Readers Questions: What exercise would you recommend to a girl with bad PCOS but who is also unfit?
- Meg Clifford
- Dec 9, 2020
- 3 min read
Updated: Sep 30, 2021
I get quite a few questions from other cysters through my Instagram and TikTok pages so I've decided to create a series where as well as replying directly to the cyster, I'll also post my answers on my blog, in case anyone else wants to know too!
Today's question is from @just.likehoney on TikTok who asked: 'what exercises would you recommend to a girl with bad PCOS but who is also unfit?'
I feel you girl!
Honestly, this was me...I let my PCOS get really bad before I decided to take action and make changes to my life that would improve my polycystic ovary syndrome. It was literally so hard to find the motivation to start my PCOS journey but I just kept feeling so rubbish that I knew I had to do something to make a change.
Start Small and SWAP IT OUT
Whilst exercise is super important for a healthier life, I feel this post wouldn't be complete without me mentioning food... managing your weight is after all 70% the foods you eat, and 30% exercise.
My first tip is to start small. Making changes is hard so taking small steps is what I found worked best (the tortoise wins the race as the story goes!). The strategy I've used is what I call 'SWAP IT OUT'. Every day you should make simple swaps that will lead to a healthier you.
As an example, the first thing I swapped was white pasta to brown pasta. Brown pasta is a lot better for women with PCOS than white pasta is and by making this small change, I could still have the dishes I love, but they became slightly healthier. Another swap I made early on was blueberry flavoured snack bars; I swapped them for actual blueberries which tasted even better than the blueberry flavoured bars!
By making simple swaps, gradually you'll start to eat a lot healthier meals and snacks which is so so important to complement exercise and will help you start to feel fitter!
It's NOT all about bodyweight exercises
When I was getting into exercising... I found that all of the 'beginners' videos on Youtube used body weighted exercises, like push-ups and planks. I was really down about the fact that I couldn't do a push up to save my life! But, my body weight was 85kg which is actually a considerable amount to be trying to lift as a beginner!
So, instead of doing a push-up, switch to lying on your back and start with a 1kg dumbell (or bag of rice) in each hand. Push the dumbbells up towards the sky; this works for the same muscle group as you would do by doing a push-up, but instead of lifting 85kg of 'bodyweight' your lifting 2kg which is a much easier place to start!
I've put together a Youtube Video explaining this a bit more if you would like me to do an exercise video let me know... it's out of my comfort zone but I'm willing to give it a try! (linked below)
FIND YOUR ZEN
It certainly was not something I thought would actually help, but pilates is really good for PCOS!
I found that pilates is simple to follow along with and you really don't need to be good to feel the benefits. You don't need any equipment either, I started by using a towel as my matt because I didn't want to buy one for home incase I hated it. This is a good beginners pilates video:
COUCH POTATOE TO FIVE KILOMETERS
This is a bit more of a challenge and one that I am currently still trying to reach. I am SO BAD at running... I literally feel out of breath after 30 seconds of running! I decided to give the couch to five-kilometre challenge a go in the hope that it might help me be able to run for more than thirty seconds. This is an NHS challenge and they have an amazing amount of helpful resource on their website: COUCH TO 5K
Another source of inspiration for me was this book: RUN FAT B!TCH, RUN! I would definitely recommend giving it a read.
Thanks for your question!
I hope this article and my videos answered your questions about what exercises I would recommend for a beginner #cyster!
If you have a question that you would like to ask me about my PCOS journey, please just send me a comment or message on any social media channel.
I would love you to follow my journey on social media and drop me a comment or message to say hey!
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