A little background...

I am 6'1" and weigh 250#s and I am in my mid 20s. It has been a long time since I have run more than 100m although I walk quite a bit. I have been trying to lose weight and get more fit recently but I have some old injuries holding me back. I injured my hip a number of years ago and incurred some cartilage damage which causes me intermittent pain. My doc advised me not to run as it would shorten the life of my hip but I am a goal oriented person and really want to run. I have literally had dreams of running.

I know I am well overweight right now and would put a lot of stress on my joints by running so I hit the eliptical machines on a regular basis (read 5-7 days a week) as well as weight training. I was going pretty heavy on upper body weight lifting but have started to reduce weight and go higher on reps to cut some of the muscle mass I am carrying around. I guess what I am looking for is a regimen of weights, low impact, and core exercising to prep and lighten myself for running with less stress on my joints. I am pretty much open to anything and have even considered surgical options but would like to save that for a last resort as I dont need it yet per the doc I am seeing.

I am on glucosamine and a multivitamin as well as the occasional NSAID but I try to save that for particularly bad days and not stay on it (trying to reduce impact on GI and building a tolerance).

I am open to any suggestions,

Big Guy

sounds like you are on a good start. The elliptical is a good choice, maybe you could work towards the rowing machine also.

Remember to keep at it, it is worth it!

I am a newbee here also, I am sure some of the experienced ones will have some good input also.

Have you considered cycling? There are lots of cyclists your size and some are quite fast.

And he's right, running is not going to make things better. But at 20, you're destined for some sort of "procedure" so you make the decision of how quickly you get there.

I'm a big fan of weights and core but these are not directly going to help you lose weight as they don't burn many calories. Cardio is going to be your best bet. We've already determined that running is bad for your hip, but as someone else mentioned, cycling is an excellent lower impact exercise that can burn off some calories. Not only that, you can cycle for hours where it's pretty difficult to run for hours. At 250#, moderately cycling for an hour will burn approximately 646 calories. As a comparison, lifting weights only burns 153 calories. You need to burn 3500 calories in order to lose one pound of body weight.

Give cycling a shot. If you have a bike, there are numerous "touring" clubs and probably one in your local area. They are typically a social group that enjoy cycling and not a racing club. Rides will vary in distances and speeds. And because it becomes a social event, you are more likely to stick with the rides because you'll be missed.

You mention exercise but there's no mention of diet. How's your eating?

curious - how does your hip respond to rowing ( as in rowing machine ) ?

Last night I hit the cycle machine in addition to the eliptical. I will be adding that into my regimen as the sweat factor seemed pretty high.

I spent a fair bit of time on diet a few months ago and got fairly burnt, mostly because I dove full on into good dieting and then just got tired of the options. I intend to slowly get back to a healthy diet as I am not too far into the bad diet area. I control my portions but dont eat great stuff.

No rowing machine where work out so no help on that end.

I think I am going to mix up my routine a bit. I have been hitting the gym twice a day for the last week or so. I was doing cardio in the morning and weights in the evening. I think I am going to increase my cardio time slowly in the AM and alternate cardio and weights in the evening to increase my overall cardio ability and maintain my strength.

thanks for the help, any suggestions are welcome...

try swimming, very good cardio, and has the least stress on your joints, it will help you lose weight and challenge you big time

I'm a supporter of the cycling plan. I had to give up running because of a lingering ankle injury, which was leading to knee problems. But now that I've switched to a bike I hardly have any pains. Just typical soreness. Plus its a helluva lot of fun. I forgot how much fun riding a bike could be, I haven't done it since I was in middle school.