourself in this situation, it is important to understand a few things before we go on. I will enumerate them for you. This is a delicate subject, and I will be as respectful as humanly possible, at the same time that I won’t sugar coat anything to you. Let’s go step by step.
1 – Obesity is recognised as a disease, by many medical associations, including the American Medical Association. It is of utmost importance that you recognise that, look at yourself in the mirror and UNDERSTAND that you are sick and in need of help and change. No, your hopes are not lost. But the clock is ticking.
According to the World Health Organisation, a BMI (Body Mass Index, you can find calculators online) of 25 to 29.9 kg/m2 is considered overweight. From 30 to 34.9kg/m2 we call it Obesity Class 1, 35 to 39.9kg/m2 is Obesity Class 2, and 40kg/m2 and above is Obesity Class 3 (also referred to as severe, extreme or massive obesity). You can find more info about it here.
2 – The road ahead will be EXTREMELY hard. Obesity can come from many causes, it is never as simple as “you just eat too much”, although most of the times the “eating too much” part will be involved as well. The common characteristic to all cases is: very few people manage to get out of it. The statistics are unfortunately not in your favor, as you can see here.
BUT…if you are obese AND sedentary you are DEFINITELY in worse shoes than a person who is obese but active and trying to improve. So let’s get it out of the way: being obese is not an excuse to not take care of yourself just because the “chances of success” are slim. Go and get shit done. Move. Train.
ABOUT TRAINING
Weight training is your priority number 1. A huge mistake that overweight/obese people make is to start their training with countless hours of cardio/treadmill to burn calories. You need to get strong and build muscle (hypertrophy). Those 2 will support your joints for the future cardio, help reduce the risk of osteoarthritis and other issues, help deal with insulin resistance and so on. There is a whole myriad of benefits that come from weight training. Do not neglect the benefits in Strength and Hypertrophy just for the sake of calories burned. That’s a bad trade off.
The training principles that apply to the overall public are the same that apply to you, and you can find more info here and here. You’re no different than any other human beings, you just carry a bit more fat than the others, therefore the training will be the same.
The rule of thumb is: you gotta TRAIN HEAVY. By heavy, I don’t mean a specific number like 200kg or 300kg, I mean heavy FOR YOU. In the beginning, that will be quite light by default since your physical capacity is not very high. But overtime, you will need to increase it. Just as much as studying math, you start on your 1st day learning 1+1. If you keep studying 1+1 after 6 months, you won’t learn anything significant.
But, if after 6 months you can already do some equations and so on, you are definitely getting somewhere. The most important here is to not neglect the most important aspects of weight training that I mentioned above: Strength and Hypertrophy.
There is NO SUCH THING as too much muscle or too much strength. And by strengthening your muscles you will prepare and strengthen your joints for the near future where you will be able to do higher volumes of cardiovascular training, which will in turn help you with calorie burn + all the health benefits that come with it obviously.
You do not need anything too specific when it comes to training when you’re a beginner, unless you have underlying injuries or health complications. In that case, consult yourself with a physician or a qualified trainer.
Choose compound exercises that recruit as much muscle mass at the same time as possible. As I mentioned, your first objective is NOT to burn calories during weight training, but those exercises will willing or not make you burn more calories than isolation exercises, and I don’t see any reason why not to either. Another advantage of those is that usually the strength gains are higher.
By choosing free weights you will get another benefit that not many people consider: comfort during training. I am a very tall guy (1,97m) and also quite heavy (around 120kg). For my size, utilising machines is already not the most comfortable situation.
Now imagine how a person with even extra size would feel. It’s hard to get in, hard to get out, hard to do the exercise…in the long run, that is demotivating. By doing free weight compound movements, you will get away with those issues much easier.
And no, the fitness industry did not plot anything against fat people, nor are they discriminating you. The machines are just designed according to the regular size of the MAJORITY of the population. So are plane seats and clothing. Deal with it.
It’s fucking hard for me also to find size 48 shoes and pants that fit me perfectly. That’s how life is. The main difference here is that you can change what happened to you, for whatever reason it might have happened, you can change it.
Avoid circuit trainings in the gym. That’s a mistake I have done in the past with overweight/obese trainees. Weight training works around 64% of your Vo2Max capacity, which is low intensity for any huge cardio benefits. By making your training as a circuit, you are only making the strength/hypertrophy gains worse, because you are tired from the previous exercise and consequently not exerting full effort into the one you’re doing now, and it’s not a great cardio exercise either, since the intensity of Vo2Max is too low. Big waste of time.
You can do very well with full body splits. Pick one exercise per body part and go all in. This training style will allow you to train more often without getting extremely sore, and you’ll be more motivated to keep training because you will have only a few working sets per exercise.
CARDIOVASCULAR TRAINING:
DO IT. Simply put, there is not much to add to it. Strength and cardiovascular health walk hand in hand. Low Vo2Max strongly correlates with higher risk of a long list of serious conditions, including heart disease, cancer, dementia, Alzheimer’s, depression, and Type 2 diabetes. In fact, it’s a better predictor of longevity and risk of death than other predictors like smoking and high blood pressure (here).
Start slow. Treadmill walking is a great alternative, since the amount of impact in your joints will be smaller than when walking outside, plus you can easily regulate your speed and keep it constant without going through the “risks” of taking a stroll outside (you can get hit by someone, twist your ankle on a rock, you never know). Even something as little as 10′ walks 3-4x per week will already be of great benefit, and you will increase that over time.
That works pretty much as training with weights. If you need to lift heavier and do more reps in order to progress with weights, when it comes to cardio you need to move faster and/or longer/further. Keep it simple: just keep the same duration every training and try to walk a longer distance. Or keep the same speed and try walking a few minutes more. Do not overcomplicate things.
Running: I have nothing against running, but you need to understand that you carry a lot of extra weight there, and every step you take running will increase the amount of impact in your joints by a ton (pun not intended). So, prepare your joints through weight training + low impact/ low intensity cardio until you feel comfortable enough to start jogging slowly. It’s all about consistency.
Cycling: again I have nothing against it, but sitting on a bike’s seat for along period of time while carrying extra weight on your body might not be the most comfortable thing you’ll ever do.
Swimming: If you know how to, it’s great, do it.
Ellyptical: It’s hard to keep the same constant pace, therefore it is very hard to track your progress. You can go by time and distance only. Still doable, but not my first choice.
Rowing machine: can be a very good option, but it is uncomfortable to sit on it for extended periods of time.
NUTRITION
There is literally no mistery here. One of my biggest influences in the Strength and Conditioning field, Charles R. Poliquin used to say: “if it didn’t swim, run on the fields or fly, or if it didn’t grow in a field or in a tree, don’t put it in your mouth”. It’s a bit oversimplified, but if you think this way, your life will bea easier willing or not. The biggest issue with nowadays foods is that they are highly processed and palatable, which invariably involves a high level of fats and sugar/sodium, and high calorie dense snacks (lots of calories in a small snack or whatever you call it).
By eating more fruits, roots, salads, grains, a more protein rich diet and so on, you tend to stay more satiated for a longer period of time, which will in turn diminish your cravings for high calorie dense foods. Sometimes just by changing a little bit your eating habits you might be able to eliminate 2 or 3 THOUSAND extra calories/day from your diet and lose a LOT of weight without much effort, while being more satiated than usual and having higher energy levels throughout your days.
Regarding drinks, avoid sodas and juices (alcohol too, especially). Those drinks will only give you extra calories that usually nobody accounts for and that’s it. I have had one trainee who lost 4kg in a month just by eliminating cranberry juice from his every day life (the amount of juice he was drinking was ridiculous). If you crave something sweet in your mouth, go for coke zero.
The research is pretty clear when it comes to artificial sweeteners and there is literally no danger. You would have to drink absurd amounts of coke per day to get something bad going on.
The ideal scenario would be to just drink plain water. The thing is that drinking some artificially sweetened beverages occasionally can help you stick to a more strict nutrition regimen, and that can be very positive in the long run.
Understand one more thing: You WILL fuck up. You WILL eat some crap. Blaming yourself for that will not help. Getting back on track right on the next meal is what solves the problem. You need to create the habit to say “no” when that delicious food comes to mind, even if it means eating something not so delicious.
LET’S WRAP IT UP
In clear “French” for all of you: if you are overweight/obese, you’re in a bad situation. Stressing and overanalysing will not do much for your well being, and making yourself a victim of the world and all the possible forms of oppression won’t either. Taking ACTION will help you change things. Black or white, it is how it is. I still haven’t met a SINGLE person who was overweight/obese and regrets putting off all that extra weight and adopting a healthier lifestyle.
That will never happen simply because “obesity” and “quality of life” are not synonyms, regardless if your blood test is showing ok or not. Having difficulty finding clothes, getting in and out of cars/buses/planes, not being able to go for a long walk with your kids/pets, feeling shitty about your image in the mirror, having pain in your joints and etc, are all symptoms of poor quality of life too.
The very good news is: you can have a MASSIVE impact in your quality of life by making some small changes in training and nutrition. I’m not saying you can be healthy at a very high body weight, but you will definitely be better off than a sedentary person at a very high body weight. After you get started and adopt a new lifestyle, it will get much easier in the long run to put off some weight and keep it off.
The statistics are not in your favor, yes. So what? You can use that as an excuse to not do anything, or you can prove them all wrong and raise your middle finger to the statistics. I hope you choose the 2nd option. Let/s raise our middle fingers together.
The gym is the most democratic place that exists. I dare to say it’s the only one where literally everybody can train, with whatever limitations one might have. You will always be welcome in there. And do not worry: nobody cares or judges your appearance. Everybody in there is trying to better themselves, and you will be part of the gang.
I hope this helped you making better choices. There is much more to it, obviously. This is just a simplistic guide to choices you can easily make on your daily life and that will have a big impact in the short term already. In case you need any help, feel free to get in touch at any time and I’ll be glad to be part of your journey.
Good trainings to you!