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2007/11/23, 09:07 AM
I just joined and this is my first message.
Although I have always hated any kind of exercise (its so boring), I am forced to do at least some mild jogging and walking 3-4 times a week for medical reasons.
In the past year or so, I have been experiencing a problem that is stopping me from doing any jogging or brisk walking. The problem is that soon after starting my routine (3-5 minutes) my lower legs become stiff & heavy and start to hurt. This is stopping me from doing anything after this apart from normal walking (but my legs are still heavy, stiff & hurt).
The area where the leg joins the foot in the front also hurts. My legs are my best feature too!
I warm up by walking a circuit (1.7 miles) of the local park and then stretching my legs as I had been taught in a gym once and then I start jogging/walking as much as I can. The problem with my legs doesn't get any better or alleviate itself with time. I usually keep going for about 1 hour each session.
I only started exercise in January 2003 and joined a gym that helped me with jogging/running (that I hated to high heaven previously) and they removed my fear & negative feelings to jogging/running & taught me slowly how to do it.
I left the gym after 9 months because I lost motivation - I had been going 4-5 times a week, working out/running for 2-3 hours or more sometimes and once a week doing a Body Pump class - despite all this, I lost only 5 pounds in weight and didn't feel much different or noticed any improvement elsewhere. However, I continued the jogging and that worked OK until this problem reared itself in 2006.
I am in my mid-40's. I am now very despondent and losing any little motivation that I had drummed to get to where I was.
Any suggestions as to what the cause of my problem is and what i can do about it?
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2007/11/25, 03:11 PM
I'm not an expert but I have had problems with running and jogging as well, so maybe this can be helpful.
To me jogging is high impact. That plus a couple of really big boobs, doesn't make jogging any fun at all. Adding a problem with my left leg, just made me not do it at all.
Instead of jogging on a treadmill or out on a track/ground, I jogg on a trampoline. The movement isn't exatly the same, because you don't push back in the step, but the workout and energy you use seem to be similar. It is alo more fun, because I can jump inbetween.
The problem with the pain in my leg however was "cured" by using a vibration plate mashine. I bought it ti get in shape, but found that you need more than that. It did help with the pain, something I'm very grateful for. Why not test that. The vibrations strenghtens the bone, and I think it also helps with circulation. If nothing else... it feels good. Many gyms seem to have them these days.
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Getting there... one kg at a time...
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2007/11/27, 09:34 AM
You might want to post this in the injury froum.....there are some here that can help.
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As a quarter squatter was dominating the rack, I heard a conversation between an old powerlifter (easily in his 60\\'s) and what I would guess was his grandson (15-yrs old):
Kid: \\"So, why does he stop so short on his squats? That looks weird to me.\\"
Old PL\\'er: \\"He\\'s afraid if he squats deep, his vagina might touch the ground.\\"
7707mutt@freetrainers.com
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2007/11/30, 05:49 PM
Diet: Have been quite good for some years now and recently I started the South Beach Diet again. I am presently in phase 2. I have cut out all bad carbs & fats and I don't eat any grains or dairy. I also don't eat anything with sugar in it. I feel somewhat better and have lost some weight. I am very honest with my diet.
This diet is successful because it weens you of regularly eating foods & food groups that are not good for you. It doesn't mean you can never have certain foods, just that they shouldn't form part of your every day eating.
Other exercise: I only do jogging (its just about the only thing I can stand), but lately I haven't been to jog and even just walking anything longer than 1-2 minutes brings on the physical problem I reported. I used to do some Yoga (boy that's harder than you think!!) and perhaps I will look at getting back to that.
As for any other exercise, I don't do anything else and don't want to actually. I hate all exercise and feel that I have NEVER EVER got any benefit out of it, and certainly no "buzz" or "high" even when I used to go to a gym. When I was at the gym, I had some tuition from some instructors and I have carried through their knowledge.
I am only doing the jogging to help my heart and nothing else. If I could avoid doing even this, I would. I don't go to a gym presently (have no money even if I wanted to go).
I don't get any pains or problems anywhere else on my body. It is all focused on the muscle around the shin bone (left of the shin bone on the left leg, right side on the right leg and not the calfs either) and the area where your foot joins your leg, in the front.
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2007/12/01, 12:38 PM
Hi grumpy,
I can understand that you don't like exercising, especially if you've never found anything that you like. You tried Yoga and that seemed to suit you, so doing that again would be a good idea. You don't need to go to classes for it either, especially with the plethora of information available in the internet nowadays. An alternative could be tai-chi, as that is also slow and thoughtful, but still very hard work.
I think jogging might be too high impact for you. I know it's like that for me, so I try other ways of getting my heart pumping. I like lifting weights and feeling my body work with that. No "buzz", just satisfaction in "manual labor". (My aunt on the other hand, can't stand that, loves aerobics instead, which I hate.) When I need my heartrate to go up, I like to do seated cable rows at the gym, but at home I run and jump on the trampoline, as I mentioned before. That is low impact, but the heart really gets going. I haven't tried one of those cross-trainer eliptical mashines, but they are low impact as well. Maybe you could try one? 30-day money back guarantee or something?
As I also mentioned, my left chin would hurt when I ran or walked very briskly (high impact) or walked for hours. That only got better when I used the vibration plate. We have one at the gym, so I thoght it might be a good idea to try it if you could. If you can't then... I'm sorry, I don't know what to do.
BTW... what kind of job do you have, is it a lot of hard work, or are you sitting down most of the time?
I want to help you, even if you snap at me. I can be grumpy too.
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Getting there... one kg at a time...
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2007/12/01, 09:53 PM
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Quoting from GrumpyJogger:
Diet: Have been quite good for some years now and recently I started the South Beach Diet again. I am presently in phase 2. I have cut out all bad carbs & fats and I don't eat any grains or dairy. I also don't eat anything with sugar in it. I feel somewhat better and have lost some weight. I am very honest with my diet.
This diet is successful because it weens you of regularly eating foods & food groups that are not good for you. It doesn't mean you can never have certain foods, just that they shouldn't form part of your every day eating.
Other exercise: I only do jogging (its just about the only thing I can stand), but lately I haven't been to jog and even just walking anything longer than 1-2 minutes brings on the physical problem I reported. I used to do some Yoga (boy that's harder than you think!!) and perhaps I will look at getting back to that.
As for any other exercise, I don't do anything else and don't want to actually. I hate all exercise and feel that I have NEVER EVER got any benefit out of it, and certainly no "buzz" or "high" even when I used to go to a gym. When I was at the gym, I had some tuition from some instructors and I have carried through their knowledge.
I am only doing the jogging to help my heart and nothing else. If I could avoid doing even this, I would. I don't go to a gym presently (have no money even if I wanted to go).
I don't get any pains or problems anywhere else on my body. It is all focused on the muscle around the shin bone (left of the shin bone on the left leg, right side on the right leg and not the calfs either) and the area where your foot joins your leg, in the front.
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Hey Grumpy!
Thank you for the honest answers. Now I'm not gonna harp on you about strength training, but I will say that if you don't do it, then you will be losing almost 1% of your lean muscle mass per year. As we get older, strength training helps us to maintain good bone density, and muscle mass. Think of it like this; one pound of muscle uses about 50 calories a day to maintain. For every pound of muscle tissue you lose, thats less calories you are able to burn during the day. Sorry,...I'll stop lecturing.
Anyway, yoga might be the answer your looking for. There are many books and internet pages with great information available.
How about riding a bike? Dose your foot give you problems when you ride? Swimming would be great also if you have access to a pool.
Oh, and have you tried potassium? I'm no doctor, but a few people I've talked to about "shin splints" have always been high on bananas(potassium) to help with the problem.
All and all, if you haven't posted this in the injuries forum, I still think you should see a doc for this.
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2007/12/04, 12:08 PM
I can't afford a bike and its not really suitable for where I live. I can't afford to see a doctor as I am not working and I don't have/can't afford medical insurance.
I am really fed up with all this exercise stuff now because even walking is becoming a painful activity after 1-2 minutes. I'm gonna give up.
Thanks for trying to help but I don't think there's much help for me.
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2007/12/04, 12:48 PM
My question is this: if it hurts why keep on doing it? Can you lift weights? That is exercise too, not just cardio (I keep them apart in my mind like that)....there are cardio things you can do in a gym setting with a barbell and some light weights....just a thought. And another thing, STOP FEELING SORRY FOR YOURSELF! I know it is hard but keep at it! There has to be some sort of state insurance you qualify for or free clinics to go to if you think this is a medical thing....
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As a quarter squatter was dominating the rack, I heard a conversation between an old powerlifter (easily in his 60\\'s) and what I would guess was his grandson (15-yrs old):
Kid: \\"So, why does he stop so short on his squats? That looks weird to me.\\"
Old PL\\'er: \\"He\\'s afraid if he squats deep, his vagina might touch the ground.\\"
7707mutt@freetrainers.com
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2007/12/04, 02:21 PM
Not telling you what to do here, but if you post more specifics about what is wrong (similar to what Wrestler asked for in the injury forum) then people may actually be able to help you.
If you can't afford a doctor, and are going to give up exercise, etc. anyway what do you have to lose? This is all over the internet so it isn't even like you have to suck up your pride, you'll never meet most of these people. Suck it up and try go get some free help before giving up.
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