Joint Pain with Exercise

awkwardlyhannah

Hey ya'll,

I got a gym membership in January and started going to the gym only once per week for about 30-45 minutes. I was using the elliptical for most of that time. I would warm up, stretch, and then get back on for the rest of the time with a cool down period at the end.

Not only did I realize very early on that something was wrong in my left foot, but I damaged my right ankle. This happened super quickly in the process, like 2-3 weeks in (so literally 3 workouts!). Long story short, I saw my doctor and I'd sprained my ankle and could potentially have a stress fracture in my foot. Can't afford an x-ray at the moment, spare me the pity.

TL;DR: After 3 weeks of getting to the gym, I'd messed up my ankle and potentially my foot.

My question is: How do I avoid this damage to my body while I'm trying to exercise? I used to play sports, I've been heavy my whole life, but I've never had pain like this before and I don't know where to start anymore. I thought what I was doing WAS going slow. Suggestions?

carolinelanewa

Ok. I twisted my ankle badly and also have had a stress fracture in my knee and shin splints. Still exercised but took imagination on the part of my pt.

You could still do ropes. Ie 60 ropes. 6 slam balls. 4o ropes 4 slam balls. 20 ropes 2 slam balls. Then rest and go again. . That gets your heart rate up.

Boxing is great if you have someone to train with you. I did heaps of this when I hurt my ankle. From a cardio point of view it blows most exercise out of the water.

A little hiit circuit. Slam balls. Push ups on knees. Russian twists. Lay down push ups. Possibly step back burpees. Toe taps. Possibly squats. Put ropes in there works too. Upright row with dumbell. Put a few of these together and do one after the other for 20 secs each.

Ie. Set timer 20 secs on 10 secs off. Slam balls, russian twists, toe taps, ropes, bicep curls, lay down push ups. Then rest and do it again. This maybe even too much. If so drop one of tge exercises and add it in as you get fitter. That will get your heart rate up if your just starting. But above all else if it hurts stop.

I dont feel I have worked out if i dont do cardio (im a cardio bunny) but weight training is essential if trying to loose weight and toning up. Plus you burn calories even after you finish workout.

But slow it down. I got into gym as a over weight, totally out of shape 50 year old female and wanted to go nuts. What happened? I got injured. I couldn't understand why my pt was so angry with me when I went from 0 to 5km of running. Stress fracture and shin splints!

Now if i do something new i work up to it. Ie. I'm returning to running after shin splints. Walk 3 min. Run 1 min. Did that for two weeks. Now walk 3 min, run 1.5 min for next 2 weeks. It's frustrating but only way to do it.

45 min on elliptical for someone starting out would be way too much for anyone starting out. May 15 min. But im no expert. Just what I have learnt from my own pt and my own experience.

ccsernica

It might feel as if you started slowly with a half hour of elliptical, but your body has informed you otherwise. It's best to accept the message it has sent you.

When I wanted to get back into running after 8 or 9 years off, and now in my 50s, I didn't start by running. I walked. Over a period of months -- not days or weeks, months -- I increased my pace and my distance little by little. By the time I was mentally ready to run a mile my body was physically ready for it. As a result, I've had fewer foot and ankle problems running now than I did 10 years ago.

SonyaCele

awkwardlyhannah wrote: »

Hey ya'll,

I got a gym membership in January and started going to the gym only once per week for about 30-45 minutes. I was using the elliptical for most of that time. I would warm up, stretch, and then get back on for the rest of the time with a cool down period at the end.

Not only did I realize very early on that something was wrong in my left foot, but I damaged my right ankle. This happened super quickly in the process, like 2-3 weeks in (so literally 3 workouts!). Long story short, I saw my doctor and I'd sprained my ankle and could potentially have a stress fracture in my foot. Can't afford an x-ray at the moment, spare me the pity.

TL;DR: After 3 weeks of getting to the gym, I'd messed up my ankle and potentially my foot.

My question is: How do I avoid this damage to my body while I'm trying to exercise? I used to play sports, I've been heavy my whole life, but I've never had pain like this before and I don't know where to start anymore. I thought what I was doing WAS going slow. Suggestions?

are you currently overweight? carrying extra weight is very hard on our joints. when you are younger your body is a lot more forgiving than when you get older. if you are overweight, a great place to start is with a calorie deficit to lose weight and that will probably reduce the majority of your pains and joint issues.

crackpotbaby

My suggestion would be prioritise medical care over a gym membership.

My second suggestion would be to follow the doctors advice about rest, ice, compression and elevation for a soft tissue injury - and find out if you should be weight bearing, particularly if you might have a stress fracture and are not going to X-ray it to confirm.