Helping a Lady Friend -- What's going on?

b.spencer · 05-27-2008, 06:11 PM

Hey,

I need a little advise. A friend asked me to help her "get in shape" and lose weight. Basic stats: 5'8", Approx 285 lbs. She's walked for several months now, a couple of miles to 3 miles a day, and has dropped about 30 pounds in the last year.

I can't get her into a gym to do some light weight training (and I have tried). All she wants to do is walking. Anyway, yesterday evening, I went to a local park, where she walks and stayed with her pacing for while, which wasn't really that fast. I asked her if she wanted to pick up the speed just a bit, and she said yes. We picked up speed about .5 mph (up to 3 mph maybe) and after one lap (1/3 mile), she was hyperventilating but without a fast heart rate (125-130 bpm). She said she felt like she couldn't get enough air, no matter how hard she tried.

But, within 2 minutes of slowing back to her pace, he breathing was normal.

What was going on? Did I push too hard to fast, a real potential medical condition, a mental thing about going faster than "her pace?" How can I help her gain in CV capacity if I can't really push her without that reaction?

Condor · 05-27-2008, 10:57 PM

I wouldn't do any guess work with this situation. Have her get the 'OK' from a doc regarding any potential health/breathing conditions before trying to step-up the workouts. We'll take it from there.

jamieson · 03-12-2009, 01:19 AM

you should bring her up to her doctor to check her up, and ask her doctor what can she do, to prevent hyperventilation and what ways can she do to lose her weight..!

SXIPro · 03-12-2009, 04:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamieson

you should bring her up to her doctor to check her up, and ask her doctor what can she do, to prevent hyperventilation and what ways can she do to lose her weight..!

Definitely. A stress test on a treadmill is in order. At 285 lbs, she is a ticking time bomb.

Malley · 03-12-2009, 12:31 PM

My guess would be she is just in really bad shape. When was the last time she has exercised? Is she taking any meds/or diet pills? Does she have any types of health concerns?

THis is what I say to women who dont want to lift weights: If you are not lifting weights and just doing cardio you are going from a large pear to a small pear. If you are lifting weights and doing cardio atleast you will be able to become smaller and able to reshape that pear.