Calve pain while walking...

Nonibug
Nonibug Posts: 1,214 Member
edited September 19 in Fitness and Exercise
I am in my 5th week of walking 6 days a week. I started out at around 13 mins a day, now I am at around 37 min walks. This is at a moderate pace, definatley not power-walking lol. I truly enjoy my walks every morning ( I always take one of my 3 dogs along), the problem is when Im about 10 mins into my walk I get pains in the back of my lower legs (calves?). The pain isnt soooo bad that I end my walk, I walk though it and it does seem to subside most of the time after about 10 more mins or so, but not always and its very unpleasant. I dont feel that I am overdoing it...I started out slowly and have just built up to about 37-40 min walks in the past 5 weeks. Does anyone have any idea why the backs of my legs start hurting? Is this normal? Also, I am very overweight, I still have around 150 lbs to lose...
Thanks!
~Roni

Replies

  • Nonibug
    Nonibug Posts: 1,214 Member
    I am in my 5th week of walking 6 days a week. I started out at around 13 mins a day, now I am at around 37 min walks. This is at a moderate pace, definatley not power-walking lol. I truly enjoy my walks every morning ( I always take one of my 3 dogs along), the problem is when Im about 10 mins into my walk I get pains in the back of my lower legs (calves?). The pain isnt soooo bad that I end my walk, I walk though it and it does seem to subside most of the time after about 10 more mins or so, but not always and its very unpleasant. I dont feel that I am overdoing it...I started out slowly and have just built up to about 37-40 min walks in the past 5 weeks. Does anyone have any idea why the backs of my legs start hurting? Is this normal? Also, I am very overweight, I still have around 150 lbs to lose...
    Thanks!
    ~Roni
  • psyknife
    psyknife Posts: 487 Member
    So, it's in the muscle? Do you stretch after your walks? You may even want to stretch a little beforehand... but save the bulk of your stretches for after your walk, once your muscles have been warmed up a bit. It could be cramping.
  • bethany169
    bethany169 Posts: 23
    Is it really low on your leg, like the Achilles tendon area? You might need to stretch out better after you are done walking (you want to do it after you walk so the muscles are warmed up). You can stretch it out by standing on a stair and dropping one heel down over the edge of the stair until you feel a stretch in the lower part of your leg. Hope this helps!
  • kobrie17
    kobrie17 Posts: 106 Member
    i have this problem too! i get pain right under my calves, and above my ankles, basically the whole area around the leg under the calve and sometimes on the bottom of my foot. i find that it usually happens when im pushing myself, or stressed and trying to go faster. my doctor told me it was because i have a short achilles heel, so to strech it by placing the ball of ur foot up higher than your heel, for example my pushing the ball of ur foot into the wall. but it takes alot of streching to get results. doing that i also tried walking slower and focusing more of my weight on to the knees. but i find that its just not worth. you burn more calories on the elliptical, bike, swimming and cardio videos and it doesnt hurt at all.
  • allaboutme
    allaboutme Posts: 391 Member
    does it make your legs sore after or just when you are doing it. Just a thought, but have you ever had your iron levels checked, sometimes low iron can cause muscle pain and muscle fatigue when you are exercising. Most women in general don't get enough iron in their diets. Don't take an iron supplement "in case" your levels are low, as too much iron can be harmful too. Ask you doctor to check and see. I make sure my multivitamen has iron. My calves bother me when I run to the point that i have to stop and walk quite often when I have low iron, not a cramp, just painful, but never sore after. It is actually difficult to describe the type of pain.
  • Nonibug
    Nonibug Posts: 1,214 Member
    Yes, it is quite difficult to describe the pain, you're right! And yes, I am pretty sure its the muscle that I feel it in and actually I went for my walk this morning right after I posted and paid more attention to what Im feeling, and I think it would be better described as more of a "burn" feeling in it.
    I must admit that I rarely ever stretch before I go, but I do somewhat after the walk. Im sure Im probably not spending enough time in the stretch, I tend to rush right through it. I actually didnt realize that it was so important....? No, my legs are never sore afterwards, and it doesnt always last the entire walk. I always walk through it (is that bad or dangerous?) but it slows my pace down.
    I will definately have my Dr check my iron level, I have my physicals and bloodwork done regularly and to my knowledge Ive never had any problems there...and I take a multivitamin every day that also has iron in it.
    Thank you all for all your advice! It has helped me a great deal!
    ~Roni
  • arewethereyet
    arewethereyet Posts: 18,702 Member
    I learned this week that most of us dont hold the stretch for long enough. My physical therapist said to hold the stretch for 30 seconds, and BREATH.

    It has made the world of difference for me.

    Are you pushing off with your toes, following all the way through with your movements? I didnt take walking as a serious form of exercise until I wore my HRM and found my HR was steady at 85-95 %.

    Hope this info helps some. :flowerforyou:
  • icandoit
    icandoit Posts: 4,163 Member
    I had the same problem when I started training for a half marathon. I had to really stretch a lot more and also drinking more water helped me too.
  • Nonibug
    Nonibug Posts: 1,214 Member
    Hmmm, Im not sure if Im pushing off with my toes? I know that they say that walking is something most anyone can do, and at first I didnt pay much attention to things like my form of walking..but then I read (in a little info booklet that came with my pedometer:wink: ) that there really is a "form" to walking correctly. But even with reading that, I have to say that the main thing that I focus on when walking is keeping my head up, abs in and back straight...

    As for water, I drink tons of it! I drink at least 10 glasses every day (Usually more) and other than my morning half cup of coffee, thats all I drink. I used to live on diet pepsi, but when I started making healthy changes to my life almost 6 weeks ago, I cut out all the soda. I will have an occasional glass of low sodium V-8, or a glass of 100% juice, but water is pretty much it for me every day.

    ~Roni
  • Phera
    Phera Posts: 269 Member
    I had this issue on a treadmill and I found getting a different pair of shoes made a huge difference. I read that less bulky athletic shoes that offered some protection on the sole but were modelled after a "naked" foot were better for your body. I found a pair of really flexible Sketchers that have worked so far and weren't too expensive.
    http://nymag.com/health/features/46213/
  • mjfer123
    mjfer123 Posts: 1,234 Member
    I totally disregarded what everyone else posted, but try different stretches. Especially right before your session. Hopefully I didnt repeat anyone.
    there are plenty of stretches to try, just do a simple search.
  • ErinRNinMaine
    ErinRNinMaine Posts: 460 Member
    Lack of stretching could be the problem, but you didn't say if you had any other symptoms. Do you have high cholesterol, high blood pressure or diabetes? Any numbness, tingling, skin color or temperature changes in your lower legs? Does it seem as though the hair growth is less? Peripheral vascular disease is when there is a narrowing of the blood vessels due to plaque, and when you exercise one may exibit one or all of the above symptoms because of the increase in oxygen demand to the muscles. Intermittant claudication is a fancy term for calf pain brought on by exercising. It can occur in the toes, hips, and buttocks, too. It's usually worse if walking uphill or at an increased pace and diminishes with rest. If any of this sounds familiar, I'd talk with your doctor.

    :flowerforyou:
  • Nonibug
    Nonibug Posts: 1,214 Member
    Nope, no other symptoms. And amazingly enough, for my weight, I dont have high cholesterol or any of the other things you mentioned. I see my Dr on a regular basis for check-ups and bloodwork, but havent seen her since I started walking and working out almost 6 wks ago. Also, I always walk on flat, even ground, no inclines; although I do keep trying to increase my pace but alot of times the "burning" sensation causes me to back off and walk a little slower.

    Still might be a good idea to go in for a check-up soon.

    Thanks!!
    ~Roni
  • allaboutme
    allaboutme Posts: 391 Member
    that was how I described my pain too as a "burn" type pain. Increasing my iron worked for me, Stretching never helped and I tried a lot of stretching because I was getting really frustrated with my performance (or lack thereof). Good luck.
  • ironweber717
    ironweber717 Posts: 49
    Most of the time it's de-conditioning of the muscle. If you push the calf to fast it will get sore very easily because it is small and your exerting a lot of force on it. Also has to do with stretching. You need to stretch it often. Start be stretching it every morning. Then before your walks. After 5 minutes of walking do another stretch holding for no less then 45 seconds. 5 minutes before the end of the walk stretch again pushing the stretch (no bouncing). Then stretch it at the end of the walk for a minute each side alternating 3 times.

    There could also be one other possible problem. I just ran into it because I found out yesterday that I have it. I went to the sport medicine doctor for a calf problem. I have a blood clot which restricts blood flow and also what is called compartmental syndrome. The calf has three compartments that the muscles are in. Each muscle is wrapped in a sheath. The sheath for my one muscle is not big enough for the muscle. So when it fills with blood during running it strangles itself and is very painful.

    The bet thing you could do for any of these situations to increase the conditioning of the muscle is a non-impact cardio. Use an oliptical or stair machine to regain condition in your calf and stretch often for no less than 45 seconds each.
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