Can't use my legs

minnesota

I am a runner, who has been training for an Epic Relay here in two weeks and a half marathon in three. I have been having a lot of pain with my IT band and now my hip and glute are killing me. I had a two hour massage yesterday so I am hoping things will get better, but I am going to take the week off of running and cycling. I would like to still have some type of cardio workout that doesn't involve my legs too much.

Suggestions would be great. I rowed this morning and got pretty bored after 10 mins and I would like to mention even walking can be quite painful.

elmct57

dr evaluation? need to back off and rest and then do water exercises.

Supermel

Jillian Micheals says in her Shred that doing punches in a static squat are an effective weight to get your HR up but not use your legs. I hope you are feeling better soon!

SHBoss1673

before we really make any recommendations, has it been evaluated? I know a lot of different stuff you could do, but much of it will depend on what you are able to do.

If you don't have any structural damage (I.E. spinal compression, disk problems...etc.) then stretching out your hip flexors should help.
You can google stretches. the most common one is the kneeling stretch.

but there are others as well.

other things that may help, depending on the issue, is core strengthening routines. Running puts enormous strain on your lower back, strengthening your core muscles will stabalize the spine and help to alleviate leg and foot pain (in some cases), course if this is a structural issue (it's common to have your spine compress from overtraining with running) then you need to be diagnosed by an experienced lumbar expert, and then probably some kind of decompression or (if it's a disk issue) working with a Physical Therapist to alleviate the issue.

It's actually quite rare for an IT band issue to actually be a problem with the IT band itself. Sometimes it's because of the tendons and muscles becoming tight on their own, but in a runner, if you do your warm up and cool down stretching, that's probably not the (only) cause, if it's a cause at all.

ErinSarah12

I'm in the same boat. I had been training 4-5 per week over the winter, and bumped my training into high gear back in March (I was working out 6 days a week, about four days of which were twice a day). Don't do that I ended up with an overtraining injury (diagnosed as patellar tendinitis) that has had me unable to do pretty much anything for two months :mad: I'm going crazy! I am also supposed to do a 200km charity bike ride at the end of the month.

Get it checked out early (don't wait for two months like I did!) and respect the order to take it easy (I know how frustrating it is, but it's worth it). If you are cleared to exercise, I try to do the following:

Biking
Swimming
Yoga
Upper body weights
Sit ups/crunches/mat pilates moves
Punching (great way to work up a sweat!)

Good luck! Any additional suggestions are appreciated.

jojoworks

Hi,
I'm in St. Paul MN. I had a chronically inflamed IT band that was misdiagnosed and mistreated for 2 yrs! When I finally found a physical therapist who knew what they were doing they had me pain free within 6 months. It took a lot of work and almost NONE of it involved even touching the inflamed area. They had me concentrate on core strengthening and on my gluts. If you're in the Twin Cities and want more info, PM me. Otherwise....find a PT who's good (took me 3 tries).

Good Luck!

SHBoss1673

Hi,
I'm in St. Paul MN. I had a chronically inflamed IT band that was misdiagnosed and mistreated for 2 yrs! When I finally found a physical therapist who knew what they were doing they had me pain free within 6 months. It took a lot of work and almost NONE of it involved even touching the inflamed area. They had me concentrate on core strengthening and on my gluts. If you're in the Twin Cities and want more info, PM me. Otherwise....find a PT who's good (took me 3 tries).

Good Luck!

WOO HOO! Validation!

sorry, couldn't help myself. I'm a huge dork sometimes!

amelia_atlantic

I've been feeling a very similar pain and couldn't figure it out! I could barely describe it to people! Thanks for bringing this to my attention, I'm totally going to ask my doctor about it.

I hate the idea of taking a break from running/exercise as much as you do but we must take care of our bodies, lady!

Hope you're feeling better soon.