A little embarassing...

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TheNewBlair
TheNewBlair Posts: 41
in Fitness and Exercise
Ok, so I started really going to the gym this week and have really enjoyed it. Monday I did the treadmill for 40 mins. Yesterday I decided to do the elliptical machine. I did really good ended up doing 3 almost 4 miles in jog zone. Well, my problem is that I noticed that my feet were going numb and I would have to lift my foot or move my toes every few minutes. It didn't start happening until probably after the first 20/30 minutes. Is this normal? Is it something I'm doing wrong? :blushing:

Replies

  • iriska26
    iriska26 Posts: 9 Member
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    This is perfectly normal. You feet stay in the same place and blood circulation gets sluggish. Try lifting them a bit on each step, or rotating backwards to change the pressure. Also, make sure your laces are not tight - I keep mine completely loose and it helps a lot.
  • julieh391
    julieh391 Posts: 683 Member
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    That happens to me too if I leave my feet totally flat. Not embarrassing at all. It's just from holding your feet in the same flexed position for a long time.
  • jilli814
    jilli814 Posts: 33 Member
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    It is normal....I thought something was wrong with me too. I try to apply more pressure to my heels when it starts to happen....seems to work
  • TheNewBlair
    TheNewBlair Posts: 41
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    Thanks for the replies... It makes sense now.. i just kept thinking.. "im not sure if this is normal" and I was not about to ask the guy next to me! lmao.
  • mitch16
    mitch16 Posts: 2,113 Member
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    Also make sure that your shoes are the appropriate size--my sneakers are a full size larger than my normal wear-to-work shoes.

    Wiggle your toes every now and again to wake them up, too!
  • CyeRyn
    CyeRyn Posts: 389 Member
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    I have this happen on the elliptical. I use it barefoot though because every time I tried wearing shoes on it my feet would get so hot and it would bother me more than my toes going numb. Fortunately only my 3 middle toes go numb on my right foot all the rest are fine.
  • curtnrod
    curtnrod Posts: 223 Member
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    It's only normal if your shoes are laced to tight. Loosen your shoe laces and the numbness magically disappears
  • GrumpyAG
    GrumpyAG Posts: 41 Member
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    It's only normal if your shoes are laced to tight. Loosen your shoe laces and the numbness magically disappears

    People that don't suffer from this always insist to me that my shoe laces are too tight. I suffer everytime from this and it definitely is not my laces causing it.

    I'm afraid wiggling toes/picking your heel up does ease it a bit but if your like me the only thing that actually stops the numb feeling is stopping the exercise.
  • miriamwithcats
    miriamwithcats Posts: 1,120 Member
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    It can also be something similar to carpal tunnel syndrome in the ankle joint. I have that problem My feet go completely numb with awful pins and needles. Happens biking, or when I wear anything constricting on my ankles like rollar blades, ice skates, ski boots, hiking boots, or even shoes lace high. I had to have both my wrists done for carpal tunnel that started when I was only 20 (I waited over 20 years to have it done), and after that was asked to participate in a research study. They had found the gene for "overly sensative nerves". It makes sense since I have also had Bell's palsy twice (like a pinched nerve in the face where you lose all feeling and movement for a while). I cut the back seam in boots so I can wear them- have since high school, NEVER use the top pair of eyelets on athletic shoes (and sometimes even the second set), and have had to curtail or limit other activities. I wore men;s hockey skates to ice skate and didn't lace them and also cut the seam- from high school on. Find out how to alleviate the pressure on the nerves- whether switching position, changing your footwear, etc. if you can, and if not, it is probably not a good idea to continue the activity. I can't imagine that over the long term this would be good for nerve tissue!
  • Behavior_Modification
    Behavior_Modification Posts: 24,482 Member
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    It is normal....I thought something was wrong with me too. I try to apply more pressure to my heels when it starts to happen....seems to work

    ^^ This.

    Plus I will lift my toes while applying pressure at my heels - and try to wiggle toes around too.
  • criscricket
    criscricket Posts: 72
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    Get bigger sneakers or loosen your laces when that happens. I get that when I'm running.
  • allison0820
    allison0820 Posts: 325 Member
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    Awesome thanks for this post.. mine do it do when I'm on the elliptical.. and I didn't know why.. this makes sense and helps me understand that I am still normal! LOL
  • samanthaharshman
    samanthaharshman Posts: 5
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    I am so glad you posted this because that happens to me too! I was a little concerned (I have a BS in health and it has made me a bit of a hypochodriac-haha) I asked my co-worker (a fitness trainer) and she said to try getting gym shoes that are a full sizer bigger then your normal shoe size.
  • therealangd
    therealangd Posts: 1,861 Member
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    It's a very common problem on the eliptical. You need to make sure that your weight is mostly in your heals not the front of your foot.
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
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    It's a very common problem on the eliptical. You need to make sure that your weight is mostly in your heals not the front of your foot.

    Yup. I try to spend 1 minute for every 5/10 completely on my heels. So that the ball of my foot is not even touching the "pedals". Numbness goes away quickly. I think due to the motion of the elliptical you tend to put a lot of weight on the ball of your foot, you have to consciously force yourself back on your heels to prevent this problem a lot of the time.
  • TheNewBlair
    TheNewBlair Posts: 41
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    wow!!! thanks everyone for the help. I went and did the elliptical again today... i did loosen my shoe laces, that didn't seem to help. I would just lift up off the ball of my feet a little. I hope I can get it down and my brain automatically do it for me...lol I like the elliptical better than the treadmill because it's not as hard on my knees.
  • SilkyHotspur
    SilkyHotspur Posts: 233 Member
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    raise the incline on the treadmill a bit to force you back on your heel...too much continual pressure on the forefoot causes numbness.....also look at your shoes...if you're not running, don't wear running shoes...the wedge heel and thin forefoot only makes the problem worse, get some thing with a flatter less pronounced heel.

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