STRENGTH TRAINING IN OBESITY AND OVERWEIGHT: PRACTICAL APPLICATION

As we saw in the previous post, in which we saw the benefits of strength training in people with obesity and overweight, it is recommended to combine strength training with cardiovascular resistance training and an adequate diet to improve body composition, especially to increase muscle mass, reduce the percentage of fat mass and lose weight. 

Dumbbells weights by 3dman_euPixabay License

When we think of designing training for a person with these characteristics, the first thing we have to think about, as with any of the special populations, is to individualize, adapting each aspect to the maximum to the characteristics of the person. In this type of population, there are many effects associated with this disease, such as hormonal disorders, diabetes, cardiovascular problems, hypertension, etc. So first of all, we should know if the person we are going to train suffers from any associated disease and thus avoid exercises or types of training that may harm him.

General aspects to take into account in the training of people with obesity (Eduardo Roldán & Esteban Rendón, 2013):

- More susceptible to heat, so we must avoid environments with high temperatures.

- They present easy dyspnea, so we must include complementary exercises involving the respiratory muscles.

- They usually present important mechanical restrictions.

- They present more musculoskeletal injuries.

- They may be anxious about losing weight.

Next, we are going to see a series of considerations for the prescription of strength training in people with obesity (Strasser & Schobersberger, 2011):

- 2 to 3 sessions per week. Each of them consists of between 8 and 10 exercises, performing 1 or 2 series and 8 to 12 repetitions at 60% of 1RM per exercise. These recommendations have been shown to have the greatest health benefits and show the greatest increase in muscle mass.

- In the first two weeks we should focus on learning the technique of the exercises, so the loads will be very low. This allows the muscles to adapt progressively to the training. The time we spend learning the technique will depend on each person, so it is possible that this period may be extended a few more weeks.

- After the third week, the objective will be hypertrophy. They recommend 3 series per week per muscle group and do between 10 and 15 consecutive repetitions per exercise. In this article they consider the possibility of muscle failure, but as we saw in a previous post, our opinion is that this is not necessary, as well as that it can cause negative feelings in a person who has started training so recently.

- We will increase the load systematically, keeping the 10-15 repetitions between 60-70% of 1RM.

- The series per muscle group will progressively increase every 4 weeks approximately, up to 10 series per week.

Finally, in this pdf we leave you an example of a session that we could do: 





See you in the next post. 

May the force be with you!

REFERENCES

Eduardo Roldán, E., & Esteban Rendón, D. (2013). Propuesta de prescripción del ejercicio en obesos, 75–84.

Strasser, B., & Schobersberger, W. (2011). Evidence for Resistance Training as a Treatment Therapy in Obesity, 2011. https://doi.org/10.1155/2011/482564

Jensen, M. D., Ryan, D. H., Apovian, C. M., Ard, J. D., Donato, K. A., Hu, F. B., … Lux, L. J. (2014). 2013 AHA / ACC / TOS Guideline for the Management of Overweight and Obesity in Adults q, 63(25), 2985–3023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2013.11.004

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