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Cardio, Fitness

Indoor Cardio For Overweight People

Indoor Cardio For Overweight People

  • October 21, 2013 7:16 pm
  • 11 comments

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You are (very) overweight and want to do some cardio at home that doesn’t cost a fortune? Here are four methods: from totally free to fairly affordable.

You And Jumping

Let me start with the bad news: the indoor cardio methods I recently featured won’t work for you if you are overweight or obese.

In your knee joint, for example, the cartilage that buffers the thigh bone from directly crunching on the lower leg’s bone already has to work against all your upper body’s weight. If you now start jumping, it can well send it over the edge.

The good news is: we can still safely get you huffing and puffing and you won’t have to get out the big dollar bills.

Completely Free: A Bottom Step

Let’s start with the cheapest form of cardio you can do: the bottom step of a staircase. If you have trouble keeping your balance, it should have a banister you can hold on to.

A bottom stair with banister can be your cardio “equipment.”

You step up with your left foot, let the right follow, then step back with the left and again let the right follow.

If you live in an apartment and don’t have any stairs around, an alternative is using a flat object approximately 4 to 5 inches high, wide enough to comfortably stand on, and, very important, able to bear your weight. There is equipment specifically made for this purpose, but you of course have to buy it:

indoor cardio for obese persons: the circuit step

The Circuit Step.

The Circuit Step, for example, is adjustable between 4 to 8 inches and has a maximum capacity of 275 lbs. Amazon sells it for $51.

Once more, no matter if you use a home object or “real” equipment like the Circuit Step: if you have trouble with balance, put it close to something you can hold on to.

Safest For The Knees: Indoor Cycles

If you already have trouble with your knees, we have to minimize stress for them further. The safe route here are indoor cycles – basically two pedals you can use while sitting on a chair or couch.Β  With these, most of your weight will be carried by what you are sitting on:

stamina indoor cycle

A name like a cruise missile: the Stamina 15-0120 InStride Cycle XL.

Pictured here is the Stamina 15-0120 InStride Cycle XL. Coming in at $36 it in my opinion provides the best balance between cost and benefit.

Some users complain about it getting hot or starting to screech, but that may be due to them really maxing it out. The little thing is just not designed to give reasonably fit people a good cardio workout. It is in my opinion for those who have a weight problem and don’t need much to get their heart beat up.

If you want to go the safe route and have more money to spend, you can go for a motorized unit like the Exerpeutic Motorized Mini ACTIVCycle:

Exerpeutic Motorized Mini ACTIVCycle

The deluxe indoor cycle option: the Exerpeutic Motorized Mini ACTIVCycle.

For $88 it offers smooth running with a more precise difficulty setting and also displays speed, time and calories burnt.

More Pushing: A Stepper

If you can’t or don’t want to use a staircase, yetΒ  feel a little more adventurous and have no problems with balance, a stepper could work for you. These mimic the motion of stepping (hence the name), but the movement is more dynamic – all limbs remain in action. In a way they are mini elliptical machines.

a stepper for overweight people who want to do home fitness

The Sunny Health & Fitness Stepper.

From all the steppers I looked at, the pictured Sunny Health & Fitness to me seems the most trustworthy, offering a heavy-duty steel construction, adjustable resistance and usability for people up to 250 lbs. At $52 it however isn’t the cheapest.

How Often And How Long?

As I explained here, any activity that gets your heart rate to about 50 – 75% of the maximum can be classified as cardio. If you carry a lot of weight, it likely won’t take a lot to get you there, because of all the tremendous work your body already has to do.

This is why three things are very important for you:

  • start with short sessions; at the beginning, three times per week for 10 minutes each can already suffice
  • up the difficulty slowly; adding 5 minutes to the sessions every month can be enough
  • really, really, really get your doctor’s ok before pushing your already stressed body into these

Don’t Forget Your Eating Habits

Last but not least I also have to mention that none of these will magically make you lose weight. A bit of exercise on the stairs or with these gadgets can help on the way, but you can easily outeat them all. Only these little bits of fitness and getting a grip on your eating habits will do the trick. For the latter I have an explanation and some tips right here.

Birdhouse picture courtesy of Clyde Robinson, staircase picture courtesy of Brian Moloney, product images courtesy of Amazon.

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Latest Comments

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11 Comments

  1. Jess says:
    October 22, 2013 at 10:19 am

    Great advice!

    Reply
    • evilcyber says:
      October 23, 2013 at 10:40 pm

      Thank you, Jess! πŸ™‚

      Reply
  2. Dr. J says:
    October 22, 2013 at 8:46 pm

    Not to detract from your well written and potentially useful article, EC, but I feel skeptical about the people who need this having the willingness to do it.

    That article I mentioned on the NHANE is finally up.

    Reply
    • evilcyber says:
      October 23, 2013 at 10:42 pm

      Well, I believe that when you set the obstacles low enough, you can get more people into exercise. From my experience, to many the task seems impossible in the beginning and every little bit helps.

      Saw the article! πŸ™‚

      Reply
  3. HappinessSavouredHot says:
    October 23, 2013 at 5:59 pm

    My grandmother rode a stationary bike until her late eighties. She was not obese, but can we say she was kinda old?

    I have an obese person in my family who says getting dressed to take a walk is a challenge in itself (bending down hurts, getting dressed in general raises her heartbeat, etc.) Baby steps are key for sure.

    I myself use the steps in my house on purpose. I will carry one thing at a time up or down the 3 levels just to give me an excuse for cardio! πŸ™‚

    Reply
    • evilcyber says:
      October 23, 2013 at 10:46 pm

      Now there is a way of giving it all a direct purpose! πŸ˜€

      And I think your grandmother must have been an impressive woman! I truly hope I will be as fit at that age.

      Reply
      • HappinessSavouredHot says:
        October 24, 2013 at 1:27 am

        “Fit grandma” is still there: 96 years of age. πŸ™‚ My other grandmother is also pretty in shape for her 95 years. πŸ™‚

        Reply
        • evilcyber says:
          October 25, 2013 at 6:21 pm

          Correction: IS a very impressive woman! Please send her my admiring regards and a kiss on the cheek! πŸ™‚

          Reply
  4. Katie and Olivia says:
    October 25, 2013 at 7:22 pm

    you are crazy if u think that i will do those steps ever again. I hate those things with a pasion and so dose my best frined Olivia i dont know why they were ever made

    – Katie and Olivia

    Reply
    • Maddie says:
      October 25, 2013 at 7:23 pm

      πŸ™‚ πŸ™‚ πŸ™‚ πŸ™‚ πŸ™‚ πŸ™‚

      Reply
  5. Cindy says:
    October 28, 2013 at 8:22 pm

    I’m a big fan of the morning or evening walk. Every walk go one house farther than you did last time. It adds up fast.

    Reply

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