Plantar Fasciitis and bootcamp

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jennetsullivan
jennetsullivan Posts: 37 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I belong to a bootcamp and have recently developed plantar fasciitis. I'm hoping I've caught it early enough that supportive inserts, massage, stretching, etc can fix it...but in the meantime I've got to modify what I'm doing in bootcamp. I've got 100+ pounds to lose and can't stop exercising - and this is actually working for me.

So - for those of you with PF - what exercises (besides the obvious high impact ones like jumping jacks and running) are off limits?? Squats? Weights? Kettleball exercises? Is there any fast and easy rules I should be aware of? I've googled and not had much luck so I thought I'd try here.

TIA! :glasses:

Replies

  • Synchronicity
    Synchronicity Posts: 82 Member
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    Yah... that's a toughie. I'm sorry you're struggling with it! I've been there, done that, and it's no fun!

    Best bet is exercises like swimming that reduce the weight on your heel. Squats are going to bring the weight down onto the heel and outer foot, so that's probably no good. But upper body weights shouldn't hurt. Also biking might work.

    Best wishes!

    *edit: heal changed to heel :(

    P.S. Rules to live by: if it hurts, avoid it :P At least with PF. You'll just exacerbate the damage.
  • jennetsullivan
    jennetsullivan Posts: 37 Member
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    Yah... that's a toughie. I'm sorry you're struggling with it! I've been there, done that, and it's no fun!

    Best bet is exercises like swimming that reduce the weight on your heel. Squats are going to bring the weight down onto the heel and outer foot, so that's probably no good. But upper body weights shouldn't hurt. Also biking might work.

    Best wishes!

    *edit: heal changed to heel :(

    P.S. Rules to live by: if it hurts, avoid it :P At least with PF. You'll just exacerbate the damage.

    Thanks. I'm bummed about the squats, my butt was finally starting to look perky!!! Hahahaha! I used to bike a lot. Guess I'm going to have to get back into it!!
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
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    I'm currently fighting through my second bout with PF. The first one took nearly a year. This time, I am hoping for less, but it's been about 7 months so far. Running, weight lifting, squats, lunges, stairs, hills all aggravate it. I have been using ice, stretches, exercises, and specialty socks. All help alleviate it, but then I work out and it irritates it further. If you take some time to let it heal, it should go faster. Sorry you are going through this. It sucks a lot. :frown:
  • mtruitt01
    mtruitt01 Posts: 370 Member
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    I do yin (slow stretch yoga). Some of the yoga poses help with foot stretch. I told my instructor and now he really adds them in to our hour.
    I still walk, with Superfeet (green). They are worth the 40 bucks for me, and I haven't been to a doc to get the expensive ones. I'm hoping losing weight will make my PF a non-problem.
    Best soother--I roll a frozen water bottle under my foot. I keep a few bagged up in the freezer. I take aspirin when it really hurts, although I'm not sure it helps!
    I think I've tried and given up on every shoe brand that's supposed to be good for the problem.
    I'm 198, 5 11, 60 yrs.
    I used to walk a local mountain 4-5 times a week. Mostly uphill and I loved it. Now if I try I limp for days, and my feeling is that if I don't baby it there will be damage and deterioration.
    Let your instructor know. Often they see it as an interesting problem or challenge. Any good instructor will ask you to modify.
  • jennetsullivan
    jennetsullivan Posts: 37 Member
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    I do yin (slow stretch yoga). Some of the yoga poses help with foot stretch. I told my instructor and now he really adds them in to our hour.
    I still walk, with Superfeet (green). They are worth the 40 bucks for me, and I haven't been to a doc to get the expensive ones. I'm hoping losing weight will make my PF a non-problem.
    Best soother--I roll a frozen water bottle under my foot. I keep a few bagged up in the freezer. I take aspirin when it really hurts, although I'm not sure it helps!
    I think I've tried and given up on every shoe brand that's supposed to be good for the problem.
    I'm 198, 5 11, 60 yrs.
    I used to walk a local mountain 4-5 times a week. Mostly uphill and I loved it. Now if I try I limp for days, and my feeling is that if I don't baby it there will be damage and deterioration.
    Let your instructor know. Often they see it as an interesting problem or challenge. Any good instructor will ask you to modify.

    I've heard the water bottle trick - definitely trying that as soon as I get home. I told my instructor and he sent me some stretches... not really looking forward to the gym today but it will be interesting to see what they come up with since we do so much work with squats, running and heavy lifting.
  • jennetsullivan
    jennetsullivan Posts: 37 Member
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    I'm currently fighting through my second bout with PF. The first one took nearly a year. This time, I am hoping for less, but it's been about 7 months so far. Running, weight lifting, squats, lunges, stairs, hills all aggravate it. I have been using ice, stretches, exercises, and specialty socks. All help alleviate it, but then I work out and it irritates it further. If you take some time to let it heal, it should go faster. Sorry you are going through this. It sucks a lot. :frown:

    :grumble: Rest... I'm just so afraid I'm going to quit if I rest... sigh...
  • Synchronicity
    Synchronicity Posts: 82 Member
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    I'm currently fighting through my second bout with PF. The first one took nearly a year. This time, I am hoping for less, but it's been about 7 months so far. Running, weight lifting, squats, lunges, stairs, hills all aggravate it. I have been using ice, stretches, exercises, and specialty socks. All help alleviate it, but then I work out and it irritates it further. If you take some time to let it heal, it should go faster. Sorry you are going through this. It sucks a lot. :frown:

    :grumble: Rest... I'm just so afraid I'm going to quit if I rest... sigh...

    Yah.. the resting kinda stinks. But, you can rest and heal somewhat quickly (a few months, probably), or you can be stubborn like me and not rest and battle PF for the good part of a year.

    Add golf-balls to your water bottle trick. You can stick those in the freezer too. They won't stay cold as long, but they work miracles when you rub your foot out on them. Every morning. Every night. You can also toss one in your pocket, and while it won't be cold, you can use it to work the foot out at work too. The goal is to get those tendons stretching and relaxed so that they aren't creating pain.

    The yoga idea is a great one. Yoga should help you stretch that foot while also helping you build the same muscle groups that squats target.
  • Kate7294
    Kate7294 Posts: 783 Member
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    A must..."Good shoes", stretching, good inserts in your shoes, and have they tried cortisone shots yet. I had around 7 shots in one year when I was working 12 hour shifts on concrete floors. Hope this helps.
    I know they wanted me to do surgery years ago ( 12 yrs ago) but I ended up tearing mine chasing some puppies that got loose. Sorry :(
    Till this day I still get those shooting pains from time to time but usually doesn't last more than a day now.
  • chopsart
    chopsart Posts: 123 Member
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    Plantar Fasciitis is a tough one. I too have done the icing, the tennis ball, the stretching, the scraping etc. There are quite a few youtube videos that will suggest exercised you can do.

    I have little to no pain now, but it took over a year for my foot to heal. These are the things I found successful in recovery.

    *got rid of all my basic flip flops (I needed to keep my heel stablilzed preferably in a laceup tennis shoe)
    *used over the counter inserts daily
    *researched and purchased good high arch shoes to include: slippers, sandals, tennis shoes, flip flops (all have mega high arch beds)
    *never walk barefoot
    *used night splint to stretch tendon (I hated it)
    *currenty use a "foot rocker" whenever I feel the need to stretch my tendons
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
    Options
    I'm currently fighting through my second bout with PF. The first one took nearly a year. This time, I am hoping for less, but it's been about 7 months so far. Running, weight lifting, squats, lunges, stairs, hills all aggravate it. I have been using ice, stretches, exercises, and specialty socks. All help alleviate it, but then I work out and it irritates it further. If you take some time to let it heal, it should go faster. Sorry you are going through this. It sucks a lot. :frown:

    :grumble: Rest... I'm just so afraid I'm going to quit if I rest... sigh...

    That's part of the reason I just do it anyway. The question you have to ask yourself is if you are going to give up and quit if you are in pain all the time. Find a balance that works for you. The pain sucks and some days are worse than others, but working out helps in other ways. Swimming and yoga are great activities that will keep you active without making the PF worse.
  • Sam_I_Am77
    Sam_I_Am77 Posts: 2,093 Member
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    If you're doing squats focus on pushing your knees OUT on the eccentric. Also, make sure your legs are about shoulder width apart; if too narrow then it will stress the knees more.

    You may need to take a week off from BC. When it comes down to it, diet is more important than anything when it comes to weight-loss and missing a week will not hurt you. If you keep training and you end-up really hurting your knee how much time do you think you'll be out of BC then??? A lot longer than a week or two for sure.

    There are PF supports that look like an inch-wide ribbon that go under the knee, you've probably noticed them on athletes. Other than that, ice a lot. I would recommend getting a foam roller, Lacrosse ball, and doing Joe DeFranco's "Limber 11" that's free on YouTube. Do that before you go to BC and definitely do it on days you don't go to BC.

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