EXACTLY What Do I Hate about Exercising?

[Vivienne]

I am often guilty of very vague and global thinking--"I hate to exercise. It makes me feel worse." While walking this week, I took an inventory of my body sensations and emotions and asked myself exactly why I hate exercising--and what I can do about it.

Do you hate exercise and fitness training? If so, does it help you to define exactly why? Do your shoes fit? Are your clothes perfectly comfortable? Are you exercising at the right level? Are you training in a place that is comfortable or uncomfortable? Are you bored?

Here are some of my answers:

1. My feet hurt. My feet hurt when I was young and when I was slender. No one knows why. Birkenstocks--before they made the footbed narrower (arrgghh)--were the best answer. Athletic shoes are the worst for me. I wear Birkies and knockoff Crocs--real Crocs are too narrow and slippery. Sometimes I change shoes in the middle of my walk so that my feet hurt in different places :)
2. My legs hurt--even though I am muscled. Gotta live with it.
3. My back really hurts. This is in part because I injured my back 10 years ago and in part because I have weak core muscles. So, I have to strengthen my abdominals and "laterals." Is that the right term? I loathe this type of exercising most of all, but I am going to have to do it in order to decrease back pain so that I can walk--and I HAVE to keep walking. I do an exercise that I call the "dead bug" while I watch TV. I cannot describe it!
4. I AM BORED TO TEARS BY EXERCISING. So, I take my mobile and call everyone I know when I exercise outside. I will watch TV or read when I "bike" at home. I WILL commit myself to finding someone to exercise with one or two days a week--or a month.
5. I have to exercise hard for over 30-45 minutes to feel a "rush." 20 minutes--nothing. I will make a commitment that any exercise is better than no exercise. 20 minutes is better than not exercising.
6. I have to exercise for months to feel any better. This was the same when I was younger and thinner. So, I have to stop looking for the reward and view it as my life-style.
7. No matter how long term I exercise, I feel no subjective improvement in my cardio-vascular condition. Again, it is my life-style if I want to be active at 70. And, I do!

[Plant Walks]

Dear Vivienne and Nina,

I'm so sorry to hear you have foot pain. Viv, are you talking about plantar fasciitis?

I have intractable plantar fasciitis - awful pain!! I developed it ~15 years ago after a low-back injury. It turns out the fascial sheath, which is a layer of tissue on top of the muscle (beneath the skin and fat layers lies the fascial sheath, and then the muscle beneath it) got all twisted up with my back injury, and is pulling all of the tissue down the back of my legs to the heels.

When I get up in the morning, those first few steps are super painful.

I went to supposedly the best podiatrist in the Bay Area for it. He said those painful first steps in the morning are due to the fascia tearing.

He said at night, when lying down, the tears in the fascia begin to heal while the foot is in an elongated, relaxed position (the forefoot flopped down.) The fascia starts to heal in a shortened-up position.

When someone first puts their feet down on the floor in the morning, with the foot at a right angle to the lower leg, that right angle lengthens the fascia and pulls on the (shortened up) fascia and tears it again.

So it's a viscious cycle of healing at night, then re-tearing it when walking in the morning.

He ordered these huge expensive leg splints for me, called Dynasplints, which are custom fitted. They hold the foot at a right angle to the leg at night, so that the heel tissue doesn't shorten up. The splints also have a spring that gently pulls up on the foot during the night, to continuously lengthen the fascia. They work great, but are uncomfortable to wear (they have as much metal as shopping carts!)

If you can find something that will hold your foot at a more-or-less right angle at night (I haven't looked in a while), it might help.

The other thing that REALLY has helped me is a foot exercise I made up all by my little lonesome. It strengthens the arches and dramatically reduces the heel pain upon getting out of bed.

Plantar fasciitis exercises:

Before getting out of bed:

1. Lie on your back
2. Start with the soles of your feet flat on the bed, knees bent and pointing toward the ceiling.
3. Leave the forefoot on the bed, but lift the heels - as high as you can.
4. Let the heels down, then lift them again.
5. Do as many reps as you can - until your arches are tired. (I've worked up to ~125 daily.)
6. This strengthens the arch and reduces the pain.

Then, another plantar fasciitis exercise:

1. Still lying on your back...
2. Soles of the feet still flat on the bed, knees bent and pointed toward the ceiling.
3. Slowly and gently move the knees apart (not to the point of discomfort or pain), by tipping them outward, away from each other (right knee drops slightly to the right; left knee drops slightly to the left, simultaneously.)
4. Draw the knees together again.
5. This should strengthen the inner thigh.
6. For some reason, this also helps reduce the heel pain.

Finally,
1. When setting feet on the floor to get out of bed...
2. Gently rest feet on the floor gradually positioning them at a right angle to the lower leg.
3. Let feet get accustomed to that position: let the fascia along the heel get accustomed to being gently stretched out (by relaxing, not by *stetching*), without causing pain.
4. By letting the feet *relax* into that position, it helps to let the fascia lengthen without stretching and tearing it so much.
5. Put your feet into slippers or comfortable shoes, and walk slowly and gently, to let the fascia lengthen.
6. Always wear shoes, even slippers to the bathroom, to provide a little cushion and support to the heel (podiatrist insisted on this: shoes 24/7! except in bed :)

Best wishes.

I "feel your pain" (oh, boy, do I!)

Alice



I also do Feldenkrais for myofascial release. But I'm still looking for answers!

[Nina]

Alice I think you are right and Vivienne was talking about plantar fascitis--which is what I have too. I overdid it packing for my move last May and now I am so screwed. I hate that you have had it for 15 years!

My treatment so far has involved some physical therapy (not currently going but I guess I should go again). They gave me so many stretches and exercises that I don't even do them all. But your thigh-strengthening stretch is a lot like one of them--the "clamshell" which is basically the same thing except I take turns doing it on each side so each thigh gets a shot. Also, core strengthening, plus hamstring stretches b/c it's all connected, and finally arch strengthening by picking things up with my toes. I pick up pens and grab towels and scrunch them around on the floor with my feet. My feet are getting exercise even when the rest of me isn't.

The two best nonstretching things for me are foot taping and icing. I find taping helps a bit to take the pressure off and reduce the heel pain. Icing helps too but I am pretty lax about it. Here is the website where I got the info about taping: http://heelspurs.com/tape.html

[Nina]

Vivienne said:

THEN...Birkenstock started making a narrower footbed and they are no longer the perfect shoe. Damnation!

In case all that PF talk was a hijack, there's one more thing Vivienne might be interested to know, which is that it's possible to find more sandals to fit a wide foot at Zappos. I started buying there a few years ago and while I never dreamed I would pay this much for shoes, it really helps to wear a shoe in which the edge of my foot does not overspill the sole. Their shipping is also free both ways, which is kind of nice. I order about $600 of shoes at a time and then return $530 worth and keep one expensive pair--usually the only one that actually fits. Here's a sandal search of really wide sizes (4E).

[Plant Walks]

Thanks for your reply, Nina. That taping article was really helpful! I had doctors and a PT tape my feet years ago, before giving me the DynaSplints. The tape definitely helps. The PT had a very fancy taping method, lots of tape, so this was helpful to see it could be done more easily and that a lay person could do it. It also was great to read *why* and *how* taping helps, that it does the supporting so the PF can rest.

I agree, ice also helps. Do they have you do dixie cup ice?

The good news about PF is that most people do not have it forever like mine, because theirs gets treatment promptly. I went without any treatment for 2 years because of the back injury and the insurance company trying to not provide coverage. I ended up borrowing money to pay a private PT til I got insurance coverage again. I had to because I was at that point crawling on my hands and knees at home, using crutches when away from home, and then my knees gave way from the crawling so I couldn't even walk with crutches - my legs were so weak the knees bent backward - excruciating when it happened. (Exercycling was the answer to rebuild the leg strength, and the taping/ice/private PT.

So do everything you can to take care of this and get over it as fast as possible :) It sounds like you're getting good care.

Oh, also, after having custom orthotics, I found that Spenco Polysorb shoe inserts (at most athletic shoe stores) worked best for me, and I could afford them: ~$20 a pair.

Sorry you've gotten this and best wishes!

Nina said:

Alice I think you are right and Vivienne was talking about plantar fascitis--which is what I have too. I overdid it packing for my move last May and now I am so screwed. I hate that you have had it for 15 years!

My treatment so far has involved some physical therapy (not currently going but I guess I should go again). They gave me so many stretches and exercises that I don't even do them all. But your thigh-strengthening stretch is a lot like one of them--the "clamshell" which is basically the same thing except I take turns doing it on each side so each thigh gets a shot. Also, core strengthening, plus hamstring stretches b/c it's all connected, and finally arch strengthening by picking things up with my toes. I pick up pens and grab towels and scrunch them around on the floor with my feet. My feet are getting exercise even when the rest of me isn't.

The two best nonstretching things for me are foot taping and icing. I find taping helps a bit to take the pressure off and reduce the heel pain. Icing helps too but I am pretty lax about it. Here is the website where I got the info about taping: http://heelspurs.com/tape.html

[Vivienne]

Yes! To everyone. It was plantar fasciaitis--I couldn't think of the name and still cannot spell it :) I have seen the splints to be worn in bed in catalogs. I just threw one away! Dang. When I went to the podiatrist, she also taped my foot -- which I had forgotten about. I have started doing stretches in bed before getting up in the am and that helps with everything.

So, I suppose everything really is connected. Some years ago, my right hip felt stiff and sore and I became much less flexible on m right side. Then, I injured my back acutely--but thought I had injured by hip because the pain was radiating to my hip and down my leg. So, it was probably a back problem all along and not a hip problem.

Then I got plantar fasciaitis--but the treatment was very effective and I didn't even know there was PT for it.

All of these are fairly recent problems.

However, I have had neck and shoulder pain and headaches my entire life. And, now, the shoulder pain is worse!

I do flexibility exercises but I am sick of them and even though I feel better at the time, I am still stiff and sore the next day.

But, I am going to look at the taping instructions, look at Zappos, and try to find the catalog with the inexpensive splints.

Thank you all! Wow. Networking really works!

[Plant Walks]

Sounds great, Vivienne.

I encourage you both to try the heel lifting in the mornings. For me, it works waay better than stretching (stretching reinjures) and scrunching up towels with my feet, etc.

Also, Vivienne, for these aches and pains all over, various injuries, pls. consider looking into Feldenkrais classes locally. They only cost ~$12/class and they help with pain and mobility limitations throughout the body, they're ultra gentle and safe. Far safer and more effective than yoga or exercising. Feldenrais.com has lists of local practitioners and lots of info! Every time I go to one of the classes, I'm amazed at how much it helps my body and my ability to function.

alice


Vivienne said:

Yes! To everyone. It was plantar fasciaitis--I couldn't think of the name and still cannot spell it :) I have seen the splints to be worn in bed in catalogs. I just threw one away! Dang. When I went to the podiatrist, she also taped my foot -- which I had forgotten about. I have started doing stretches in bed before getting up in the am and that helps with everything.

So, I suppose everything really is connected. Some years ago, my right hip felt stiff and sore and I became much less flexible on m right side. Then, I injured my back acutely--but thought I had injured by hip because the pain was radiating to my hip and down my leg. So, it was probably a back problem all along and not a hip problem.

Then I got plantar fasciaitis--but the treatment was very effective and I didn't even know there was PT for it.

All of these are fairly recent problems.

However, I have had neck and shoulder pain and headaches my entire life. And, now, the shoulder pain is worse!

I do flexibility exercises but I am sick of them and even though I feel better at the time, I am still stiff and sore the next day.

But, I am going to look at the taping instructions, look at Zappos, and try to find the catalog with the inexpensive splints.

Thank you all! Wow. Networking really works!

[William]

You just need to make exercising fun!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lXh2n0aPyw

William

[Vivienne]

Oh...yeah...fun...I keep forgetting about this! Thanks,William!

William said:

You just need to make exercising fun!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lXh2n0aPyw

William

[Plant Walks]

We just need to tickle Vivienne til she starts moving :)

[EssaAdams]

I dream I am running, long strides. But the fact that my feet hurt too much to even WANT to walk stops almost everything. I am dealing with sciatica lately. A few years ago it was plantar something, brain tired.... My back hurts and always has. My insteps fell when I was a child. My hip pops out of place. I used to love to ride my bike but the knee injury grieves me when riding and the hip popping after makes it impossible to function. I like swimming but there is no pool and I do not want to go to a public pool anyway. I purchased for myself a whatever exerciser that is good up to 350# but I do not fit on it nor can I get up off it afterward without rolling onto the floor and killing knee in getting up. Sad lot of me.

That leaves chair dancing. Gardening. Music please.

Did you hear that a few minutes a few times a day are better than the mega session? Don't know, but hoping it is true. That I can do.

Essa

[Vivienne]

I have read, in a number of reputable places (none of which I can remember :>), that exercises a number of times a day in shorter amounts is better for us than marathon sessions.

Here is where I am today: I have life long problem with headaches--which have been troubling in the past couple of months--probably due to going off a long-term medication that I had been taking. I have gained about 30 pounds rather quickly--also probably related to stopping that medication. I always have trouble sleeping--life long. I have been having hot flashes that could heat the Antartic--due to fate. I would rather be beaten than exercise because I feel terrible when I even walk up and down the stairs.

Most of the time, with most problems, I want 100% resolution or at least a 50% improvement from a single source--as do most of us, I suppose.

What I have found is that sometimes, with a serious and intractable problem, I have to accept 10% improvement from numerous efforts. So, when I hurt my back a few years ago, I received some relief from walking, some from PT exercises, some from strategic use of pain meds and muscle relaxants, some from ice and heat packs, and some from distractions such as talking to a friend. So, I scheduled those events hoping that those 10% improvements would add up--perhaps even magnify each other.

I think I need to do the same now with exercise. I have been telling myself to just find things I enjoy, focus on movement for the sake of movement, etc. etc. but, the fact is that I do not feel well, I have been having terrible headaches and I feel best when I don't move at all! In fact, "going into a decline" and spending the rest of my life in bed with an icepack sounds really good!

So, I am going back to my philosophy of additive effects: do tiny things and hope they all add up to more than their sum :)

Yesterday, I went for a 5 minute walk because I believe that I do not go outside often enough and it will make me feel better EVEN THOUGH I don't want to go!

I exercised on the recumbent bike EVEN THOUGH I felt like hell AND I talked to my sister on the phone (a good deed on my part because she is more or less house-bound) because it will have a long term effect on how I feel and might help me sleep better.

I am using ice packs periodically through out the day, giving myself facial/cranial massages, sleeping on my back part of the night (even though I have to take medication to fall asleep on my back :), etc. even though none of these things has a large impact on my headaches (or sleep problems) in the hope that all of them together will have an impact.

Oh, poopy, I am frustrated :>(

whew!

EssaAdams said:

I dream I am running, long strides. But the fact that my feet hurt too much to even WANT to walk stops almost everything. I am dealing with sciatica lately. A few years ago it was plantar something, brain tired.... My back hurts and always has. My insteps fell when I was a child. My hip pops out of place. I used to love to ride my bike but the knee injury grieves me when riding and the hip popping after makes it impossible to function. I like swimming but there is no pool and I do not want to go to a public pool anyway. I purchased for myself a whatever exerciser that is good up to 350# but I do not fit on it nor can I get up off it afterward without rolling onto the floor and killing knee in getting up. Sad lot of me.

That leaves chair dancing. Gardening. Music please.

Did you hear that a few minutes a few times a day are better than the mega session? Don't know, but hoping it is true. That I can do.

Essa