If you’re following along on the site, you’ll know that I have currently started a weight loss journey. There’s something about having a milestone birthday that changes you in so many ways. I had one this year, and there was a huge shift within me in many ways. You re-evaluate your emotional health, your physical health, your spiritual health, and overall wellbeing. The thing is though, when you’re overweight and have been leading a sedentary lifestyle, you’ll know that it is hard to get started, especially if what led you to be more sedentary has been injury. In this post I want to chat about stretching exercises for overweight beginners, and how they’re a great way to start getting in some regular exercise.
There are many health benefits to physical fitness, we all know that. But there are times when you are sidelined for health reasons and injury. This is why getting back into the groove of physical fitness with low-impact exercises can help reduce your risk of injury as well as help you do effective exercise to help you with your fitness goals. So grab your gym shirts, or whatever gym clothes you feel most comfortable in, and let’s get started!
Start off slowly
My exercise routine consists of what most people use as warm up exercises. These simple stretching exercises for overweight beginners are low-impact and have been an easy exercise to get me into a routine where I can push my body at a comfortable pace.
My simple workouts consist of focusing on easy stretches that help me cope with my knee pain without putting too much strain on my body. These daily activities can help you to evaluate the risk factors and push yourself to a point where you start getting more and more comfortable to eventually use equipment like a resistance band or free weights.
Starting off with exercises like standing with your feet shoulder-width apart and touching your left hand to your right foot and and your right hand to your left foot will help you to get used to stretching your entire body bit by bit. This will help you develop a full range of motion to prepare you for aerobic exercise or weight-bearing exercises.
Take a look at this video of stretching exercises for overweight beginners and get inspired.
Start with yoga
Yoga stretches can give you great options when it comes to stretching exercises for overweight beginners. You can join in a yoga class or find out which one of the different types of yoga will be the best option for you. The important thing is to keep in mind that overweight beginners do need to build up to a level comfortably as carrying so much body weight can lead to joint pain and can hinder you more than it helps. This is why static stretches can help your muscles elongate and be more limber.
I can’t fully delve into many yoga poses, you can say that when it comes to yoga I am at the shallow end of the pool. But as your flexibility training increases you will be able to take on more and more yoga poses.
This post on yoga poses is also a good video to get you started.
Focus on your upper body
As I was starting my fitness journey (I am still in the beginning stages of it to be fair) I couldn’t do much lower body work, even much walking, as I was still struggling quite a lot with the effects of an injury. I knew I needed to start moving, which is why I focused on my upper body. If you really are having a difficult time to exercise in a standing position, focus on just getting started however you can. The most important thing really is to get moving.
Whether your goal is to develop lean muscles, or to help regulate health issues like high blood pressure, any type of exercise is so crucial to help your health and can also help you get faster results. The best bit is that it’s all about small changes, like adding things into your daily routine. Once you realise that it’s all about adding a little bit at a time you will realise that this fitness journey is much simpler than you ever imagined.
If you are on a weight loss journey, don’t forget to download your free printable weight loss jar!
