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There are many things we need to consider when overweight people exercise. The first is what is an overweight person, if you're going by height and weight charts, look at an athlete are they over weight? No their not, same when using BMI, so a question is how do you decide who is overweight.

So let's have a look at what would be best for them to do, to begin with the ASCM (American Council of Sports Medicine), which is one of the most respected bodies in exercise pre-scription. They state that a minimum of 2o minutes cardiovascular exercise is needed to improve fitness level. You will proberly find an overweight person is unfit, so by improving their fitness level, they can increase their oxygen uptake, allowing them to exercise for longer and increase energy expenditure.

The chief medical officer in the UK in 1996 stated that 30 minutes exercise 5 times a week is what is required for weight management. So let's look at what sort of activities would be good for them, starting off with small times sessions like 10-20 minutes are a good start. As they get fitter and their weight changes the length of exercise or activity can increase along with the intensity of their sessions.

We need to understand their health problems, weak joints, possible health conditions like hypertension (high blood pressure), diabetes, etc. This will affect how hard they can exercise, but also activities may cause problems with their joints. Sessions of exercise in water is always recommended, which will reduce the stress placed on their joints. Walking, cycling, x-trainer are all low impact activities which can help reduce strain on the joints of the person. Weight training is also very good but health implications will restrict some of the exercises they can do. Lifting above the heart is not to be carried out or static holding exercises, these will increase stress on the heart.

Learn more about this author, Steve Lilley.
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