Hey guys. As some of you may know or may not, im half way through my 200lb weight loss journey.(100lbs lost no drugs or surgery) Quick recap I started at 420, and used a stationary bike to loose 70lbs, mma/boxing did the last 30 of the 100lbs. Due to a lifting injury I have had to stop most forms of lifting and cardio as I managed to hurt my knee on a leg press, when I up 430lbs. Im not sure how I hurt my self as I weighed that much before so that's odd as heck. So now im doing my BBT and a 20 minute yoga routine every morning. Rodney Yees beginner yoga. The energize workout is what im doing. So far body weight is the only exercise that doe not hurt. Im getting lots of other benefits from yoga. I plan on moving on to a 53 minute power yoga dvd as soon as I meet some goals with the beginner one. Namely Full forward bends were my calves and hamstrings don't hurt, and be able to hold warrior 2 with less muscular pain and fatigue. Now I know I need some cardio back in to the mix, as my weight loss has slowed down considerably. I have a older ironman recumbent stationary that I used to ride but the seat is uncomfortable and I don't know if biking helps with cardio for fighting at all. So seeing that at im 312.2 is running safe for me? I have never ran before. Im still dealing with some mild knee pain from the leg press injury, how ever it is unlikely to go away till I drop weight. Its not hard or horrible pain but more annoying then anything else. I think I can manage it with pills. So what do you guys think, stick with the bike for a while or just start running?
Think about your question for a sec.. You want to start doing a new and unlearned exercise (running) on an injured/healing joint involved heavily with the new exercise. The answer is no. Running isn't a great idea when you're overweight due to the mechanical adjustments your body makes during the activity. You're very prone to injury for a high intensity, high impact activity like running. I would suggest that you go for some long walks (around an hour) at a brisk pace to supplement biking, and to rehabilitate your knee to get back into training and with weights and MA. Your ambitions are great, and it sounds like you developed plenty of motivation and discipline and I commend you for it. Being injury free is going to keep you on the path to success, and running will probably cause injury at this point.
Thanks for your answer Ero. Whats ****ing me off the most is that my knee has been recovering for over 4 months now. Not sure why it is taking so darn long. Well as I said, the weights are out of the question.. I am fearful of reinjuring it. I am enjoying the yoga and it is a strength building exercise. Im currently reading up on Convict conditioning, may implement there program. The thing is, isn't running better for movement endurance with regards to a fight? So about what weight should I think about running? I know that at some point I need to do it. I just need a waypoint to shoot for. Going to a orthopedic doctor in 2 weeks to get my knee looked at, and also to see if they can fix my knock knees.
I have considered it. I know the basics of swimming. I have a Y membership. How should I start? How long how many laps?
I think you'll be ready to start moving off into running once you reach your goal of losing the next 100 lbs. I don't think you have a real need to push things yet, but I understand your frustration for the situation. Getting in shape to fight should be on the back burner for now honestly, but you can still earn technique with no problem. The orthopedic doctor will probably give you some exercises that may involve weight training and it should help your knee heal a bit quicker. When I injured my knee the recommendation was cycling! The weight lifting probably wasn't what injured your knee. Those joints were under a lot of weight for a long time, and may not have been strong enough for the activity levels you jumped into. Patience is your friend in this situation! Walking will also help prepare you for running. You can be in great shape and still get winded pretty good after an hour long brisk walk, and you don't burn many more calories running than you do walking. Calories tend to be burned by the volume of activity where cardio is concerned, not the intensity (this is different than high intensity interval training concept, which you're not ready for). Walking will help toughen the bones and feet for running and is pretty low impact. It's a safe method of progression towards jogging and then running. You sound like you're doing great overall though man. Keep up the good work!
massive +1 to swimming, massive boo to running. also, general exercise in a pool is pretty damn cool and often recommended to people who are rehabbing injuries and so on, so it's always worth a try.
Thanks for the input guys. I am going to continue with biking for my cardio and add in swimming. Since my Stationary bike has such a uncomfortable seat, and no factory replacement is available, do you guys know of a slip on, gell pad I could buy to place over it so I can ride in comfort while watching tv?
How's your diet Kframe? If you're exercising but not losing weight you may need to relook at what you're eating/drinking. Brilliant job on losing 100lbs, just awesome and an inspiration to everyone setting themselves a goal! Mitch
That is a good question. I am eating a keto diet(have been from the beginning). I think the problem is, my calorie threshold is going down. Meaning that my maximum calorie intake threshold goes down and im not keeping up with it as fast as I should. This can be corrected by massively stepping up my cardio. I try to eat about 2400-2600 calories day. As of right now I have only been lightly doing cardio, out of fear of my knee. How ever I think the time is right to hit it hard.
you have to try different things, I have a bad shoulder and I cannot bench press which I used to love doing... but I can do close hand position push-ups, but not hands to far or it hurts... so it's strange. Point being that certain ways the body moves won't bother you as much as others. I would not run though... running is very very hard on the joints, and like anything else.. you have to have good technique with it. As David said, try swimming. Even just get out in the pool and tread water until you're tired (have a float out there with you for when you're tired though lol). I suggest based on my own personal joint issues flexacil ultra which has excellent reviews on amazon. It's really helped me quite a bit.
