What is considered too much for an obese client??
I have an obese client who I train twice per week for 30 min. sessions. Twice she has expressed to me that after our workouts she is so damn tired the rest of the day. We are only doing 30 mins and it consists of beginner exercises such as BW squat, res. band presses, & TRX rows. I review her food log weekly and her diet is very good, as well as her post-workout meal. I think a good part of it has to do with sleep issues.
Any advice?
Hi Pete,
Each obese client is different with regard to their own threshhold for exercise. Assuming all is well with your client medically, it could just be the form and intensity of the exercise combined with her own bodyweight. Because of their extra weight, sometimes even small amounts of exertion can be overwhelming to their respiratory system and joints. If she is new to exercising, this can be a huge demand on her system. How is your client during the sessions? Is she too winded or able to talk to you? Is she well hydrated? Is the strength training “too much too soon”? How much sleep is she getting? Just some questions to consider while you are training.
I would go slow with her and just monitor her movement patterns and exertion levels.
Perhaps you could lessen the intensity of the exercises (move her feet during TRX to lessen the amount of bodyweight or use a stability ball for shallow wall squats to reduce the amount of bodyweight) for a while. Also, maybe just focus on adding some low intensity cardio with her. Just focusing on movement of the body while walking and monitoring her level of exertion may help.
I hope this helps. If it doesn’t get better, I would refer her to a doctor for further evaluation.
Good luck,
Christine
Hi Pete,
what you are describing does not seem much but it is to her. I would replace some of the exercises with stretches but ask her to do some exercises at home so that the same workload can be spread out a bit.
I assume she is a beginning exerciser. It is sometimes really difficult to find the right entry level. What appears absolutely nothing to us is a real workout to others.
Karin Singleton
www.meltnc.com
You could suggest to her adding one more day of training with you. This will help her with getting in a routine sooner and improving her conditioning in a faster pace. The exercises you are prescribing here are not that much, so I’m not sure why she feels tired. Maybe those couple of times she must have had other things going on with her life or her mindset was not there. Adding some more cardio (more movement) in her routine could be beneficial.
For someone obese these exercises can indeed be too much. A squat alone puts major stress on their spines and knees. What seems like a beginner exercise to us is high intensity to the obese. She is telling you that it is too much for her. How about giving her fewer reps and more active rest intervals such as easy biking on a recumbant bike (if she is very obese even walking may be too much). Sleep issues can certainly be part of it, but you want her to feel better after being with you, so I would suggest easing off. If she cannot afford to train with you extra days as Harris suggested see if you can get her to do at least 10 minutes of activity on her own on off days to help her build her strength and endurance.