How do I know what pain need pushed through?

emcdonie

This came up on another thread, and I thought I should start it as a seperate question.

First I am 34 and weight 318. Jumping, lunging, squating feels utterly impossible as the knee pain is immediate and intense. How can I know what pain I can safely push through, versus causing joint damage or something?

I also do have to be careful with an abdominal hernia I have. I don't want to rip it further. But if it is possible, I would like to strengthen the are to hopefully help prevent further damage.

So far I have walked and done my stationary bike to be safe. But dare I try other things? How can I know what my body is truly capable of? I know mentally I feel like there isn't a lot. I suspect I can do more. But I am honestly pretty afraid of injury to my joints or the hernia. I have access to a decent workout room at my rental office complex. I am scared of half of the equiptment because of my size and being unsure of my abilities.

When folks say to push through the pain...do they mean muscular pain and joint pain? Or just muscular pain?

Thanks

neverstray

No.

If you are feeling sharp pains or joint pain, that is not something you push through.

What they mean is lets say you are doing push ups, when you think you are done, do 5 more. Push through that thing in your brain that tells you to stop. But, it's not ouchy pain. It's more just muscle fatigue. It's a huge difference from what you are talking about. For the kind of pain you have, I'd just do something else.

I get knee pain sometimes, and it's not the good kind. I just stop whatever I am doing when I feel it. No good can come of pushing through that kind of pain, unless it for an Olympic medal or something.

AmandaTWaH

It is more the burning feeling in the muscles that they are talking about pushing up. You may need to work on strengthening your legs and core in a way that is a little less intense. I had good luck with Pilates actually. You can find some easy videos on YouTube that could be helpful.

Another thing that could be helpful with squats is to read up on proper form. When done right they shouldn't strain your knees.

2hobbit1

First things first - have you talked to you doc about this - s/he can help you with what your limitations would be due to the hernia.
Things like stationery bike, swimming, water aerobics would be good as low joint impact exercises.
Is there any staff at the gym to show you the machines? They mostly work individual muscle groups and will help you gain strength. The stronger your legs the better you can protect your knee joints.

A couple of articles to look at to get some ideas

http://www.livestrong.com/article/155620-strength-training-for-obese-women/

http://exercise.about.com/od/weightloss/a/obese_strength.htm

http://voices.yahoo.com/best-weight-loss-workouts-obese-overweight-3931180.html

Also very important do you have the nutrition side covered as well? This link will help yo find safe targets - at your wieght you can safely take a 30% cut from your TDEE

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/7965-in-place-of-a-road-map

Good groups here on MFP

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/4618-stronglifts-5x5-for-women

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/5182-new-rules-of-lifting-4-life

opuntia

When folks say to push through the pain...do they mean muscular pain and joint pain? Or just muscular pain?

Not joint pain. And not even muscular if it feels like a pulled muscle. It just means the kind of fatigue pain your muscles get from working out hard. It feels like a healthy pain, rather than a bad pain.

Swimming is a good exercise - it is low impact and good for strength and stamina. Although be careful with breast stroke - if you do the kick too strongly it can hurt your knees.

crazyvermont

Listen to your body.....sharp pain is never anything to try and work through. Have you considerd the pool? I'm not much of a swimmer but do water resistance exercises with foam dumbbells which are very easy on joints

LorinaLynn

I will work through sore, stiff and achy, but not through PAIN.

And even that backfired on me, because up until the day I came limping home with a stress fracture, my fibula just had a dull ache. :ohwell:

With a hernia, though, I'd get a list of approved activities from your doctor.

thistimeismytime

When folks say to push through the pain...do they mean muscular pain and joint pain? Or just muscular pain?

Not joint pain. And not even muscular if it feels like a pulled muscle. It just means the kind of fatigue pain your muscles get from working out hard. It feels like a healthy pain, rather than a bad pain.

Totally agree with this. You should not try to push through joint pain, tendon pain, or "pulled muscle" type pain. You will only injure yourself and set yourself back. There are so many other things you can do. Swimming and walking are both great exercises. Best wishes.

emcdonie

Thank so much for the replies. I had always thought that one shouldn't push through joint pain, but I have just really began doubting myself. I see folks in my size range who can do so many more things than I can. It made me wonder if I was just being a baby and needed to just deal with it.

I guess then I should continue to be careful about the things that cause that "exploding" knee pain.

I have asked the doc about the hernia. They just gave the basic advice of be careful about heavy lifting or anything that uses ab muscles. It just begs the question to me if I am supposed to be careful with them, how can I ever strengthen them? I know they said the advice is the same with or without surgery. So I assume people just eventually work out the abs as gentle as possible and then go from there.

The workout facility is not staffed. You have to enter a code to get in. I can figure out some things by watching other people if someone is actually in there. Most of the times I have went and treadmill walked, the place was empty. I do have a fear of being too heavy for equiptment. I would be so mortified if I broke something. Like the elliptical there looks neat, but I am scared to death of breaking the thing.

The articles linked to were really helpful and had some awesome ideas of things I can do here. I never thought about each time a person bends to sit down it is a squat essentially. Admittedly I do lean on the counter or the arms of a chair as I get up and sit down. It seems to take pressure off of my knees. I have probably favored them so long, the muscles around them became weak. But the idea of sitting and standing in a chair repeatedly to do squats is a great idea to build strength. At least if I fell, I would go go into the chair.

Thank you all for the advice and links. I really appreciate them.
.

2hobbit1

If there are weight machines there I would not worry about being too heavy - they are designed to support the user plus the weight in the stack. Also a lot of them will have pictures of what you are supposed to do. Go and take a look at them if no one is there and see what the motion is. Most of them add weight by moving a pin in the stack, and the seats usually adjust as well.

For the elliptical I would look and see if you can find a make and model number - then go online and see what the manual say about weight limits.

Look at resistance band work outs on line as well - they are something you can do at home -and the sets are relatively inexpensive on amazon. There are good sites on line for resistance workouts as well.

2hobbit1

resistance band workout links - plenty more if you google resistance band workouts

http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/workout/equipment/resistance-band-exercises/

http://exercise.about.com/lr/resistance_band_exercises/79917/1/

http://www.realsimple.com/health/fitness-exercise/workouts/resistance-band-exercises-00100000067997/index.html

http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/videos-detail.asp?video=99

AmandaTWaH

Resistance bands will be great for what you need. Either way, I would suggest asking your doctor for more ideas. I know some people who had hernias and found that yoga helped them a lot as well.

http://bodypositiveyoga.com/ is a great site about plus sized yoga.

gramacanada

Push through discomfort, not pain. Updated mantra 'Train don't Strain'
I use resistance bands and a yoga mat.. You can do almost anything with these.