Healthy adults should engage in 30 minutes of moderate to intense aerobic exercise daily, according to the guidelines established by the American Heart Association. If you are 50 lbs. overweight and out of shape, this guideline serves as a goal for improving your cardiovascular health, getting stronger and burning enough calories to lose weight. Add two 20-minute resistance training workouts to your weekly schedule to target your major muscle groups and improve range of motion.
Walking
One of the easiest ways to begin a fitness regimen is by walking. You do not need expensive equipment, a trainer or a high level of endurance to walk for 30 minutes. In addition, the lower-impact quality of walking protects your tendons, bones, joints and muscles from shock. Wear a pedometer to log your number of steps per day and set a short-term goal of adding 1,000 steps per week. Slowly build to walking 10,000 steps per day and a brisk pace. If you have a hard time maintaining motivation, join a walking group or meet with a reliable walking buddy to do your workout.
Water Exercise
If being 50 lbs. overweight affects your knees or other joints, you may find many aerobic workouts painful. Use water to relieve some of the pressure on your joints while creating gentle resistance that provides a full-body workout. Beginners or people recovering from injury can do aqua aerobics or walking in water. For a more advanced workout that burns more fat, swim laps. Kick your legs vigorously and use your full range of motion with your arms to burn more calories and add a strengthening component to your exercise regimen.
Functional Fitness
People who are very overweight or who have injuries benefit from functional fitness training. In this series of exercises, you do moves that help you build strength, flexibility and endurance for real-life tasks. For example, using hand weights to do biceps curls while doing a series of squats prepares you for daily movements such as bending, lifting and carrying. Knee lifts and lunges improve your range of motion so you can walk with a longer stride or climb stairs. Some gyms and recreation centers incorporate functional fitness into their boot camp exercise programs.
Resistance Training
Use your weight to your advantage by doing resistance training that incorporates your body weight. Doing pushups targets your upper body and lower body muscle groups. If you inhale and exhale deeply and contract your abdomen while doing pushups, you also target your core muscles. If traditional floor-based pushups prove too challenging, do pushups against the wall. Other resistance exercises that burn fat and build strength and flexibility include burpees, pullups, squats, abdominal crunches, triceps dips and lunges.
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