Exercise & Fitness

sarahkatara

All things exercise/fitness related!

ranewell

So, I've noticed lately when working out after a bit my arches start to ache. Not hurt, but fatigued (weird, I know...) I have to change shoes throughout the workout, doesn't matter which shoe I start with, but if I don't break for a couple of minutes and switch shoes, my calves will start to hurt. Anyone else have this? Advice??

sullykat

never had this happen, but maybe try going to a specialty shop and get them to fit you properly for shoes? Running-room?

sarahkatara

I would agree with Sully- definitely go to a shoe store where they will look at your feet and how you step and will fit a shoe to you. But beyond that, I ALWAYS used to get horrible shin splints and pain in my calves when power-walking or jogging. Shoes did make a big difference for me but I mostly just pushed past the pain the best I could and my legs eventually got used to it. Bananas are AWESOME to make aches and cramps go away as well. Eat half of a banana maybe when your arches start to ache? See if that helps...but again, shoes shoes shoes. if you're cross-training, doing stuff like weight lifting with running get a cross training shoe. I went to Sports Authority and decided not to get running shoes because i feared having to switch shoes during my workout, lol. the cross trainers have been great for a combination of exercises. Hope this helps!

piari

Hi all!

My ballet academy recently closed/merged with another one. Since I'm leaving for college soon, I'm not joining the other academy. So, I find that I'm doing much less exercise than I used to. At the moment, I walk my dogs for about 30-45 minutes every night and I go to the gym twice or thrice a week. At the gym, I either take some sort of class or I do a combination of the elliptical machine and then various weight machines for either one or two hours.

Despite this, I feel like I'm perhaps not exercising enough. Also, I feel like some of the muscles I strengthened through my ballet dancing are becoming a little soft while others are getting stronger instead.

Does anyone have any advice or words of wisdom for me?

findingmyhappyplace

Hey Piari

That sounds like a perfect amount of exercise to me! If you are concerned about losing your muscle tone, I would recommend that you eat plenty of protein and adequate calories, and focus your gym sessions around strength based training. If you use the elliptical, try and do some HIIT or high resistance work. Maybe look into trying a Jillian Michaels video with heavy weights, or something similar. How about Pilates?

ranewell

I would agree with Sully- definitely go to a shoe store where they will look at your feet and how you step and will fit a shoe to you. But beyond that, I ALWAYS used to get horrible shin splints and pain in my calves when power-walking or jogging. Shoes did make a big difference for me but I mostly just pushed past the pain the best I could and my legs eventually got used to it. Bananas are AWESOME to make aches and cramps go away as well. Eat half of a banana maybe when your arches start to ache? See if that helps...but again, shoes shoes shoes. if you're cross-training, doing stuff like weight lifting with running get a cross training shoe. I went to Sports Authority and decided not to get running shoes because i feared having to switch shoes during my workout, lol. the cross trainers have been great for a combination of exercises. Hope this helps!

Thanks! I may look into a cross training shoe, I am currently wearing running shoes, so maybe that will help? Once I have the money, I may look into a specialty store

sarahkatara

I would agree with Sully- definitely go to a shoe store where they will look at your feet and how you step and will fit a shoe to you. But beyond that, I ALWAYS used to get horrible shin splints and pain in my calves when power-walking or jogging. Shoes did make a big difference for me but I mostly just pushed past the pain the best I could and my legs eventually got used to it. Bananas are AWESOME to make aches and cramps go away as well. Eat half of a banana maybe when your arches start to ache? See if that helps...but again, shoes shoes shoes. if you're cross-training, doing stuff like weight lifting with running get a cross training shoe. I went to Sports Authority and decided not to get running shoes because i feared having to switch shoes during my workout, lol. the cross trainers have been great for a combination of exercises. Hope this helps!

Thanks! I may look into a cross training shoe, I am currently wearing running shoes, so maybe that will help? Once I have the money, I may look into a specialty store

This actually might do the trick! Running shoes are VERY specific for running. If your routine includes lifting/running/anything else, a cross-trainer is usually a good bet. I LOVE my Nikes: http://store.nike.com/us/en_us/?l=shop,pdp,ctr-inline/cid-1/pid-461901

sarahkatara

Hi all!

My ballet academy recently closed/merged with another one. Since I'm leaving for college soon, I'm not joining the other academy. So, I find that I'm doing much less exercise than I used to. At the moment, I walk my dogs for about 30-45 minutes every night and I go to the gym twice or thrice a week. At the gym, I either take some sort of class or I do a combination of the elliptical machine and then various weight machines for either one or two hours.

Despite this, I feel like I'm perhaps not exercising enough. Also, I feel like some of the muscles I strengthened through my ballet dancing are becoming a little soft while others are getting stronger instead.

Does anyone have any advice or words of wisdom for me?

Hey beautiful Pia! I think your routine sounds like PLENTY! Mili had a great idea to maybe add a video or lifting in. If you start strength training, it will firm you up again pretty quickly, when combined with cardio. Also, make sure you're not exercising TOO much. I was doing 1-2 hours a day today and now I've scaled it back to 45 minutes- 1hour. I work harder and make every minute count and I find it's much easier and nicer to do it this way. Sometimes, I love being in the gym for a long time. It's me-time. But if you're living in a dorm or something, then that's not always possible. Try Bodyrock.tv. You can do EVERY workout in your own space with no special doo dads. I HIGHLY recommend it!