I recently met with my trainer and she suggested that to start losing weight (I have been working out for nearly 2 years at a gym and have lost only 10 pounds. I work out 4 times a week with cardio and weight training), I should work up to jogging for 30 minutes. She suggested that I take 1 week to build up my walking speed and then gradually add minutes of jogging to my walking. This sounds like a good way to challenge myself; however, I am more than 100 pounds overweight and it just seems wrong to further stress my joints by pounding on them. I am decently in shape, but I am wondering if this is really feasable. Does anyone have experience with this or any suggestions for me???

Should I really try to do this, or is my trainer nuts?

Increasing intensity in this manner will definitely help your burn more calories during your workout. Now, definitely does cause stress to the joints. If you are concerned about this then try a similar intensity on the gym elliptical. This machine is much more friendly to the joints than the treadmill or track.

It is important to remember, that a particular heart rate at a given duration will burn the same amount of calories on either the track, treadmill, elliptical or even a stationary bike. It all depends on what type of exercise you are most comfortable with.

Safety and injury prevention should always be your primary concerns.

Hey, thanks for the message. I do enjoy the eliptical. Maybe for now I will work on increasing my intensity on that machine. Good suggestion.

HI there,

I agree with fitness trainer. Jogging is very hard on your joints and the elliptical trainer is a great alternative. If you would rather be outside, then speedwalking is a good alternative as well. It's also a lot easier on the joints and you can get your heart rate up just as much, if you do it right.

Have you considered swimming? If you have the facilities available, it is really easy on the joints and a serious full body work out. Just make sure that you read up on form so that you work your body well without getting exhausted too fast. My boyfriend swims daily because he hates the pressure on his joints from running (I run and try to get him to come with me). I have gone swimming a few times with him and it is intense on both sides (cardio/strength).

And...in water you are very very light, so being overweight will not bother you too much physically.

I agree with the suggestions given above.

But - something also stuck out to me. You've lost 10 pounds in 2 years of going to the gym? 10 pounds is a great progress, but doesn't seem to match with that much effort. How often do you go to the gym? Are you keeping track of your food intake as well?

I would listen to your trainer. Jogging can be tough on joints and if it actually hurts then I would do something else - however, the idea isn't to be jogging at 100 lbs overweight for years or even months. Your body would transform pretty quickly and the strain on joints would be less and less and less. If you don't feel your joints hurting now then I'd give jogging a try.

I started off at ~65-70 lbs overweight, and while its not 100 lbs, I was still able to start jogging right away without any joint pain at all. Of course I could onlyl run 3/4 of a mile my first try, and am only now up to 1.5 miles, and I can run for almost 20 minutes non-stop.

I think if you normally have joint pain you would likely increase it with running, if you normally have no joint problems you would probably be ok.

If you decide to start jogging I already posted my opinion on another thread titled:

Learning to Jog!

So check it out if you would like some tips for starting, or just search my posts, which might be easier.

Good luck with your training! And...do not think about the worst things that can happen...it will discourage you...Best to start off slowly and be conscious of what your body tells you while you jog/speedwalk (or do any other form of excercise).

Do you have bad knees already? If so I would definately stick with the elliptical but I do feel jogging is more challenging. Why? When you jog you have to keep a minimum speed up to not fall off the treadmill on the ellipital you can speed up and slow down as you please. So you will keep a steady heart rate and burn more calories jogging. If you have enough self control to keep a fast steady pace on the elliptical then you will benefit from it but, most people can't do that. You also have to keep your arms moving you can't just hold onto the handles. Moving arms=more calories burnt.

Oh and don't pay attention AT ALL to the amount of calories the machines tell you, you are burning. The are all inaccurate. If you can input any information about yourself at all it's usually only age and weight. What about height? Obviously a 170 5'2 person is going to burn more calories then a 6'2 170 person at the same speed.