We probably all know someone with back or knee pain told by their doctor ..."lose the weight, it'll lessen the load on your joints." But when an overweight or obese individual jumps into high impact exercise to take off the pounds, what is the risk to their joints? There have been moments watching early episodes of The Biggest Loser when I worried obese contestants were going to blow out a knee pushing all that weight around. I recall some contestants did develop injuries that temporarily sidelined them from high impact activities.

Ray Browning, an exercise science researcher, stated there's not much research out there on biomechanics and locomotion of obesity. He cautioned on advising the overweight and obese to simply exercise more -- it could result in arthritis of a large joint. His own research reveals joint loads on an overweight individual are significantly greater than a slim person, which can raise the risk of injury.

Undoubtedly, more research needs to be done to develop wise guidelines heavier exercisers can follow to prevent joint injury. From my personal experience, moderation and gradual increases in exercise intensity are important for all exercise programs, no matter your size.

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