Losing weight withought high-impact exercises?

I know that this is probably unnecessary, but I would like to reduce my overall body fat percentage while retaining muscle mass. I am 16, 5’11”, and weigh 170, which puts my bmi at 23.7. Even though I am in the normal weight range, I would like to lose 10-15lbs, particularly in the thighs and torso, as those are where my extra weight tends to sit. I’ve looked at dieting, but I already eat fine and just need to cut out snacking. Here’s where it gets difficult. I’m in pt for my joints in my legs, as I have little tissue in between bones and as such activities like running become painful when sustained. I still run, but I would like to find something that doesn’t make recovery something I need to focus on. I climb about 3-4 times a week, and my climbing gym has a full gym, so any reccomendations would be appreciated. 

Based on your post you won't like this answer but if you want to lose 10-15 lbs you should cut your calories in a sustainable manner.  That's completely "no impact" from a joint perspective.  Keep protein high and do some resistance training while dieting and you'll retain your current muscle mass. 

Diet discipline. You are lying to yourself. Normalize the feeling of being hungry between meals - you don't need to do something about it. 

Intermittent fasting could be effective.

Call me crazy but a 16 year old, barring a legit medical weight problem, would do well to just eat healthy and stay active and don’t worry about it. You’re still growing, after all. Maybe ditch the running and switch to weight lifting (though this won’t help your thighs shrink). Pack on that muscle mass while you’re young and can take advantage of mother nature’s hormones that us older guys have to pay for.

Yeah, you might not like my post either.

As someone upthread said, unless you've been told to lose weight by someone who knows what they're talking about, don't get focused on weight at 16. You're still actively growing. What you stated for your numbers is healthy, so just don't go there, it can be dangerous.

Also, bmi sucks as a measurement for much of anything, except in the broadest possible way. If you are at all fit, it is skewed badly. My favorite example was a very ripped solid muscle mass woman I once knew....who was a university level competitor in shot put. Blew those charts to pieces! Probably the strongest woman I'll ever meet.

"Tissue" in between joints??? That's cartilage, and if it's being lost, that's arthritis. Juvenile (that's what it's called in young people) arthritis is serious. So whatever the reason you are seeing physical therapy docs, be diligent to follow their instructions! Ask questions, too. YOU are the client, after all. Pt peeps are a good resource, especially if they know you wanna get after it.

As to activities besides running? Lots of low impact things out there you can do, to keep up fitness, especially cardio. But....it gets trickier if you have joint issues. Again, talk to your docs. 

As a climber (someone who is actually using the body they were issued), sports medicine dudes might be better than the more general pt people.

Oh, and where excess weight ends up coagulating on your body is genetic. Sorry. You're doomed to look like others in your family. No such thing as spot weight loss. But, we all got what we got, eh? All you can do is tone things up with general fitness, and treat that body well.

How's your climbing technique? That's often the other low hanging fruit, for improvement besides losing weight.

Best, Helen

Biking and ARCing worked for me. I also have to avoid running due to genetic joint issues. I also was eating an absolute ton of eggs, meat, and bread and drinking about .5 gal of milk a day

For reference though, I was biking hard (keeping up with traffic hard) 60 min a day and climbing 20+ hours a week.

I’ve asked my doctor and since im nearing the last bit of my growth I should be good to start focusing on slimming up, it’s not necessary, however I’d kinda just like to make it easier to stay on the wall as I get better. I know skill acquisition is important, but in only a month of going back to the gym im climbing 5.10 so idk

Also thanks for all the replies, and I’m physically fit, so I’m taking bmi with a grain of salt, however it’s also a little bit of a personal thing as I’d simply like to look a bit better too. But yea thanks everyone

Do the hardest yet simplest thing of them all: count your macros. Its so simple in theory, but so hard in practice. If you can be disciplined to a macronutrient diet you will crush anything you want to do. Start your habits young: download myfitnesspal or something similar. When you fall off the horse, get back on. 

Keep in mind that you need to be eating enough to recover (and grow!) or you will be setting yourself up for injury, likely in your tendons/ligaments.

+1 for myfitnesspal. Losing weight is incredibly simple -- that doesn't mean easy, but it is incredibly simple. The feeling of hunger means the diet is working.

Biking works well and is low impact if you want to burn some extra cal.

Swimming is a great full body cardio at low impact to your joints as well if you have access and can help increase shoulder flexibility. Row machine is great as well. If you want to keep snacking I don't see why not; as with most dieting, its important to watch the sugar intake more than anything. Don't need to completely cut it out but focus your simple sugars into the immediate before, during or after workout times. All other snacking/meals should focus on protein and complex carbs with lots of water. Weight lifting/ bands/ etc. are great as well. Might not lower your weight but will increase your strength/weight ratio which is WAY more important than your overall weigh and will likely improve your visual physique as well.

You're 16 and have medical issues that can't be easily described or interpreted. Online is not where you want any sort of medical advice. Seek help from a licensed medical professional. The absolutely LAST thing your body will want to do right now is lose weight. Don't give yourself an eating disorder. 

To comment on the original question about low impact cardio:

Road cycling is a common answer but requires a lot of judgement to stay on the right side of your risk-reward line. Personally I do quite like it - on the right roads, at the right time. Unfortunately it depends a lot on your local area. I recommend lighting yourself up like a Christmas tree with the brightest flashing lights you can afford, even in daytime.

Gravel biking or XC mountain biking removes the catastrophic risk of being hit by a truck, but has its own high risk of injury (the sport consumes collarbones) and you have to have the ego of a monk to avoid the peer pressure to ride as fast as possible all the time, which greatly increases the risk of crashing.

XC/Nordic skiing - road cycling's even dorkier winter cousin. But it's actually quite fun as well, way more low key, quieter, and cheaper than resort skiing.

Kayaking, rowing and canoeing - if you have convenient access to water and maybe a nearby club so you don't have to buy a boat, I really recommend giving this a try! Few things in life are as worthwhile as mucking about in boats.

So first off, the BMI index is pretty much bull shit and shouldn't be used to make any health related decisions. Second at 16 your muscles are still mostly water so you haven't even come into your adult body composition yet. For the next 5 years eat a balanced diet, make sure to mix plant matter in there, and FUEL SUFFICENTLY FOR YOUR WORKOUTS. You're in the most metabolically active time of your life so trying to lose weight now is probably the worst thing you can do in the long term.

That being said I am not certified in any way to offer dietary advice :)

I'd echo the above that focussing in on diet is a waste of your time and energy.  Your weight is fine, you just need to climb more.  If you climb and train, then your body will adapt.  Instead of trying to make arbitrary parts of your body smaller, try to make the important parts bigger.  Odds are good that this exercise will result in slimming anyway.  (especially in a teenager)  If that doesn't work, then think about dieting.  Think about it this way: one option can literally kill you and the other will just make you stronger.  My BMI is as high or higher than yours (5'9" varying between 160-170lbs, but usually 165ish) and has been for my whole adult life and I've been climbing 5.13 for almost a decade despite it.  

I agree with everyone that you should not be trying to lose too much weight at such a young age. It's much more important to develop properly for several more years.

Having said that, resistance/strength training is far superior to cardio for body composition. I never used cardio to lose fat. Building muscle raises your metabolism and forces your body to burn more calories to maintain itself. Plus it's good for strong bones, tendons, hormone levels, etc. and will benefit your climbing. I would recommend two days of full-body weight training and make sure you get enough protein everyday (~0.7 to 1 grams of protein per pound of body weight). Of course, consult with your PT to see if resistance training would be okay for you.

Another thing to note: you can never "spot reduce" fat. i.e. You can't choose where you want to lose fat. It's a full body deal. And the places your body natural stores it first, will be the last places for it to come off.

If you look at climbing as an RPG game. Weight will matter if you've already maxed out your physical strength, mental strength, technique, route reading, metabolic load, and psyche skill trees.

Adam Ronchettiwrote:

If you look at climbing as an RPG game. Weight will matter if you've already maxed out your physical strength, mental strength, technique, route reading, metabolic load, and psyche skill trees.

The lie we all try to tell ourselves, and its absolutely false. Weight plays a massive role in climbing. 

If you are climbing 5.10 at the gym (is that right?) and you are at a healthy weight already, cutting weight is probably not what you should focus on.  Focus on technique and strength.  If you start to hit 5.12 / 5.13 outside while at a healthy weight, that's when it's worth looking at weight.

grug gwrote:

The lie we all try to tell ourselves, and its absolutely false. Weight plays a massive role in climbing. 

I suspect that your definition of massive differs from my definition of massive. And there is nuance to this argument. Are you 300lbs? Yes, then weight will matter on overhanging climbs. On slab maybe less so. What's your body composition? That matters too. Are you starving yourself to hit what you imagine to be an ideal climbing weight? If so then you're probably not fueling yourself enough and probably hurting your climbing. My point is that if you want to improve your climbing odds are good there are way more areas you can improve (to less possible detriment of your climbing) than weight. Especially since, in my experience, most people try to lose weight for climbing at the wrong times and in the wrong ways. 

So it's not a lie, but it's a nuanced debate which has a different answer depending on the person and the goals. 

Also, only a Sith deals in absolutes.