Stairs or walking??

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witcherkar
witcherkar Posts: 138 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am trying to increase my exercise. I have been sick for 1 year and 3 months. Meaning I have been on disability and in and out of hospitals etc. I have not worked or done much physical activity besides walking to and from the bathrrom, bed or couch. Unfortunately I live on the second floor. When I walk up stairs, I have to sit for 20 minutes or more to catch my breathe because it's so hard. I can only walk for maybe 5 minutes straight before I feel way to weak to go one. I need to lose weight or I'll never get better. Plus never moving is bad for me. How can I get to a point that I can breathe walking up the one flight of stairs? How can I increase my length and time walking?

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  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
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    Do a little bit each day, it will get easier. Baby steps
  • minizebu
    minizebu Posts: 2,716 Member
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    You can increase your stamina by practicing what you can do.

    So, if you can manage 5 minutes, then walk for 5 minutes and rest. Later, when you feel you have enough energy to try again, do it for another 5 minutes.

    It may not seem like you are doing much, but even just getting up and doing that little bit will do wonders for your physiology and metabolic processes.

    You will gradually build up more and more capacity to do more work.

    You can do this! Begin where you are and keep building on it.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    Start with walking!
  • Arsenal1919
    Arsenal1919 Posts: 211 Member
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    Ditto that.
    We have a woman in our MFP group who aimed for five minutes on stairs on Day 1 and a target of adding an extra five minutes every third or fourth day.
    It's now six weeks and she's up to 40 minutes per day.
    She's observed that her shortness of breath is going away and, with dieting on 1700 calories daily, she's shrunk over seven pounds.
    - - -
    In my own case, I began swimming on Nov 10 last year. I started off swimming a 25m lap in about 90 seconds. I would swim a few laps and walk several in the pool water.
    I added a little extra distance each day and increased my time at the pool. As I swam more, I reduced the ratio of walking to swimming.
    Five months on, I swim about 45 mins breaststroke, 45-55 mins freestyle and pool-walk about 15-20 mins most days. I am 22kg lighter in 22 weeks allowing for about 2450 calories per day.
    I swim each lap (ambling along) at about 55-58 seconds per lap. I'm not fast but I have speeded up and improved my lung capacity massively.
    - - -
    My advice would be start with a low low target but intend to change it to a higher one every 4-7 days.
  • coalz
    coalz Posts: 308 Member
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    Your second floor home is a blessing in disguise! Definitely try & walk when u can. Try to incorporate some at home exercises that way you can be in a somfortabke space & eat when needed. I do lunges on the way to the fridge (lol)
  • witcherkar
    witcherkar Posts: 138 Member
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    So if I was able to get my walking up to say 30 minutes at a time, would walking up stairs be easier or would it be totally different and I need to slowly increase my stairs as well?
  • kittydale9
    kittydale9 Posts: 7 Member
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    Sometimes walking during commercials helps. This way you are doing a little bit at a time, but dong it a lot.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
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    witcherkar wrote: »
    So if I was able to get my walking up to say 30 minutes at a time, would walking up stairs be easier or would it be totally different and I need to slowly increase my stairs as well?

    Walking will help your endurance, so it'll contribute to making the stairs easier.

    I'd agree with the point above about needing to add to your time each week.

    What you might find useful is a Couch to 5K app, and use that to structure your walking. When it's talking about run periods, the just walk, and when it talks about walk breaks, use that opportunity to recover. It gives you some structure towards that walk for 30 minutes.

    Stairs will still be more of a challenge, as you're lifting your bodyweight vertically, but the walking will certainly help it get easier.
  • witcherkar
    witcherkar Posts: 138 Member
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    I'll look into that app! So also, I can't stand for more than 5 minutes because my lower back k starts to hurt. I know it's because of my weight. Any tips on getting past the pain??
  • ForeverSunshine09
    ForeverSunshine09 Posts: 966 Member
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    I was the same way on disability, in and out of hospitals. Barely moving from bed to couch. I started by walking during commercial breaks than 10 mins and now during entire HR long shows in my living room in circles to get steps in. I got a Jawbone Up3 to help motivate me. It has helped my endurance a lot.
  • shortcdngirl
    shortcdngirl Posts: 56 Member
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    Because you already have back problems,regardless that its because of your weight, it wouldn't be a bad idea for you to go to your dr and discuss what activities you can do, safely. Just remember though before any activity, even walking, stretch, not just your legs, but your arms, neck back and core. Everything.

    Walking is a great form of exercise. Before I would get tired after 15 minutes thinking " am i done yet" and after a month, I can easily walk an hour and a half, wanting to keep going for the rest of the day. Tomorrow I go back to swimming and weight training, walking will still be apart of my daily activities there is nothing like getting up moving to make your feel fabulous.

    Start with small steps, even it it means just stretching everyday.Your body will reward you. <3
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,708 Member
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    It takes consistency to get better, so just start with walking first and work your way up.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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  • Aine8046
    Aine8046 Posts: 2,122 Member
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    MeanderingMammal wrote: »
    witcherkar wrote: »
    So if I was able to get my walking up to say 30 minutes at a time, would walking up stairs be easier or would it be totally different and I need to slowly increase my stairs as well?

    Walking will help your endurance, so it'll contribute to making the stairs easier.

    I'd agree with the point above about needing to add to your time each week.

    What you might find useful is a Couch to 5K app, and use that to structure your walking. When it's talking about run periods, the just walk, and when it talks about walk breaks, use that opportunity to recover. It gives you some structure towards that walk for 30 minutes.

    Stairs will still be more of a challenge, as you're lifting your bodyweight vertically, but the walking will certainly help it get easier.

    I think it's a great idea to use c25k as an app for walking 30 min straight!
  • ashleyjongepier
    ashleyjongepier Posts: 130 Member
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    When I was 360 lbs and starting to workout, I found seated type workouts on youtube and did those when I was too sore to walk. Might be work looking into!
  • rankinsect
    rankinsect Posts: 2,238 Member
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    witcherkar wrote: »
    So if I was able to get my walking up to say 30 minutes at a time, would walking up stairs be easier or would it be totally different and I need to slowly increase my stairs as well?

    You'd likely get some benefit. Most likely what you really need is improved cardiovascular health.

    For me, I've done most of my cardio on an exercise bike, but I notice a lot of benefit on all kinds of activities, including stairs.

    Of course just losing weight will help a lot, too - when I was 100 lb heavier, of course it was harder for me to climb stairs, I was moving an extra 100 lb of mass around everywhere.

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