5 Exercises You Should Do to Lose Weight If You are 200+ Lbs

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Push-ups are great for building triceps. However, they are not a great option if you are trying to lose weight. The truth is if you are overweight most exercises you can normally do to stay fit are too painful or physically uncomfortable to perform.

Moreover, as you gain more weight, you face more health problems.

The more health problems you face, the more you lack motivation, the more effort it takes to lose weight, the less energy you possess, and slowly most exercises become completely useless. You can’t expect to lose weight by performing burpees, push-ups, or chin-ups if you are over 200 lbs.

This is the primary reason why people who are overweight struggle so much to lose weight. Not only they have limited ways to lose it, the pain they go through and the effort they need to put in to lose weight is significantly higher.

However, there is a way to break this cycle. There is still a way to lose weight. All you have to do is perform exercises that are easy enough and also help you in burning tons of calories.

Without further delay, here are 5 exercises you can perform even if you are 200+ lbs:

Woman stretching

5 Exercises to Lose Weight

You don’t need to perform all of these exercises. Depending upon your circumstances & fitness level, you can choose one over the other. Moreover, you can lose weight by performing only one exercise from the list mentioned below. (Kindly, consult a physician before you start exercising to ensure you are healthy enough to do it)

1. Walking

Walking may not seem much if you are trying to lose a lot of weight. However, walking is the easiest, most effective, and scalable exercise on this list. It’s free. It’s a low-impact exercise.

Moreover, you can do it nearly anywhere. You can do it inside, or you can go out and do it.

You can burn around 100-200 calories on average with 30 minutes of brisk walking, and the more you weigh, the more calories you will burn. You can easily burn 700-1400 calories every week just by walking 30-minutes a day.

If you want to lose a lot of weight, start by walking for 30-minutes in the morning and evening (200-400 calories/day and 1400-2800 calories/week). As you get used to it, increase it to an hour in the morning and evening (400-800 calories/day and 2800-5400 calories/week).

Combine it with a balanced diet, and you can lose a lot of weight every week.

Benefits of Walking:

  • Help you lose weight
  • Improve cardiovascular fitness
  • Strengthen your bones and muscles
  • Improve endurance
  • Improve your mood and memory
  • Boosts your immune system
  • Reduce stress and tension

Walking Workout Routine: 1-hour twice a day (Keep track of how much distance you cover per hour every day)

2. Yoga

Yoga is considered an ‘immortal cultural outcome’ of the Indus-Sarasvati civilization in Northern India. With thousands of asanas to choose from, yoga can help improve every dimension of your life.

Woman doing yoga

When it comes to weight loss, there are certain asanas you can perform daily to burn calories. Here’s an article on simple yoga poses you can perform to lose weight.

Here are 6 yoga poses you can perform daily to lose weight:

Tips to Keep in Mind:

  1. It’s alright if you are unable to perform certain yoga poses perfectly. With time, you will gain the flexibility and strength to perform them properly. Till then, perform them as perfectly as your body allows.
  2. Always perform yoga poses slowly.
  3. Don’t force your body beyond its flexibility level.
  4. Perform yoga poses early in the morning on an empty stomach.
  5. Avoid baggy clothes while performing yoga poses.

You can also try the 12-week yoga burn challenge by Zoe Bray-Cotton.

Yoga Workout Routine: 1-hour yoga practice daily

3. Hiking

Hiking is not as easy as walking, however, it’s enjoyable and has more health benefits. Hiking burns more calories than walking. Moreover, depending upon the length of the hike, the terrain, and your diet, you can lose up to 20 lbs/month, hiking just three times a week.

On average, a leisurely hike will burn between 300 – 600 calories per hour. So, if you hike for 3 times a week for 2 hours, you can burn between 600-1200 calories/day and 1800-3600 calories/week.

Man hiking

However, unexpected things can happen in a wilderness setting so it’s better if you go prepared. Before you go for a hike, make sure you are prepared for the weather, have packed hiking essentials, have proper hiking boots and socks, and know your hiking trail properly.

Hiking essentials include a first aid kit, map/compass, sunglasses, flashlight, fire starters, nutritious food (depends upon your hike), water bottle, sleeping bag, etc. You can get them from amazon.

Hiking Routine: Hike three times a week (Monday, Wednesday, Saturday)

4. Swimming

If you have joint problems or are not interested in walking for hours to lose weight, you can try swimming. Not only water will help support your body weight and reduce the impact on your joints, you will also feel no pain in your hips or knees from moving in the water.

An hour of leisurely swimming burns around 370 calories. You can burn up to 2590 calories/week. Moreover, you will also build lean muscles by swimming.

Here’s a Calorie burned swimming calculator you can use to determine how many calories you will burn by swimming.

Swimming: 1-hour (any stroke) twice a day

5. Stationary Bike

This is the most difficult exercise on this list.

You can lose a lot of weight riding a stationary exercise bike, however, it will take effort and time. Moreover, riding a stationary bike can help build lower body muscles since pedaling action is perfect for strengthening calves, hamstrings, and quadriceps.

Man and woman exercising

For beginners, here’s a stationary bike workout routine you can use:

  1. Start at low intensity (10 minutes)
  2. Switch to medium intensity for 10 minutes
  3. Switch to high intensity for 1-2 minutes
  4. Switch to medium intensity for 10 minutes
  5. Switch to high intensity for 1-2 minutes
  6. Switch to medium intensity for 5 minutes
  7. Finish by pedaling at a low intensity for 5 minutes

You can get a stationary bike from amazon.

Food

6 Diet Tips You Need to Lose Weight

Here are 6 simple diet tips you can incorporate with the workout mentioned above:

  1. Avoid Junk Food: Weight Loss is going to be impossible if you keep consuming junk food. Junk food increases your appetite, adds unnecessary calories to your diet, and is bad for your health.
  2. Only Consume Organic Food: You don’t need to eat anything fancy to lose weight. Just stick to organic food. By consuming organic food, your appetite will decrease, your metabolism will improve, and you will lose weight.
  3. Follow The Keto Diet: If you have tried calorie deficit and it didn’t work for you, try keto. I lost 24.5 lbs (11.1 kg) in 47 days in 2020 using keto. Millions of people have tried keto and shared their keto journey on Instagram with unbelievable before and after transformation photos. Here’s an article on how to start keto and a custom keto meal plan you can use to lose weight.
  4. No More Sugary Drinks: Sugary drinks have too many calories. Consuming them on a regular basis will make it impossible for you to lose weight.
  5. No Alcohol/Smoking: Most of the exercises mentioned above require endurance. As a result, smoking/alcohol will make it impossible for you to improve. Since alcohol will add unnecessary calories to your diet and smoking will reduce your endurance.
  6. Vitamins & Supplements: Most people hit weight loss plateau due to nutritional deficiencies. For example, the lack of protein in your diet results in muscle loss, fatigue, weakness, slow metabolism, etc. If you are tired due to a lack of protein, no matter how much effort you put in, you won’t see much results. Here’s an article on 10 vitamins and supplements you need to lose weight.

If you are not sure how many calories you need to consume to lose weight, follow these three steps:

  1. Use this ideal weight calculator to determine your ideal weight and the weight you need to lose. 
  2. Use this macro calculator to determine macronutrient and calorie needs for weight loss under normal conditions.
  3. Use the cronometer app to track your macronutrient & calorie consumption as you lose weight.

Conclusion

Weight loss takes effort and time. There is no way around it. You have to put in the due effort.

You can look at weight loss as walking a thousand-mile road. All you do is take one step at a time. If you remain consistent, you will reach your goal. The exercises mentioned above are doable even if you are overweight. However, you should consult a physician before adding any exercise to your current routine.

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Rudra

Hi, I am Rudra, a computer engineer, and a certified procrastinator. I started FitnessGained in 2018 to help me stay fit despite all my desk time. Now I run this blog as a hobby. Here at FitnessGained, I will share what I do to stay fit & more. Our motto is "Reaching True Potential with Effort."

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