Alternative for jogging/cardio

danny7305 · October 2016

I have been on the fitness train for about 6 weeks

I use the treadmill 30mins a day 6 times a week at home
I also do a casual walk 5 times a week for 1.5-2miles
And in the last few weeks I've started using a multi gym to build muscle also at home

When I first started I had the wrong shoes and they were unsupportive, not knowing at the time that they were bad, I would push myself to sprint for a minute every 5 minutes, and as time got on my feet started hurting

I spoke to the guys on here who advised I need he right shoes, which I got
Someone also said it wasn't the shoes but the fact I've gone from nothing to a lot so quick so my feet aren't used to it

So after I got my new shoes, I stopped sprinting and started jogging at 8km and walking between 5-6.5km
I would only manage 4-5mins of jogging before my feet started to hurt again, but ignored that for a couple week assuming it would now improve now I have the correct shoes

I ended up speaking to a friend who is very fitness focused about what I'm doing on the treadmill

He advised I start doing 1minute walking and 1 minute jogging and alternating up to my goal of 30minutes and increasing every few days
I did that the first day and felt great, felt great for pushing my self to jog that much compared to before, my feet started to hurt after 10mins but again ignored them

I did the same again the next day but my feet hurt again but alittle more and my left knee had alittle pain

I spoke to my friend again and he told me I need to stop completely, so I took 5 days off, still do my casual walk but nothing intense
I was planning on jogging again on the 6th day

But ended up doing something to my left foot doing something different, which hurts abit even when walking so I know it's not right for jogging on

I've had alittle light ache in my knee every so often when walking but nothing bad so I don't know if my knee is fully up for the job yet either

It's been a week off of treadmill so far, so that's no cardio other than casual walking

I'm itching to get back at it but of course don't wanna cause more damage

So I'm looking for suggestions
I really don't wanna take a step back, my weight is still dropping but slower, I don't know if that's due to no treadmill or if it's at the natural slow down point

I wanna trying and stay at home doing cardio

I also had a google and saw another post that someone said they also did sprinting in the wrong footwear and ended up having pain in there feet for over a month, which makes me nervous about falling back and motivation dropping

Maybe just walking the 30mins would be the best option?
Or should I stay off my feet as much as I can?

gillie80 · October 2016

I had horrible pains in my feet, still do sometimes. When you bought new shoes did you go and get fitted or just buy new ones? I did the latter thinking that would help, but I went along to a local running shop after I bought them, hopped on their treadmill and got an analysis of my gait. It's all about pronation apparently. I've now got insoles which help a lot and i make sure before i go for every run i do feet stretches for 5 minutes. That helps a lot too.

trigden1991 · October 2016

1) If you are injured you need to rest
2) If something hurts you, dont' do it
3) No wonder our feet/knees hurt with sprints/jogging/walking everyday
4) Why do you need to do all that running and walking?

If you want to lose weight, you need a calorie deficit. You can create this through diet and exercise.

PixelPuff · October 2016

Cardio alternative...

DDR. I'm not kidding, if you can find a way to play it [or a similar knock off], DO. The harder the level, the better the workout!

leajas1 · October 2016

I have knee pain and foot pain (on the top of my foot) and I use the Stairmaster - it's great. You an do HIIT where you do 1 minute slow and then one minute fast. Burns a ton of calories that way. Hope your pain goes away soon.

danny7305 · October 2016

gillie80 wrote: »

I had horrible pains in my feet, still do sometimes. When you bought new shoes did you go and get fitted or just buy new ones? I did the latter thinking that would help, but I went along to a local running shop after I bought them, hopped on their treadmill and got an analysis of my gait. It's all about pronation apparently. I've now got insoles which help a lot and i make sure before i go for every run i do feet stretches for 5 minutes. That helps a lot too.

I went to a running shop for These new shoes, hey had me run on the treadmill and test the gait etc

I will have to look into feet stretches
Thanks

PixelPuff wrote: »

Cardio alternative...

DDR. I'm not kidding, if you can find a way to play it [or a similar knock off], DO. The harder the level, the better the workout!

Haha will have to look at that

danny7305 · October 2016

leajas1 wrote: »

I have knee pain and foot pain (on the top of my foot) and I use the Stairmaster - it's great. You an do HIIT where you do 1 minute slow and then one minute fast. Burns a ton of calories that way. Hope your pain goes away soon.

Mine is under my foot, I will have a look at a stair master thank you

danny7305 · October 2016

trigden1991 wrote: »

1) If you are injured you need to rest
2) If something hurts you, dont' do it
3) No wonder our feet/knees hurt with sprints/jogging/walking everyday
4) Why do you need to do all that running and walking?

If you want to lose weight, you need a calorie deficit. You can create this through diet and exercise.

I didn't know any better, I thought it would pass with better footwear
And I've never done any fitness like this before
I wanted to keep going while so motivated

I know better now it's too late

I watch my diet so will keep at that

Sarah_Shapes_Up · October 2016

Maybe you could try some lower impact plyometrics. I also enjoy doing walking lunges on the tread mill.

NorthCascades · October 2016

Ride a bike. (Outdoors)

rsclause · October 2016

I would go out and start with a three mile run, no pain no gain right! My knees would start hurting and I determined that I have bad knees and can't run. I struck to walking and walked a lot. I started playing Ingress.com, a GPS based game, to relieve boredom. As I started enjoying the game I would attack a portal and then run to the next nearby portal. Over the weeks I increased this interval running to reach more portals that were farther apart. Before I knew it I was running several miles a day and my knees didn't hurt. I stopped playing and focused on running. I got up to about 30 miles a week and entered a half marathon. I run 6 miles four times a week now and no knee pain. I would start with fast walking and gradually phase in short runs. This is not a one week project but something that you do over many weeks. I also would go for a set distance like 2 miles and then when comfortable work on increasing speed before adding more distance. Keep repeating this process until you get the distance or goal you are looking for. Don't forget to work on form too, I try to run as if I am running on eggs and trying not to break them. Good luck!

RoxieDawn · October 2016

I see a lot of injuring in the OP? I actually would stop listening to your friends and even everyone on here and get a doctor to diagnose or at least run some scans and rule out injury.

I see that you pay a great deal of attention to the advice of everyone else, and perhaps no one has the right information to give you, you might just keep re injuring an injury that is not healing properly with rest..

I had several things that came to mind with pain in the bottom the feet and then add in discomfort with the knee, etc. none that I would speculate though.

Need2Exerc1se · October 2016

Do an internet search for low impact cardio. There are numerous options - biking/spinning, elliptical, swimming, etc. You could also make your walking more intense by adding hills, hiking, stairs, etc.

BeeerRunner · October 2016

You probably need to have your foot/feet looked at by a doctor. Maybe there is something wrong. In the meantime, some low impact cardio that doesn't hurt: walking, cycling, elliptical, row machine, stair master, etc... I don't know about where you live, but you can sometimes find gym memberships really cheap. I've seen them as low as $10 / month. Also, if there is a local recreation center in the city you live, many have super cheap memberships for those that live in that town. Ours is $40 a YEAR for the whole family. (Sometimes, their hours aren't so great though...it depends.)

Spliner1969 · October 2016

I've had similar issues as the OP, I've gone from sitting on my *kitten* weighing 305 lbs in January of 2015 to 181lbs very active working out 6 days a week now. I started out first thing in February of 2015 walking 2 miles a day, 7 days a week as fast as I could manage. That was a mistake, I started doing too much too fast. Shoes were an issue, but I simply bought new ones, but the bigger issue was that my body wasn't used to it, and I wasn't giving myself rest days at all. I kept it up and did it through the pain working my way up to 4 miles a day walking up to 4mph. Then in the summer of 2015 I managed to herniate a disc in my back from lifting wrong and walking too much (muscles were always tired so I ended up injured). After being down for a couple of weeks I went right back to it and managed to do it again, only worse this time with 3 bulging discs. I was down a couple more weeks and then for weeks afterward in the fall last year from my stupidity.

Eventually I learned a few things:

1) You need rest days, until you are used to it, probably more than 1 a week.
2) Try to increase slowly the distance you go, maybe 10% a week at most.
3) Running is probably the worst thing you can do to your joints. I love it, and do the same thing as you, run for a while, then walk, but it's taxing on my joints big time.
4) You need good shoes, and you probably should also replace them every 6-8 months, every year at maximum.
5) There are other options for cardio (see below)

I bought a machine from Bowflex called a Max Trainer, it's similar to a stair stepper and an elliptical combined. At the time I could afford it, but I'll warn you it's expensive. There are cheaper options out there for sure. So now I use it about 2-3 times a week and walk when the weather is nice enough, maybe mix in running a couple of times a week. Keeping it mixed up like this and keeping 1-2 rest days a week helps keep me from getting injured for the most part. If you can't afford your own equipment (elliptical, etc.) then look into your local gyms, they likely have some low impact options. I wouldn't give up the walking, or even the running, just slow it down, and do it less frequently and take rest days.

Even with all this, I'm nursing a case of shin splints for the last couple of weeks from walking and jogging too much. So sometimes I can't even practice what I preach. Much of it is learning to listen to your body, if pain starts it's time to take it easy or do something else for a while.

Elise4270 · October 2016

Have you tried running outside?

Definitely visit a quality running store to be evaluated!

cqbkaju · October 2016

Learn to jump rope properly and do that.
Use a good beaded rope with some sort of bearings in the handle.

Stay on the balls of your feet and keep jumping even if you miss the rope during a rotation.

fishgutzy · October 2016

Swimming and spinning classes. No impact.

meritage4 · October 2016

swimming, aquasize spin classes or riding a bike outside. Also try an elliptical. Feet stay down-no impact.

apullum · October 2016

Running on a treadmill is very different from running outside. I can't run more than a mile on a treadmill before everything hurts and I have to stop. Outside, I run at least three miles 3-4 times a week, and have trained for and completed two half marathons. If you're able to run outside, you might find that it's easier.

If you're not used to running, then 4-5 minutes of running can really be tough (even if you're used to walking long distances). It took me a few weeks to gradually build up to running for five minutes. I highly recommend Couch to 5k for new runners, since it starts with only one minute running intervals and slowly works up from there.

Alternative for jogging/cardio

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