Advice from physically active people needed.

[Phillycat]

As a rather natural progression from quitting smoking nearly a month ago, I am getting back into a regular exercise regimen. I ran slowly but steadily for 20 minutes yesterday morning and 20 minutes this morning.

The degree to which I'm out of shape is alarming. I know what proper form looks like and feels like (I ran competitively in high school) but I can't achieve it. I can't control my breathing, lengthen my stride, relax my shoulders, lower my arms.

Questions for you to answer:

1. When will it stop hurting this much? Going downstairs today is excruciating, upstairs marginally better, walking not painful but I still look like Frankenstein's monster lurching around.

2. When will my breathing ease? This question for anyone, but especially for ex-smokers who got in shape.

3. How long would you say, overall, it took you to "get in shape"? I know this is highly subjective, but I'd be interested in any answer you provide.

I plan to continue 20 minutes a day until it doesn't hurt, then add another 5 minutes, then another, until I'm up to 30 minutes a day. I don't plan to do more than that. I don't plan to run long-distance, or do any competitive running. I am running to stay in good cardiovascular health, to improve lung function, and to maintain my weight.

Any information you can provide would be great! Thanks in advance. :hi:

Cross posting to exercise forum.

[flvegan]

1. How long has it been since you last ran like this?

[Phillycat]

2. High school - 17 years.

I ran about 8 miles a day in high school, though. I was kind of an addict.

[flvegan]

8. That 'splains quite a bit.

You're starting off doing too much and going too hard. The pain sounds like typical DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness).

Now, your questions:

1. When will it stop hurting this much? Going downstairs today is excruciating, upstairs marginally better, walking not painful but I still look like Frankenstein's monster lurching around.

That soreness may last from 2 to 5 days, depending. Best to not run during that time, honestly.

2. When will my breathing ease? This question for anyone, but especially for ex-smokers who got in shape.

No idea. That's best for the ex-smokers, I think.

3. How long would you say, overall, it took you to "get in shape"? I know this is highly subjective, but I'd be interested in any answer you provide.

Depends for every person, gender, age, genetics, health issues, etc all come into play. For me, I was 24 and 80 lbs overweight when I got serious about it. I had always "lifted" off and on, but was never really committed to it. A drastic dietary change, and a serious overhaul of my life in general, and I was down to 180, and had put on 12 lbs of muscle in around 6 or 7 months.

I'd suggest changing your routine, initially.

Week 1: Walk 5 mins, run 5 mins, walk 5 mins, run 5 mins, walk 5 mins, run 5 mins. (I know, it's 30 minutes not 20, but you have to get your heartrate up and keep it there);

Week 2: Walk 5 mins, run 10 mins, walk 5 mins, run 10 mins.

Week 3: Walk 5 mins, run 20 mins, walk 5 mins

Increase time as you can. Also, mix up your cardio if you can.

[Phillycat]

10. Thank you.

Would you suggest, as someone did below, alternating running every other day with something lower-impact - lifting or yoga, say? Or is it okay to run/walk whatever every day?

Thank you for the information! :hi:

[flvegan]

12. Depends.

If you have time, do both. If you're working with a finite 30 minutes a day, then I'd alternate days, yes, if you have access to a gym/weights. However, if you can eke out an hour, I would do both, every day I could. This, however, brings into being realistic about your limits so you don't overtrain.

So I guess the question is...how much time do you have each day, and what access do you have to equipment?

[Phillycat]

15. 30 minutes...

I'd like to keep it to 30 minutes per day, because I have to do it before work and 30 minutes gets me up at 5:30AM as it is. 40 minutes wouldn't be the end of the world, but an hour...I just know I wouldn't stick to it. There's no way I'd get out of bed at 5:00 every morning.

Access to equipment - we have an elliptical machine but no weight training equipment. We can afford to get some but also don't want to go nuts with it because we have to either sell it or pack it when we move to France in September. I hesitate to join a gym for two reasons: The two within driving distance don't open until 6:00AM, and neither of them offer less than a year-long membership - again, moving in September.

The other thing is, I really don't need to be in amazing, amazing shape. I want to be in good enough shape to avoid health problems down the road, to stay flexible and strong, and to breathe properly. I always think of weight training as being for people who want to have 3% body fat and a six-pack. That's not me - I'm 35 and okay with being 35. :)

[flvegan]

16. Okay

30 minutes a day, I'd keep it to cardio, but I'd change up the running to the elliptical from time to time. Yoga is definitely worth a shot if it's something you enjoy. It's a great workout, and will help you with the flexibility, etc.

[Phillycat]

20. Thanks. :)

Advice from a professional - I really appreciate it. :hug:

[RainDog]

37. when I win the lottery

I'm gonna hire flvegan to be my personal trainer/svengali for about a month... I should probably be in lock up during that time, knowing the massive amounts of will power I don't exert.

I know I'll never look all cut like flvegan (thank goodness, in way, since I'm femme, huh?) -- but I used to work out with weights every other day. not huge amts of weight, but enough to put some stress on muscle/bone. If you lift weights, you speed up your resting metabolism, so your body is more efficient even when not sitting. plus, it feels sooo good. for me, at least. because then I just concentrate on slowly or correctly doing something.. it's like meditation in a way. You also increase the strength of your bones, so I hear.

the soreness, iirc, comes from your body producing lactic acid. drink water. I'm not as much of a fan of aerobics, even tho I used to play sports in school. I've been thinking of doing belly dancing or just dancing in my living room b/c that's not as boring as jogging.. plus I think my knees would hate me if I jogged now.

[flvegan]

44. Wow, thank you.

I think that may be the nicest compliment I've ever gotten.

[RedEarth]

40. If you have access to a gym you could use

low-impact(or no impact0 cardio equipment. It sure takes the wear and tear off the knees, feet and back. Even with knee problems, I've been able to use various types of cardio equipment with zero soreness....20-30 minutes every day for the last 25 years. In addition to cardio equipment, most gyms also have weight machines that can also help with physical fitness. Best of luck.......

[NJmaverick]

3. I suggest you ease up. Take things slowly

If your body is hurting it's telling you that you are going too fast. Ease into things slowly. Mix some brisk walking in with the running or slow down the pace. It takes time for your body to get into shape, remember how much time it had to get into bad shape. If you rush things, you will tend to get discouraged and you are more likely to get hurt or have other problems. Nice and easy, listen to your body.

[Phillycat]

5. Thanks for the advice.

I guess it never occurred to me that 20 minutes of slow running might be too much for me! I used to run for hours. Of course, as you say, that was a long time ago. Kind of pathetic how little I can do now. Oh well, as you say, I want to keep going, so I suppose I will have to ease up. Thanks. :hi:

[kwassa]

4. Don't do it every day, do every other day.

We basically injure our muscles in the process of building them, and the day off allows them time to heal. I used to alternate running days and weight-training days, as they used different muscle groups.

And if it hurts a lot, cut back, and don't try to push through it, as you can tear muscles and be out of commission for a long time. Work up slowly. Your body is telling you just how fast you can take it, and it will be different for everyone.

as to the breathing part, I was a smoker and runner at the same time, and smoking never affected my wind, as far as I can tell. I did quit, though, and it is the best thing I ever did for myself.

[Phillycat]

6. Thanks for the advice.

I guess I don't know what "hurts a lot" means in terms of sore muscles. Surely I'm supposed to be sore? What degree of soreness presages injury?

I suppose I could alternate running and yoga days...that would give me a good stretch on my off days too and might prevent/alleviate soreness...thanks. :hi:

[NJmaverick]

11. Ideally there shouldn't be any pain

Although some minor soreness isn't a problem. The idea of alternating Yoga and running is a good one.

I have been into physical fitness for over 15 years now. I will offer up the following advice:

1) The best exercise is the one you do. As long as it requires exertion, if you do it great. Find a few excercises you really enjoy doing, you are more likely to stick to them.

2) Try to avoid stopping. The biggest killer in a fitness program is stopping. It could a minor issue, like a busy week or two or a cold or whatever. While it's easy to stop, it's very hard to start up again. If you commit to X number of work outs per week, stick to that as best you can. Doesn't matter if you only work out for 5 minutes on that day (because of whatever problems) the continued sense that it's a part of your life is what's important. It's easier to ramp up a 5 or 10 minute work out, than it is to start after you stop.

[Phillycat]

25. True words.

The bit about stopping and not starting again is absolute truth in my experience. I've started many exercise programs over the years with the best of intentions, only to have "something come up" and fall off for a few days, then never go back. I will remember your words, thanks.

[NJmaverick]

28. Good luck! I think great that you are getting in shape

[kwassa]

13. Yoga would be perfect

It would help stretch out muscles which will tighten up with exercise, though there is also strain with holding a pose. Something else that helped me was a post-exercise jacuzzi or hot bath, which tends to relax the muscles, too.

I found if I started to exercise after a long time off, I could do well the first day, then feel extremely sore the next day, and after that do a more ramped-down version of what I could really do on a weekly basis. It is part of finding the groove of what your body is comfortable with. The reason I did so well the first day is that my body was completely relaxed and unstrained, something that really doesn't happen again once you get into regular scheduled exercise.

[qb]

7. Try a 40 minute walk rather than a 20 minute run

You will burn just as many calories and it will be much more enjoyable. Work up to running when it is comfortable. I tried intense running when I was younger and hated it - pushing myself until it hurt. So I gave it up for a long time. Now I walk a lot and take an occasional easy run and I feel great.

[Phillycat]

9. Thank you.

The problem I've historically had with walking is it's too easy to cheat and slow down. With running I keep my heart rate up, but with walking, I get distracted and find myself walking too slowly to really get the cardiovascular workout I want. How do you keep your pace up when you're walking?

Thanks. :hi:

[NJmaverick]

14. Depends are you doing this on a track or what?

Your watch is your best friend. Set time goals for how long it takes you to get to different way points. If you miss your mark, it will alert you to pick up the pace.

[Phillycat]

19. I work out in my cemetery.

Boy, that sounds weird. :) I live in a cemetery - no it's not weird, it's nice. It's very well-maintained and a lot of the neighborhood folks use it to run/walk/bike/stroller the kids. There are paved internal roads with no traffice. It's like a park. Anyway, it has well-delineated markers I could use for distance and time. Thanks for the suggestion!

[NJmaverick]

23. I have the neighbors from hell

Living in a cemetery sounds pretty attractive these days.

[trof]

29. Try Nordic Walking.

It's walking using poles, like cross country skiing.
Google it.
Instead of buying the $95 carbon fiber (or whatever) poles, I made ours out of 1/2" pvc pipe, handlebar grips, and rubber crutch tips.
Just cost a few bucks.

Burns more calories and gives some upper body workout too.
We do 3 miles every morning.
Takes 45 minutes to an hour, depending on who we meet and how long we talk.
Nordic Walking keeps you in a rhythm at a certain pace.
Depending on your age, running can be rough on knee joints.

Good luck.

[qb]

17. Having a destination keeps my pace up...

I walk to the library, the drug store, etc. However, even a slow walk is good for your heart. The key for me is enjoying myself. If you can spare the time, take long slow walks. You will build up your endurance, and I think your pace will naturally pick up as you get used to it. You can even try walking a little, running a little, walking a little... You don't have to run hard for x minutes right off the bat. A low-stress, natural progression got me into a long-term healthy exercise habit.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

24. Walking

Speaking (or writing) as someone who just spent the past year learning how to walk again, after a lifetime of fitness thanks to running and yoga, I suggest to you what my orthopedic surgeon told me:

"Walk, walk, walk. Those people you see out there running? They'll be my patients someday."

[Phillycat]

26. Oh, wow.

What a quote! Why did you have a year of learning how to walk again - knee/hip replacement?

A very intense and timely warning. Thanks.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

33. It's called "pathological fracture"

Bones break sometimes, and no one knows why. In my case, I had a broken femur and a broken pelvis, both of which I mistook for a groin pull - my pain threshold is far too high - so I walked, or hobbled, around on it for three weeks. By the time the fractures were diagnosed - hospitals spent three months telling me the pain and inability to walk was "in my head," and tried to treat me with anti-psychotic drugs - they'd begun to heal on their own. I'm disgustingly healthy, you see.

Surgeon wouldn't touch me, telling me that the morbidity rates for healing fractures, when surgical interventions are made, are incredibly high. So I spent 12 weeks in bed while the fractures healed, hoping that they'd heal properly.

They didn't.

Seven hours of surgery to re-break and rebuild my leg and hip, and then six months of intense physical therapy. I learned a lot, I must say, and what I'm telling you is that your body - the pain you're in - is giving you a message, and that message is: Moderation.

Moderation, easy does it, you'll accomplish just as much with less discomfort. Walk, walk, walk, he said, and this man, who cut me open and stuck all kinds of titanium and cement and bone grafts inside my body, had my attention. If not for him, I'd never have walked again.

[trof]

35. 1. Welcome to DU. 2. Love your screen name. 3...

Mind telling your age?
'Pathological fracture' sound grim.
My aged and apparently very brittle great aunt broke her hip sitting down on the toilet.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

36. OK

1. Thank you
2. Thank you; it was given to me at birth
3. Not yet a senior citizen

The rescue squad people who carried me to the hospital told me that they get a whole lot of calls from senior citizens who can't get up from the toilet. It's just routine for them, and that's probably what happened to your great-aunt. In her case, since you describe her as "aged," I suspect she's suffering from osteoporosis, which would account for the broken hip.

In my case, they never could find a cause for these fractures. They did MRIs on my whole body, including my head, and found nothing. Well, in the case of my head, I could have told them that ..............

[trof]

38. Well, we can't put you on the geezer squad yet. I'm captain.

;-)

[Tangerine LaBamba]

39. ::::: saluting :::::::

I'll be along shortly, Captain ..........

[NJmaverick]

18. One other point, good nutrition goes hand in hand with the excercise

for maximum results. That try to get a good night's sleep as often as possible.

[Phillycat]

21. Thanks.

We are on a mostly-organic, no white sugar/flour, no HFCS, no partially hydrogenated oil, no artifical sweetener, portion-controlled regimen and have been for 3 months, so I feel really good about our diet. I try to get 8 hours of sleep a night but usually end up with around 7, which since I quit smoking feels restful anyway. It's really just the fitness part that's missing now.

Thanks for the advice! :hi:

[Lydia Leftcoast]

22. Your symptoms as described in #1

sound like what I developed as a runner many years ago. To put it bluntly, I wrecked my knees and was advised not to run anymore but get my exercise in other ways, unless I wanted to go in for expensive surgery, which I didn't.

I really enjoyed running, but every time I tried it over the next couple of years, my knees would scream, "What did the doctor tell you?"

So now I walk and do water aerobics.

(Check with a sports medicine or orthopedic doctor to make sure, but if you keep running on bad knees, they'll only get worse.)

[Phillycat]

27. Running's getting a lot of bad press in this thread.

I am in so much pain today, I'll tell ya. I will have to evaluate what is best for me. Thanks for the information and advice. :hi:

[kwassa]

Knee problems can be serious or not-so-serious

The serious problems stem from torn knee cartilage, usually the meniscus, which itself is often corrected without problem through arthroscopic surgery.

Not-so-serious is corrected by a good pair of high-quality running shoes that offer proper arch support that fits your feet. This is the source of much knee pain is lack of such arch support.

I use off-the-shelf orthotics, Spencos, that I now wear in all my shoes. No knee problems.

Runners that blow out their knees badly often switch to other forms of exercise such as swimming or cycling, neither of which has the impact on the knee that running has.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

34. After arthroscopic surgery,

you're left with bone-on-bone, and degenerative arthritis sets in. It's a good short-term fix for the pain that torn cartilage brings, but, in the long run, it's damaging.

Low-impact anything is better than running, but you're dead right on about the shoes and the orthotics.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

41. I had chondromelacia patella

I think that's how you spell it, anyway. The diagnostic for it is a crunchy sound when you bend your knee.

[mopinko]

30. get a bike.

i am pretty out of shape, and really ought to do SOMETHING regularly, but i don't. i have fibromylagia, so i am intolerant of vigorous exercise, but would feel a lot better if i did some. a paradox. also taking meds that give me a terrible sweet tooth.
being so irregular, i need something low impact, too.
i find i am very tolerant of bike riding, and do it as much as possible. my dogs love to run along. when the weather is nice, i don't think there is anything better.
i should get a stationary for the winter/crappy weather, tho. i have a gazelle that i NEVER use.
it is hard to get in the swing. i am glad it is spring.

[Phillycat]

31. I have a bike.

Maybe I'll intersperse that. Thanks!

[mopinko]

43. helps to have the dog, too.

that would be great to have that kind of space. you wouldn't have to hitch the dog up like i do. and you wouldn't get tied in knots like i do, either. they haven't dumped me on my head yet, but i know they will.

[DarkTirade]

32. You might wanna go for something lower-impact to start with

until you're in better shape. Maybe cycling instead of running or something like that.

[Orsino]

42. It'll stop hurting tomorrow or the next day.

The first day of exercise always nets me pain the next day, but I can help make it go away by exercising again that second day. On day three, there's little pain left.

[AlCzervik]

45. somedays i run, somedays i walk. When i started on plan almost 3 years ago

i was in terrible shape, i bought a treanill and did a few minutes a day until i built up and it didn't hurt so much the next day, within a month i was up to 30 minutes 5 days a week and after 3 months i was doing an hour 6 days a week at 4 to 4.5 miles per hour. I use the treadmill 5 days a week a now unless it's nice and then i go outside and i try for an hour or 5 miles.

[Arugula Latte]

46. I'm no expert, but here is my 2 cents worth

I've always heard that "mixing it up" is good. I'd try to get a lot of variety -- walk, use elliptical machine, lift some weights, swim, whatever. I personally do a mixture of cardio, (like dancing or our at-home step machine), arm weights, leg weights, power walking, etc. I am big on squats and lunges -- they use your own body weight to build muscle, and they work on the largest muscle group we have (thighs and butt). So, if you can get those muscles toned up (or, really, any muscles ... those just happen to be big ones), you will burn more calories, even while your not being active. And that is a good feeling, to think your metabolism is being amped up.

Good luck! :hi: