Running vs walking

darnea1232

I am thinking of attempting running as my exercise. Right now I walk most days but I am not feeling like I am getting much out of it. I have asthma and use orthotics and my husband thinks that running will be too hard on my ankles and knees. Does anybody have any advice or experience with running with orthotics? Should I stick to walking and try to increase my speed or carry weights or something?

MeanderingMammal

It depends what you're wanting from it. Lots of non runners repeat the hard on the knees folk wisdom.

Essentially take it easy and don't overdo it, whether in terms of speed or time as you build up. When I started running more seriously about three years ago I used Couch to 5K plan, which works for many. Equally you could just go out for half an hour and manage walk/ run intervals to build up the time you're running.

For pace, something nice and gentle that allows you to talk whilst you're running is fine. The point is not to burn yourself out in 50 metres.

If you have orthotics it would be worth going to a decent running shop and talking to the team about options. It's difficult to advise, but depending on the reason you use them there might be shoes that are appropriate without using them, or it could be you need something that you can fit them into.

You'll find a fair few non runners will come in and crayon on the thread advising you not to run, but from my perspective in three years I've gone from starting C25K to having run several half marathons and working towards a marathon in June. I'm not having any issues despite a history of broken ankles and congenital knee issues. Running is helping both of those significantly.

darnea1232

Thanks for the response!

helengetshealthy

Walking can be a really good workout in itself, you can increase the speed and get a good sweat on without the impact that running has on your joints - for some people it's not as bad but if you have existing issues, stick with walking, see if you can get in some hill walks and longer sessions, it will definitely help

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KathyApplebaum

I love my orthotics for running. In fact, I wouldn't consider running without them.

I have a history of knee and ankle problems, and running doesn't cause me any issues. When I do have knee pain after a run, it's usually because I let my form slide (striking more on the outside of the foot, for example, which puts your whole leg off kilter, which puts stress on your knee.) When that happens, I focus on form, roll out with a foam roller for the next couple of weeks, and the problem goes away.

If you want to move from walking to running, start slow and do intervals. Start slow means run so slow you think people are going to laugh at you. Seriously, when you start don't run much faster than your walking pace. You're just trying to nudge your heart rate up a tad, not kill yourself. You'll run for a 30 second interval, walk for 30 seconds, repeat until done. When that feels good to you, increase your run time to a minute, then 90 seconds, etc. When you can easily run for 10 minutes at a time, start thinking about running a little faster during your runs.

BrianSharpe

Running does not hurt your joints unless you have other underlying problems. Whichever you decide on consider adding some strength training to your plan (you don't need to be bench pressing a gazillion pounds) to address muscular imbalances and improve hip/glute/core strength - even if you don't run a step (and I love running) your body will thank you.

veggiecanner

I tryed to go from walking to running, Found out it was a no go. So I tryed a bike. That worked with no problem. Lost a lot of weight on the bike. And I get my errands done this way.

mangrothian

The only way you're going to find out if running is going to cause you joint problems is by trying; it was a big fear for me when I started, and in the end the injuries I had were from the wrong shoes and from trying to do too much too soon.

The above posts from Meandeirng Mammal, Kathy are spot on in terms of starting, and Brian's suggestion on adding in some strength training is a must. If you don't want to go to a gym, look up some youtube bodyweight exercise videos - there's thousands of them out there, and you don't have to leave your living room for them