There’s an incredible formula that makes exercise success possible for ANY obese woman. Overweight women cannot fail with this exercise approach.
Many plus-size women are reluctant to begin an exercise program due to fear of failure.
If you’re a full-figured women who can’t bring herself to start an exercise program, you’ll find that you fall under at least one category for being afraid to exercise; there are six reasons obese women fear exercise.
Feeling “Too Fat” to Exercise
Sure, there are certain kinds of physical activities that a woman can be too heavy to efficiently participate in, but exercise doesn’t mean that you must attempt stunts in which a heavy body causes a problem, such as running, inline skating or squat jumps.
If you’re obese and have a habit of lifting up babies or toddlers, then you’re not too heavy to lift up dumbbells, push against resistance machines or pull weighted bars towards you on a pulley system.
If you don’t need assistance walking, you’re a candidate for a brisk walking program and even modified yoga.
The Aches or Pains
Ask yourself if it’s remotely possible that every thin person who works out is free of aches and pains.
I guarantee it, many people with “perfect” bodies exercise through pain. I’ve had personal training clients, slender from head to toe, who had pain for any number of reasons.
I don’t endorse performing any activity that aggravates an injury, such as bench pressing with a rotator cuff strain.
However, sometimes a thin person has pain that she must live with (e.g., diabetes neuropathy, peripheral vascular disease, old injury from car accident), yet works out anyways, within reason, of course.
I once spoke to a normal size Vietnam vet who told me he’s in constant pain but exercises daily anyways.
A very overweight woman who has aches and pains is not a unique person; people of all sizes can have aches and pains, and many exercise.
Fear of an Injury
Avoid exercises that you think might cause injury or aggravate a pre-existing problem.
For instance, don’t lift barbells over your head if you have shoulder pain with overhead motions.
There’s plenty of exercises to choose from, that, when performed with correct form, are very safe — a lot safer than housework!
A very heavy woman is far more likely to strain her back doing housework than performing controlled, structured exercise with a pair of dumbbells, tension tubing or resistance machines.
Fear of Failure
An obese woman should write out her exercise goal — not in terms of results, but in terms of minutes spent working out.
The completion of these minutes is automatic success. Write in your daytimer, for instance, 10 minutes of nonstop walking on the treadmill, on a particular day.
Then just do it. It’s impossible to fail if you do it! (But swing your arms while walking; holding on is cheating.) There is no failure at completing a task!
Feeling Self-Conscious
Exercising at home will solve this problem, but imagine how much confidence you’ll have in all areas of life (like the workplace) if you force yourself to visit a health club with the idea that you’ll become desensitized to the presence of other patrons who have “perfect bodies.”
Not Feeling Healthy Enough
The obese woman should get a complete physical and ask her doctor if it’s okay to exercise.
I can’t imagine a physician telling an obese woman, “Exercise will damage your arteries, raise your cholesterol and raise your risk for diabetes.” Can you?
Follow the approach outlined here, and your success at exercise–no matter how obese you think you are–is pretty much guaranteed.
Remember, you’ve succeeded in exercise just 24 hours after!
How Obese Women Feel About Exercise: Study
Researchers from the Center for Obesity Research and Education and the department of kinesiology at Temple University, shed some bright lights on this situation with a study analyzing the survey results of obese and normal size women.
“This is the first time we’ve been able to systematically look at what stops obese women from getting the activity they need,” notes Melissa Napolitano, kinesiology associate professor, and clinical psychologist; Center for Obesity Research and Education at Temple University.
This is the study that yielded the aformentioned reasons that make very overweight women reluctant to exercise.
