couch to being able to walk 500 yards without falling over

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

every half a year or so I get a mad idea into my head that I'm going to buy an exercise bike, or a rowing machine or a treadmill and start exercising at home to generally get fit and lose some weight (2-3 stone probably, i'm 5"10/11 and just over 14 stone). I browse around the internet looking at cheap machines, i think I even posted here once or twice but after a week or two of complete inaction I just drop the idea and return to my program of chronic masturbation and tri-weekly fast food deliveries.
Last weekend I started having chest pains nothing too severe but still quite worrying (i'm 26), luckily enough the doctor said it was just heart palpatations related to my anxiety attacks and that I wasn't in any danger of having my heart exploding or imploding. Even though I was given a (relative) clean bill of health, that night I just up and went for a walk for no particular reason. I walked at a brisk pace for about 40m (i wasn't timing myself, I just had a circuit in mind and that's hhow long it took) and oddly enough despite my almost complete lack of exercise for the past number of years I wasn't out of breath or in any major discomfort.

This was on monday, I walked to and from college on tuesday and went for another 40m walk on wednesday but yesterdays effort was quite different from mondays. At almost exactly half way my right shin started to feel like it was on fire and this naturally affected my speed and general ability to walk. luckily enough i was only ten minutes from a friends house so I relaxed there for an hour before completing the journey home, without any discomfort.

What i'm wondering is, is this just a natural occurance as a result of my being incredibly unfit? I do have a pretty unnatural gait and may be putting more weight on my right foot than my left (I think it's a little bit longer than the left one) but aside from the embarrasment of being passed out by power walking fifty-somethings as I try to hobble home the pain is sort of putting me off going back out there. Is it just something I have to power through until my legs get used to the idea of my arse no longer carrying my body weight? or is it a possible medical issue I should get checked out before I extend my walks or even move on to jogging. ( I have a set of dumbbells as well that I've been using semi regularly, 20-30m every second or third day for the past few weeks)

I think I'm pretty serious about getting fit this time around, I've cut sweets and sugar out of my diet completely. For breakfast all week I've generally had a bit of fruit and yoghurt in the morning, more fruit or a bit of tuna for lunch and a 3 potato/carrot/broccoli + meat for dinner with maybe a yoghurt or bit of tuna asa snack around 8-9pm. ( I have rice and pasta in my cupboard as well, but I recently got a steamer and a large bag of potatos so I've been powering through them for simplicitys sake)

I've been trying to quit smoking too for a while now with absolutely no success but after my initial walk on monday I came home and didn't even want one, the same the day after after walking to college but I'm smoking one now as I'm typing this, so if it is just a matter of powering through until my legs de-pussify themselves I'll hopefully be able to drop them frmo my diet completely soon enough.

so yeah.. basically, should I just tough it out and wait for my body to get used to regular exercise? or should I shell out another 55 euro to the doctor and get her opinion.

Gaz

It might be something like shin-splints ... maybe try something low/non impact like cycling or rowing.

d'Oracle

Might be worth speaking with a doctor or podiatrist.

Or both.

g'em

d'Oracle wrote: »

Might be worth speaking with a doctor or podiatrist.

Or both.

Or a physio. It does sound like shin-splint pain which can be crucifyingly painful when it hits badly, but there's no real way of telling over t'internet.

GPs and Physio's can now refer people to the Gait Analysis clinic in the CRC to get you analysed really thoroughly and if you already know that you have something of an unnatural gait it might be something wroth looking into. It general means doing lots of corrective and prehab exercises to remedy it but by and large it's not a major problem. Once it's corrected you just periodically do your prehab exercises and you should be able to exercise without oo much difficulty.

Our feet and legs really are designed to withstand an awful lot of abuse, but in today's largely sedentary lifestyle we pick up all manner of bad posture attributes which affect the most random parts of our bodies.

If you're determined to get fitter, stick with it, the rewards will greatly outweigh the initial effort needed

Chet Zar

+1, see a physio OP if it continues to hurt - if you have gone from doing no exercise whatsoever to going for a burst of walking then these things can happen!

To get started and to get to see progress, eat clean 90% of the time and try out activities like swimming and cycling - something with zero impact on your joints but which gets your heart rate up would be perfect for you at this early point.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

thanks for the suggestions all, I'll start looking about for physios next week. Friend of mine that plays with the local rugby club said I might be able to go up to training with him and see the team physio if I pretend to have been attending training there for a while.

I do have a bike, but it's up in dublin with my sister.. truth be told I haven't cycled regularly in over ten years and I'm more than a little nervous about cycling on roads with big, heavy fast moving lumps of metal but I suppose after the first few times I'll get used to it.

thanks all

Chet Zar

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

thanks for the suggestions all, I'll start looking about for physios next week. Friend of mine that plays with the local rugby club said I might be able to go up to training with him and see the team physio if I pretend to have been attending training there for a while.

I do have a bike, but it's up in dublin with my sister.. truth be told I haven't cycled regularly in over ten years and I'm more than a little nervous about cycling on roads with big, heavy fast moving lumps of metal but I suppose after the first few times I'll get used to it.

thanks all

I actually nearly thought twice about mentioning cycling - I wouldn't be too keen on it myself on the roads... go swimming or walking once it doesn't hurt to walk!

Good luck.

Dublin2Physio

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

Friend of mine that plays with the local rugby club said I might be able to go up to training with him and see the team physio if I pretend to have been attending training there for a while.

Haha pretty dosy physio if she falls for that one.

I'm about 18 1/2 stone stone at the moment, and about 5'10". I used to get very similar pains (oddly, only really in my right shin, and rarely, if ever, in the left).

I used to get it from simple walks. Nothing too endurance or anything I'd put mad effort into. Just regular walks to and from places. It wrecked my head, because it truly is agonising and ruins the whole walk for you.

I haven't had it in a while though. Months. Ever since I started going to the gym the odd time, so I reckon that contributed to it.

These days I try to get to the gym everyday. I'm trying to get in shape, so I'm trying that "Couch to 5K" program, and even though I'm only on week one (i shudder to think of the weeks ahead) I'm almost always limping off the treadmill, and it's always my right leg.


The first time I did the C25K "workout 1", I literally limped out of the gym and home. The second day wasn't too bad. The third day it hurt again a lot, but healed up quicker and i walked home OK. Today in the gym, I dd an hour of cardio (30 mins bike, 30 mins treadmill, at altering paces) and I walked home fine.


With that in mind, and acknowledging that I'm not a doctor or a physio expert, just a fat bastard whose legs hate him, my advice to you is to play a game of five-a-side football or something like that, for an hour.

I used to do this, and because it's not a full game, you're usually being kept busy a lot, and your mind is taken off your legs. At the end of the game you'll be going home limping, and you won't walk right the following day. Your legs will be in agony.

Play again the following week and you'll go through the same again, you'll be hurting again. By the time you play the third game, your legs will have gotten used to it and you won't be as knackered any more.


Again, that's just me. I suffered with a similar problem and I reckon it was a combination of the gym and five a side (despite the fact that I hate football) that helped me though it. My right leg still takes a pounding, and it hurts a bit every now and then too, but not for everday walking.


I wouldn't pay money for a physiotherapist or GP to tell you that your leg is sore. You already know that. Exercises for sore legs can be googled. Put such money towards a gym membership and spend some time using a proper cross-trainer or exercise bike. I honestly think it's the best thing to do.

But again, that's just me. If you prefer the route of professional advice, then by all means go that road. (sorry for the rambling post, by the way)