Cardio for the overweight and unfit

Can you take your children swimming? I know it won't be a 'proper' workout, but you could walk up and down the pool with a toddler in armbands whilst carrying a baby.

In case it might be of use to anyone, this looks very doable at home. Very
fittingly, using the Mumsnet HQ staff for demo!

I'm going to try and incorporate a few into my day.

Walking is great exercise and gets you out of the house with little ones.
There are loads of home exercise programmes online / YouTube if you want specific toning / strengthening.
Please make time for pelvic floor exercises everyday - so important post partum.
These are the WHO exercise recommendations
Most importantly, as mentioned up thread, you can't outrun your fork!

Have a good play around with google maps, @PreppingForSchool - you might work out that you can walk to some places you'd normally drive to and you might be able to swap it for walking so you're not having to just walk for the sake of walking but walking to get to where you need to go. You can use a pedometer on your phone to keep track of steps (no need for a watch to count steps) and this can track how much you've done.

Well done, @PreppingForSchool , and be kind to yourself. It is hard when you have young dc.

I gained lots of weight and when my dc were teens lost a fair bit by walking and being more careful with what I ate and drank (no diets but often skipped breakfast, and no cakes etc or booze in the week, that sort of thing). Walking worked really well and I now run, and strength train quite seriously. I got a basic fitbit and had fun with a friend, making sure we got our steps in.

The NHS guidelines are here - so five brisk walks and two whole body Pilates sessions a week (say) would tick that box. I'd start by making sure you do that, and then build up to longer, faster walks, for example. There's no need to run or do HIT at this stage. If you lose a bit of weight now, and build some base fitness then when your dc are a bit older you will be able to do more - either as a family or because you have a bit of time to yourself.

www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/exercise-guidelines/physical-activity-guidelines-for-adults-aged-19-to-64/#:~:text=do%20at%20least%20150%20minutes,not%20moving%20with%20some%20activity

I've heard people recommend Lesley Sansone walking videos.

walking is a great start.

try to walk 'actively' (pay attention to your core, swing your arms, clench your buttocks etc) for at least part of your walk.
try to walk so that you get warm and out of breath.

cycling or swimming or cross trainer are also great and gentle on joints.

c25k once you feel like you can do the next level. park run is wonderful!

As another member of the fat blob club (aka mums doing way too much club ), walking is definitely worthwhile. My PT pretty much said I'd be better off switching my other exercise to walking (but I can't cos the other stuff is as much about the mental health/social benefits).

I just wanted to add that making sure you get enough protein in your diet will help too. I know I need to be around 1300 calories per day, with 100g of protein.

Thank you! Or course, so I did it after my first and found it worked really well. I'm back to square one, possibly worse after second pregnancy and birth though and I still have pelvic girdle pain. Plus a lot more weight to lose but I've been doing 16/8 which has been fairly low maintenance and working well - still up all hours of the night with DC2 so I try to chose options which are manageable.

MUTU is a 12 week program (I guess with a view to incorporate the exercises in your own way once you've finished). First two weeks is 12 minute core/pelvic floor video with a 20-30 min walk as many days as you can. Then after week 2 they introduce some low impact hiit exercises. So to stick rigidly you will be doing a 12 minute core video every day (or most days depending on what is possible for you) - a daily walk of 20 mins minimum and then about 3-4 hiit sessions a week eventually. As I write this out it actually sounds quite intense! But it's good if you have a bit of time and some support. I got a bit caught up in doing it perfectly last time but this time I'm just going for doing whatever I can when the energy is there. If I have to miss a daily walk, or one of the videos so be it!

Hope that helps, feel free to ask any questions.

@PreppingForSchool

Your "embarrassed at what a fat blob I am at the moment", to me, is actually a pretty inspirational mother of two small children, dealing with significantly challenging medical issues yet still doing her damn best to fit in exercise between all that entails. Alongside working.

You be proud of yourself, Prepping! -->

Please do not refer to yourself as a fat blob. Would you speak to a friend like that? I'm sure you wouldn't, so please do not speak to or about yourself unkindly.

@FatAgainItsLettuceTime
Thanks so much for that heads-up. Just the kind of thing I was looking for. Bonus points as no costs involved!

Our Parks do a free fitness programme called couch to fitness, you can sign up on the website so you can add notes about your progress or they have playlists on YouTube on their channel.

It's really good, 9 week programme, you don't need any equipment just follow along with the video in your living room. 3 sessions a week starting easier and getting harder over the 9 weeks. They have 3 instructors in each videoed showing various versions of each exercise so if you have any physical mobility issues there will be a variation you can follow with smaller movements or seated instead of standing for example.

couchtofitness.com/

Walking is great, just make sure that it's brisk and gets your breathing rate up. Hills are good to include.

I eventually ended up taking up running, but it was months of walking that gave me the base of fitness to be able to start.

You can use the early weeks of C25k to alternate steady and fast walking.

That sounds really tricky, I'm in a similar position with two little ones. Going to restart MUTU this week for the first time since having my second. If you decide it is the right route for you feel free to give me a shout and we can start a little support thread if you'd like.

Walking is perfect. Its massively underrated I think. Good luck OP.

I was in your situation not long ago. Was doing strengthening exercises 3 times a week. Wanting to get into cardio but avoiding it.

Walking is great if you can spare the time to do enough of it and are willing to go out whatever the weather. Which wasn't me.

Do you have a bike? I brought a turbo trainer for my old bike and now do some inside cycling in front of the telly a few times a week. You can get them for £50 from Halfords, or there are usually options on face book or eBay for even less.

I second walking, I love it because I can just fit it in whenever I get a bit of time, it’s free, and you get out in the fresh air! I would also thoroughly recommend The Body Project on YouTube.. look for the 30 minutes beginner cardio with Daniel. He is an an excellent, friendly motivator and they have ordinary people alongside him with ordinary bodies. Got me through lockdown!

If you can't get time out of the house, try the YouTube channel Walk at Home.
Ive an app called Walking for Weight loss.

Walking definitely. Try and get out 3 times a week for 30 mins to start, then you can add more days and up your time on some days as you get stronger. Use strata to track your distance and times, it's really motivating when you get the little 'This is your longest walk' badges or '5k' badge. Start with flat walks and then add some hills.

Take a look on Google maps and see where you can walk to, how can you stretch it the school run walk or popping to the local shops. I've discovered that if I go to the local shop and then walk a little bit further to the edge of the village that's a mile so I can easily do 2 miles every time I go to the shop. Pushing a pram or pushchair might slow you down but it will increase your fat burning.

Walking is one of the best things for weight loss but you have to do lots of it, at least an hour a day. Plus you need to do a moderate to brisk pace, not a slow amble. Try to up your walking, plus gentle weight bearing exercises at home. Increasing your lean muscle mass will help a lot. Look up beginners weights workout for body weight only, where you don't need equipment. And remember weight loss is 80% what you eat. I love using the free version of My fitness pal to track. Good luck. You got this.

Walking workout - see You Tube