How to stop getting so out of breath

[VictorianRose87]

Hello, looking for some advice on fitness please.

I'm obese and I find myself getting out of breath very easily. Things like walking at a fast pace or walking on a slight incline.

I find it really embarrassing, especially when I'm with other people. I'll sometime skip doing something with friends that involves any walking as I feel so insecure about it. I cannot walk and talk at the same time without huffing and puffing. It makes me sweat from my face a lot too.
Anxiety makes it worse too.

I'm working on my diet, and have already lost 6lbs in the past 10 days, but it's my fitness that's really bothering me.

What are some exercises that will improve my fitness fast? I'm desperate!!

@VictorianRose87

Well done on your weight loss.

Im afraid there are no quick fixes to getting fit. It takes time.
Its great that you are getting out and about.
Your fitness will improve as you lose weight.

What I would suggest at this point is trying to structure your exercise a bit more and work on stamina.
Walking is actually a great way to start building fitness and stamina
How often do you actually go out for a walk.

Your cardio pulmonary system is the quickest one to show improvement on any fitness regime. Keep going, embrace it. It’s a sign your heart and lungs are getting stronger, and recovery will become quicker and quicker as you progress.

I do actually have a treadmill at home but I've recently only been using it once a week, if that, for around 30 minutes. I used to walk an hour, 4/5 times a week. So that's something I really need to get back to. Although I don't walk very fast on that either.

A lot of the exercise I do is weight training, which I don't feel helps with my problem

I would like to join a dance or zumba class or something, but again, it's the embarrassment

You won’t start fast and fit but if you put some serious effort in for a few weeks you will get faster and fitter and quieter

try a 20 mins walk each day this week?

then 30 mins most days next week with 2 faster days for 20 mins

when you can walk for an hour some days then join the dance class - believe me no one gives a toss about what you look and sound like. But most classes are
an hour long

Think about your breathing a lot more. So deep nasal breathing, then exhale through your nose and slow the breath down. If you're very puffed, then you physically need to slow down...

Mix in short intervals of faster walking/ uphill and slower recovery time.

Unless there's alarming symptoms of a medical episode, if it's just uncomfortable, you need to just gently keep nudging at your comfort zone.

Due to pelvis issues, I lost a lot of fitness in my pregnancies and started recovery with 100m walks, and gradually added time and pace. I also added in short pilates videos for strength. After a few months I could do mainstream fitness classes.

Lots of empathy OP- me too…

but I’ve had success before and I will again with building up cardio fitness with regular interval training- go for a walk (on your own if you’re embarrassed), and time yourself so day one just do a slow 20 min circuit. Day 2 do the same route but for 5 30second intervals push yourself to walk quickly. Do that again on Day 3 and then set yourself a sensible modest target to do on Day 4 and 5 and so on…. Do some days on the treadmill if you’re embarrassed or it’s cold/wet, but don’t allow yourself more than 1-2 ‘rest’ days a week.

consistency and slow incremental building up makes a real difference over a few weeks I’ve found.

Could you try some online fitness/Zumba classes so you don't have the pressure of anyone watching? You could then go to an in-person one later when you're feeling more confident.

Thank you all, I will start tonight by doing an online workout and hopefully improve from there

Do it gently. There is no short cut to getting fit. Keep going with the walking, then speed up, then jog. You will see improvements gradually over time.

have you seen a gp recently?
just to make sure that you don't have undiagnosed asthma or cardiac issues.

walking is a great start to exercise, well done for getting started!

Basically, doing what you're doing: diet and exercise (walking) will help with your aerobic fitness. Walking is medicine: it's what our bodies are designed to do, (and an extraordinary feat of evolution if you think about it).

Maybe if it's embarrassing with friends, you could find some time to take a walk on your own. Try to gradually get your step count up to a minimum of 10,000 per day over a couple of months, by walking as much as possible in daily life (I find a saunter round the shops can add a few thousand steps on my FitBit!) Try to avoid driving for short distances, get off a couple of stops earlier on the bus - all that sort of thing.

It takes time, but it's the sort of thing where consistency counts, rather than going flat out at first and then giving up.

Maybe try to work out what your standard day step count is, then calculate your weekly step count, then try to increase that count by say, 1000 steps a week (150 extra steps a day) - which if you keep accumulating will mean by the end of a month, you'll have increased your step count gently to baseline + 4000 steps per week. And so on till you reach 10,000 to 15,000 steps per day over several months. Just gentle but consistent. Then you can start pushing yourself to do stretches of walking as fast as you can, to get out of breath deliberately, and learn to breathe efficiently to help you boost your fitness.

Good luck!

Great job on your weight loss!

I used to weigh over 24 stone and now weigh just over 8 stone from diet, mainly.

So, hopefully, this comes across as helpful from experience.

What you may not have noticed is that even thin people struggle to walk and talk and you will notice that some people struggle to breathe correctly when talking.

So, fitness and stamina challenges aren't just from being overweight. Hope that helps you feel less embarrassed.

But, walking is a great way to increase stamina and lung capacity. If you can gently walk, even 2 mph or 2.5 mph for half a mile, then a mile, whatever increments don't result in burnout or injury, you will improve your ability to breathe under exertion pretty fast!

Hope this helps!

Thank you all for being so kind. I just feel so frustrated with myself too as I used to be really fit when I was a teenager, I wish I had kept it up.

You'll be fit again. The muscle memory is there. You just need to be consistent - small steps over several years will give results.

Thank you for that, that does make me feel better

Try increasing lung capacity with breathing exercises.....

For example BOX breathing. Imagine a box with 4 sides. Inhale for 4 seconds on one side, hold for 4 seconds on the top side, exhale down the side for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds on the bottom side. If 4 seconds is too much try 3 seconds. Increase in increments until lung capacity increases.

2nd example. Breathe in with tip of ring finger and thumb together as in a meditation, notice where the breath is. Repeat inhaling by putting tip of the other fingers and thumb together separately. As in index finger next, then pinky, then middle finger. You will notice your breath in different areas of the lungs. Once again repeat and increase in increments.

Do it daily as and when you can. If you feel light headed then stop. Reduce count until you can build up

Let me tell you that as a gym class attendee, I don't give a moments thought to anyone else - I'm too busy fighting for my own life to worry about anyone else's 🤣

As brutal as it is, the more you do, the easier it'll get. Get back on your treadmill if that was working for you. Gradually increase the pace and the incline as this will increase your effort levels too. Do things you enjoy too, give a class or two a go - you wil probably surprise yourself.

Hi @VictorianRose87

A huge well done on your weight loss so far!

I really understand how you are feeling… I was exactly the same just 6 months ago.
I used to avoid bumping into colleagues in the car park at work as I was so embarrassed that I would be so out of breath and sweating if I tried to talk at the same time as walk up the stairs to my office.
Even walking round the supermarket would leave me out of breath and my hips and knees aching!

In September I decided I couldn’t carry on like that… since then I’ve lost a lot of weight (although still a long way to go) and really improved my fitness.
I started with just a few minutes walking a day, counting my steps and challenging myself by increasing my target each week.
I also started parking a little further away from work/shopping etc to add the extra steps.

It only took a couple of months for me to be able to comfortably walk around London for a whole day… something I’d avoided for ages!

I’ve tried to keep it interesting by planning visits to nice places that will involve walking so then I don’t even notice I’m doing it.
After a few months I started swimming too and I hoping to brave the gym soon to help me continue my weight loss.

Wow well down on your weight loss. You are with friends, ask them to slow down, I always walk slower if with friends and usually quite happily at the pace of the slowest walker.

Keep doing what you are doing. More walking will make you fitter. If you have a treadmill you are part way there…