Working out feet pain as an obese person

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ni132
ni132 Posts: 20 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi guys, been working out now for about 1 month and been on a great diet for about 2 and a half months now. I swim everyday which feels great! I have little to no pain at all when finished my early morning swim. I started going to the gym to do some weights / cardio exercises and have been having this problem with my feet were after the workout they feel like they are burning intensely/hurting for the rest of the evening to the point of it being a little difficult to walk. I'm currently 379lbs (was 420lbs) i'm trying to soak them in Epsom salt each night but has any other overweight people experienced the same thing and is this something i just have to fight through? Thanks for reading.
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  • ni132
    ni132 Posts: 20 Member
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    i should add, i don't have diabetes. I got a full checkup before i started to change my life and everything came back good.
  • KDar1988
    KDar1988 Posts: 650 Member
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    I'm sorry I don't have any advice, I'm not sure what that could be. I wanted to tell you congratulations on your weight loss and exercise routine! Keep up the great work!
  • enterdanger
    enterdanger Posts: 2,447 Member
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    Did you get yourself a good, supportive pair of shoes yet?

    What kind of cardio are you doing?

    Where is the pain?

    It could be all kinds of things.
  • HealthierRayne
    HealthierRayne Posts: 268 Member
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    maybe your footwear needs replacing? It might not hurt to invest in a good pair of shoes and have them be properly fit, it could help get ride of the foot pain :)

    Congratulations on amazing weight loss to date! :smiley:
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    Pick low impact activities wherever you can, which you seem to be doing. I'd also stretch your Achilles after a workout, so it doesn't seize up. It's amazing how much the Achilles can affect your feet. See if modifying your activities a bit makes a difference. You should be free of this sort of pain and it's good that you're trying to figure it out.
  • ni132
    ni132 Posts: 20 Member
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    Thank you for all the compliments about my weight loss! I did infact get a new pair of gym shoes about 2 weeks ago that are indeed very comfortable. As for cardio, i'm typically doing 15 minutes bike, 15minutes walking at about 3mph with a steep incline on and off and then il do my weights routine which typically lasts about 40minutes. I will try stretching my Achilles as this is something i haven't been doing.
  • ni132
    ni132 Posts: 20 Member
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    I'm not sure about these but i have read they help relief pain, i've ordered some compression socks just to try and see how that makes things feel. Really trying anything at the minute to help it as i love working out now and this is my only annoyance that could possibly stop me.
  • SonyaCele
    SonyaCele Posts: 2,841 Member
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    actually your feet most likely hurt because of your extra weight and if you have just started doing cardio on your feet, its gonna hurt and isn't really good for your joints. Its like working out with a 250 pound weight vest on, its very hard on your joints and body. I personally wouldn't suggest "fighting through it" and continuing too much cardio on your feet. Swim or ride a stationary bike or something, but ease into walking or the elliptical as your weight drops. your feet and knees are delicate joints and all that pressure from being overweight is so hard on them. Take care of yourself. Even be careful for the extra load on your internal organs as they try and keep up with extra activity. Keep dieting to lose weight, you will feel a million times better as your weight drops and you ease slowly into cardio type exercises.
  • enterdanger
    enterdanger Posts: 2,447 Member
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    I would suggest lowering the incline. Just from my personal experience an incline almost always gives me shin splints or plantar fasciaitis.
  • debsdoingthis
    debsdoingthis Posts: 454 Member
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    I feel your pain. Its hard on your feet, knees, hips and ankles when you are heavy and doing cardio. I second the advice on no impact for awhile. As you lose weight, low impact cardio will become much less painful. Good shoes with extra padded insoles should allow you to work out a little longer with less joint pain. Hang tough and congrats on your success!
  • TravisJHunt
    TravisJHunt Posts: 533 Member
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    Yep, keep the impact low. Stick to the bike and swimming, along with some weight lifting. As others have said, hitting even a softer surface like a treadmill at a good pace is going to put some real stress on the joints and can easily result in stress fractures.

    Congrats on the weight loss and keep it up!
  • allyphoe
    allyphoe Posts: 618 Member
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    Treadmill walking gives me tendonitis, even when I'm not overweight, because I use a different stride than when I'm normally walking.
  • Djproulx
    Djproulx Posts: 3,084 Member
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    The combination of biking and swimming should give you some great results over time, especially if you're doing some resistance training (weights). I've followed this approach several times when dealing with calf/foot injuries and it works well. Really helps drive weight loss when coupled with food tracking. Congrats on the work so far, and good luck!
  • heatherheyns
    heatherheyns Posts: 144 Member
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    Listen to your body, even when it sucks. I do exercise classes each week (similar to Orange Theory type workout) and I was trying to push through on the treadmill. I am obese, but I thought "look at all these people heavier than me who can manage the treadmill! I just need to stick it out!" My joints hurt, I risked hurting myself (my ankles like to roll, and my knees aren't very good). Finally, I decided it was stupid to try and do what everyone else was doing for no good reason, and now I do the cardio portion on a bike instead. I get my heart rate higher, burn more calories, and can push myself WAY harder than I physically could on a treadmill.

    The moral of my story? Do what is right for your body. There isn't just one way to exercise, and the most important thing is that you don't hurt yourself and you get the best workout in that you can for YOUR body. =D
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,179 Member
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    Focus on swimming until you lose more weight. If something hurts, your body might not be ready for it yet. Excluding muscle soreness of course.
  • Katerbels
    Katerbels Posts: 106 Member
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    I have plantar fasciitis and the incline on the treadmill absolutely kills me, even walking flat on the treadmill makes it difficult for me to walk for the rest of the day...this can take months to heal I'm told, so I've been avoiding the treadmill as much as I can. I second the person who said to lower the incline OR just stick to the swimming and biking. Don't be discouraged, you're doing awesome!!
  • chulipa
    chulipa Posts: 650 Member
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    Walking on a treadmill makes my feet and ankles hurt its the pounding but i can walk at a park or where ever i can and it doesnt cause that pain like the burning.
  • bscmcse
    bscmcse Posts: 55 Member
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    Try swapping the treadmill for the elliptical machine. Much less impact. The recumbent bike is good too.
  • Larissa_NY
    Larissa_NY Posts: 495 Member
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    Good decision on swapping out the treadmill for something with no impact. My mother spent the last few years of her life between 300 and 400 pounds and got a stress fracture just from walking on tile floors at work; that sort of weight on your joints and the small bones of your feet is nothing to mess around with. There are a hundred things you can do in the gym that don't involve the treadmill or bringing hundreds of pounds down on your feet over and over; find which ones you like and you'll protect yourself from a potentially damaging setback.

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