There’s a myth that people who need to lose a significant amount of weight can only do so with strenuous, high intensity, high impact exercise. But a myth is exactly what it is. Isometrics can be the perfect exercise for the morbidly obese, since many of the exercises can be done while sitting; physical limitations are no barrier to success.

According to the owner of one popular fitness center, at least 35% of her clients need to lose upwards of 35 pounds – and about half of those need to lose 100 pounds or more.

So … does she force them onto treadmills and “torture chamber" gym equipment? Does she make them run endless laps around a track? Does she close her eyes to their physical limitations and shout, “No pain, no gain!" at them until they are reduced to tears and give up, disgusted and disheartened by failure, once again?

No way! She starts them on a program of isometric exercise. Then, she stands back and watches them beam with pleasure when, within the first week to 10 days, they have lost inches … have increased energy levels … and have safely started dropping pounds.

People who are seriously overweight often have many physical limitations. One of the most common problems is “bad knees," which impair and restrict the ability to stand for any period of time or to easily move about. As well as bad knees, the morbidly obese suffer from shortness of breath … low energy levels … and burn very few of the calories they take in with their meals. Unburned calories turn into new fat cells, triggering an ever-increasing spiral of failure and despair, with apparently no way out.

But there is a way out – and that way is isometric exercise. Is anyone going to lose 35 pounds and several dress sizes in the first week? Certainly not! But you have to start somewhere, and the several pounds and one or two inches normally lost in the first week of an isometric exercise program is an excellent beginning. The encouraging thrill of success, alone, is priceless, considering how often the first week of a standard, high-stress exercise program only results in sore, painful muscles, without anything to show for it.

Most of the effective isometric exercises can be done while seated in a chair. And even those designed for standing can be adapted for a seated position, should someone require it.

Another really good aspect of an isometric program for the morbidly obese is that through use of a DVD, the exercise can be done whenever you want, in the comfort and privacy of your own home. That means no sneers and contemptuous looks from “gym bodies" in public workout centers … and it also means that if the best workout time for you is Midnight, all you have to do is to slide the DVD in and go to it.

If you or someone you know is morbidly obese and thinks that you’re just “stuck" being that way, check out isometric exercise and experience healthy success, for a change.