by Ethel Smith

Created on: August 13, 2008

Any person who is obese will benefit from incorporating simple exercises into their daily routine. However what sort of exercises, and how many, depends greatly on how much the person is overweight by, their general health, age and capability.

If you are overweight and do not take regular exercise it is wise to have a health professional check you over before you start an exercise regimen. This is good because it is also possible to monitor the improvements to your health that you will experience after a little time spent regularly exercising. If you are able to take advice on the best exercise programme for you do so.

However as a general rule of thumb you want to start slowly and build your amount of exercise up. Always include a warm up session at the start of your exercising period and a cool down session at the end. This may be just a little marching on the spot, some stretches and a shake down. However this warm up and cool down will prevent you ending up stiff and achy as, if you do, you will be less likely to carry on with exercising.

Some safe exercises for obese people are:-

March up and down on the spot for 5 minute periods. In between walk across the room a couple of times.

Step up and down onto the bottom of your stairs for a dozen times, at a time.

When you are sat down stretch your arms into the air and then down to your feet a few times. Try to do this holding a weight such as a tin of vegetables. Follow these stretches with some shoulder and ankle rotations.

Swimming is generally safe for obese people as the water protects muscles and joints.

Buy a ball or a small bean bag and throw it into the air catching it as it falls. Do this at least fifty times and you will be surprised at how many stretches you do.

A skipping rope can be good as long as you remember moderation in all things.

Get off the bus a couple of stops sooner and walk the last bit of your journey.

If you have children try and join in with their games. Have fun and get moving.

Put the radio music channel on and have a little dance at home. You do not have to go mad but just swinging that body around whilst you are dusting, for example, will feel good and, even a little, will help.

Once your are exercising a little you can gradually start a more ambitious exercise programme. As your body tones up you may find that will lose some weight. However even if you do not you will be able to exercise more as you become fitter. However initially you will need to be careful and make sure that you do not strain yourself. The more weight you are carrying the harder your body will have to work. This can put a strain on muscles, joints, bones and your heart. Just be sensible and do general 'keep fit' exercises and you should not go far wrong. If you feel cofident enough to, join a gym that specialises in overweight clients and then you can follow a monitored routine of exercise.

Learn more about this author, Ethel Smith.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.