So I'm partly venting and partly asking for advice. I'm 5'3 and this morning 288. I've been hitting the gym pretty much every day, and walking about another mile M-F (it's about 1/2 mile from the parking lot to my job one way), plus occasionally more.
I'm finding it hard to get my heart rate up or do anything for very long because it HURTS. I can stick with the bike for 10-15 minutes, then my knees crack, pop and hurt to the point where I feel like I'd be causing myself injury if I keep going. Then I'll switch to the treadmill, and can go for maybe 15-30 minutes until my feet do the same thing.
Wednesday I went to lunch with my colleagues and we walked just over a mile each way to get there. Thursday, I was totally hobbled - I could barely walk because my feet just felt broken.
I haven't tried any other equipment but the gym I go to has pretty much EVERYTHING. Is there something else you'd recommend for cardio that would be easy on the knees AND the feet? Suggestions for reducing the agony?
I think you might just be doing too much at the gym right now (or possibly too fast?).
Some muscle aches are normal because with any new exercise, you're probably using muscles that weren't being used before. But if you did an hour of exercise and are now in a lot of pain, I would start off small.
Do 15 minutes first and see how that feels. Then add 5 minutes to that. When you're comfortable at 20 minutes, add another 5. You don't have to be doing 3 hours of exercise every day starting now!
Exercise is great for your health in so many ways, but you don't have to hurt yourself doing it. That's no way to get motivated to keep going back.
1) Why this high? Do you have a heart rate monitor? Stay on the lower end of your range and work up. Your heart is a muscle too. You wouldn't ask your arms to lift 300 lbs right at the start right? You build up. Ditto heart muscle.
2) How are the shoes? Your feet take 1.5x your weight walking, and 3x your weight running. I change my shoes every 6 mos. Oh, they hang around longer as street shoes or gardening shoes, but not for gym. I can feel it when the cushioning is shot. Are you in the correct type shoe? Do you pronate? Supinate? Where does it hurt your feet? On the pinkie toe side? If so you may need a curved last not a straight shoe. Even in a street shoe -- curved would be better than straight. http://www.roadrunnersports.com/rrs/...t/shoe-dog.jsp
3) Some soreness is normal. Stretching well to get the lactic acid moving out of there, epsom salt bath, planned rest days -- all that can help minimize discomfort. But PAIN is something else. Are you in correct alignment?
I recently had weird aches and saw my massage lady because with eldercare I felt like maybe I was carrying stress in the shoulders. She told me I'm carrying all my stress in my butt! Then I'm walking weird to compensate and messing up hip and knees. So a few rounds of therapeutic massage and it made a huge difference! I got a list of stretches to do for the area if I get all stressy again.
4) There's nothing wrong with 15-30 min workout. You begin where you are!
If you gym has pool, you may also enjoy swim or water aerobics since water helps cushion joints.
This is not to be mean at all, but remember the bigger we are the more pressure we put on our knees and ankles and feet. Start slow pain is a warning sign, if it is to painful to keep going dont push through it, I think you know what you can push through or not. For example... I am a smoker (trying to quit) and when I run on the treadmill it kills my lungs and I know how far I can push my self before I cant breath at all. The smaller you get the less your lower body will hurt ( I know this from experience and from my doc) good luck and keep going the farther you get the better you feel! and I agree about the pool too!
You shouldn't be in pain you can't handle. The normal muscle aches and stiffness that comes with exercise is normal, but if your finding that you can't even FUNCTION or your limping etc, then take it easy and listen to your body. You are kicking butt at the gym! WOW. Maybe you are doing too much I don't know? Be easy on yourself if you feel winded, tired, or in pain just stop. Slowly build yourself up, it will take time.
I agree - take a break from your gym for a couple of weeks. In that time, just walk every day. Start with 20 minutes, and add a minute a day until you're doing 40 or so. After a few more weeks when your weight has dropped by a few more pounds, start back to the gym. But slowly! Give yourself a chance to work up to each activity. Maybe just your walk there and back to the office, plus 15 minutes on a machine when you start. Spend another 15 minutes doing situps, stretching etc.
I noticed that when I started, I was just starting to get hip pain on occasion when walking. (I was about 80 pounds overweight for my height). Now 20 pounds later, no hip pain.. nothing. I feel great! I am exercising, running stairs, and I've started jogging again. So you just have to get a few more pounds off to give your body a bit of a break, and in the meantime take it easy. Remember that it's 80% diet and only 20% exercise! GL!
You are overdoing it. You do not need to get your heart rate up high to lose weight. I would say your heart rate at this point should never go above 120. At or even below 110 is probably just fine for weight loss.
Going faster doesn't mean you'll lose weight faster--it just means you'll stress your joints, as you've found out.
If you're going to walk any distance, you need good, supportive shoes--specifically, walking shoes or athletic shoes. Again, you do not need to try to go fast or go long distances. A two-mile walk is too much.
I agree with the posters who say take some time off to let your joints heal, and then begin again but scale way back.
There is a difference between being sore from exercise and hurting yourself. Sounds like the latter at this point.
Try the stationary bikes at the gym. That's your low impact cardio to start. Once you begin to lose more weight you can get back on the treadmill. Your joints should never really hurt from exercising..meaning it is too much. Sore muscles is another thing (and believe me that can hurt too)...but be extra careful with your joints!
Keep moving, but do so wisely and take your time! Focus on calorie counting for now for weight loss and you can add more exercise as time passes! Good luck!
I agree with everyone else. You are definitely taking it way to hard! Take a break from the gym. At least a week or two. Just keep at the walking 1/2-1 mile. Then once your body has rested a bit, you can start back at the gym. But take it slowly for the first month. Start with the elliptical for 15-20 mins and increase by a minute each day, or how your body feels. Once you feel ready you can add kn the bike or switch to treadmil, but do it the same way start out 15-20 then increase.
Do you have a good pair of shoes? That will also help. And like others said, water aerobics is good for joints too.
Please take it easy on yourself. Your body is letting you know now that something is not right and you are over doing it. Please listen to in before you force an injury.
Thank you all for your help - I really do appreciate it. I hadn't considered my shoes - I've just been wearing a beat up old pair of skechers. It seems obvious, but I've been sedentary and overweight all my life, so this "movement" thing is new to me and I assumed anything that laces is okay for exercising. This weekend, I might try out Fleet Feet to actually get fitted for a good pair. I'm also going to take a few days off the equipment, and talk to the trainer at the gym about their pool programs since it sounds like that might be a little easier on the joints at my size (I walked past this morning and saw these bikes that go in the pool - that looks interesting and comparatively painless).
It's just a little frustrating since I'm not really experiencing any of the "good" muscle soreness - it feels like I could do more if I could just get my knees and feet to cooperate!
**reminder to self: it won't come off any faster than it went on
**reminder to others: put the twinkie down, it hurts to be fat!
mcflubber: take it from me on this - SPEND THE MONEY on your shoes!!!!
for *years* i couldn't walk without pain. didn't take much - 5 or 10min and my feet, knees, hips, and lower pain were in agony.
then because of my out-of-control border collie, i had to start walking 10k/day (i call it the "cesar millan weight loss method"). i bought myself a new pair of shoes - ran me all of $15. clearance.
in three weeks, i had literally walked through the bottoms. you could see the shape of my feet and toes by looking at the soles.
so i bought another pair - i paid $20 for these one.
in three weeks, the uppers were ripping off the lowers.
another pair - $60 for these ones, some fancy arnold palmer whatevers - they literally blew apart in under a month.
i took them back to sears because i'd paid full price and feeling horribly guilty about it so they gave me another pair - these ones were reeboks with some kind of air channel/chamber system thingie in them.
those ones lasted six weeks and suddenly all i could hear was "slish-slursh, slish-slursh" and my daughter asked me why my toes were squirting water. sure enough, i'd popped the chamber in the right foot and it was full of water!
needless to say, all this was accompanied by agony, agony, agony but i had to keep walking else the dog ate my house.
so i saved up for 2 months and went to an actual shoe store in town. i asked her "what are the nurses at the hospital wearing?" because we all know nurses walk MILES every day during their duties. because of that, i paid a whacking $150 for a pair of low-profile skechers and O. M. G.
the saleslady told me it would take 2-3wks to acclimatize but i put them on in the store and i walked all day long and absolutely no pain at all!
those shoes lasted me 4 months before i had to downgrade them to "just because" shoes and bought another pair of skechers, this time the fancy high-profile ones.
they never did do anything like they promises vis a vis legs, butt, etc, but they are soooooooooooooo comfortable for me that they're all i'll wear.
i think it's because of teh shape of the sole: all my shoes end up paper-thin at the heel so i think those shoes are profiled the exact same way i walk (which is a kind of quick-march-scuff, if you know what i mean?) so they just fit perfectly.
this winter i had to buy boots - and i bought a pair of skechers boots: 100% waterproof, snazzy tartan pattern, and warm as heck. last three winters, i wore rubber boots with 4 pairs of socks and the last winter i was in toronto, i wore crocs (which i do NOT recommend - they will DEMO your hips and back!) with socks.
When I started at my top weight and VERY unfit, I started with walking in place. Then, when I went to the gym, I did water aerobics. Then walking - increasing my speed as my body allowed. If I felt pain, I eased up because I didn't want to get injured.
Now, I can do step aerobics with two risers on each side and all the jumps for an hour. I can do an hour of strength training and so on. BUT... would I be able to do that with 103 pounds on my body? Probably not. Carrying all that weight is HARD WORK.
So ease up and get in the water - even as a very fit person, you can get a really good workout in the water. The bigger your movements, the more you work your heart. And you increase that as you get fitter and stronger.
I've had knee issues my whole life (dislocated the kneecaps on both sides, more than once) and now I can do whatever I want, within reason, pain free. #1 was getting my legs strong enough to support my knees using body weight exercises and proper form. #2 is avoiding grains in all of their evil incarnations. The day after I eat any kind of grains I get pain in my knees, shoulder and wrists. Dairy is also a no-go but more for digestive issues. Slow down, get strong, don't try and be a cardio diva! Muscles make for better movement and pain free life!!!
Shoes - go without when possible, even if it's just 5 minutes at a time at first. Letting your feet get strong is going to make everything else better, from the ankles on up. I never did find athletic shoes that didn't mess with my knees.
Ouch - how much pain is normal?
