Veil of Fire

Ok, I'm trying to lose some weight, and I figured I'd take up walking.

Problem is, after I've been walking for a while (and we're not talking a particularly long time here), my ankles start to hurt. Severely. It feels like a burning ache, and it doesn't go away until I've been sitting down for about 5-10 minutes. The longer I walk on it, the worse it hurt, and it seems to migrate up my leg. It starts on the outside of my ankles (right on the ball) and seems to burn its way to the midpoint between my ankle and my knee.

Ok, I knew I was a bit out of shape, but have I forgotten how to WALK??

simian

How long has it been since you have done much walking? - your body may not be up to it.

What surface do you walk on? - the harder the worse (within limits, from my experience)

Do you wear comfortable shoes?

Bicycling or swimming or in-line skating may cause you fewer problems - I have very bad knees - as odd as it sounds, in-line skating is one of the less impact intensive methods of exercise I have found, and a workout you would not believe.

Just some thoughts, I certainly don't know much about proper exercise.

Simian

liquid

Need more info Veil...

What sort of build are you?

How active were you before?

What sort of surfaces are you walking on?

What sort of shoes are you wearing?

What sort of fitness level are you at?

I already have a strong suspiscion...

liquid

This is what I am thinking:

over-pronation or supination

<a href="http://www.steenwyk.com/pronsup.htm" target="_blank">http://www.steenwyk.com/pronsup.htm</a>

It can certainly produce your symptoms and will be worse in people who aren't used to being mobile or who are proportionately heavy. Of course, it could be several other things, but this is common. It's also pretty easy to deal with it, perhaps with orthoses or some physio.

Friar Bellows

I was recently out of shape. I hadn't exerted myself in years. So I decided to start walking. First thing I noticed were the swelled up hands and feet. Second thing I noticed was that parts of my body became really itchy. It was mostly the hands, again, and I noticed that these small bumps had appeared, and speculated that these were the cause of the itchiness. Maybe my sweat glands were protesting at the amount of work they had to do.

By the way, the itchiness disappeared after I cooled down. On the 2nd day it returned. On the 3rd day and all subsequent days it never returned. So I guess my sweat glands got used to it. The swelling took a bit longer to disappear, and it didn't disappear completely. I think that's normal.

And if you're wondering, I lost 20 pounds altogether (in 4 or 5 months). It takes a while before you notice any weight loss, because while you may be losing fat straight away, you're also gaining muscle. But then at some point it really starts to accelerate. Make sure you push yourself, don't get too comfortable in your walk. At some point I decided to jog sections of the walk. Now I jog about 2/3's of the circuit. I would advise an hour a day. I don't think 30 minutes is enough.

liquid

mmmm yes, maybe I should have put in an extra disclaimer - it may well be due to unfitness alone. Keep it up, and if it doesn't stop in a couple of weeks, then you should start looking at biomechanics.

Don't walk with an injury though... if it's bad, rest.

AtlanticCitySlave

I've been running since I was 13, and what you're describing always happens to me. I think it probably has more to do with stretching than that you're old or anything. The best stretch I do that gets rid of it is to stand with your feet together near a curb, stair, or some type of raised surface. Then, put one of your feet forward and lean the top of your foot on the curb and the bottom on the ground, so you feel a stretch shooting through your lower leg and back of the knee. Hold it for 30 seconds, switch feet, and then do it a couple more times for each foot, or at least that's what i do.
The other thing I do is just kneel down with my feet flat, which will stretch out both your upper thighs and lower legs.
That's all I really do for the problem and it has worked so far. In fact, if I don't do it, I start getting tight and barely able to walk from running even a couple miles. Hope this helps somewhat.

Veil of Fire

"What sort of build are you?"

I'm relatively large-framed, I suppose... pretty tall, kinda overweight.

"How active were you before?"

Not very. During the semester I at least had to walk back and forth to classes... now I might have to walk to the metro once a week.

"What sort of surfaces are you walking on?"

Concrete sidewalks.

"What sort of shoes are you wearing?"

Average sneakers. It happens in my dress shoes too tho, if I had to take the metro home from work.

"What sort of fitness level are you at?"

:-P

Not very fit.

Steven S

For a start you could get decent running/walking shoes. I run a lot and poor or worn out shoes contribute quite a bit to sore joints, and I'm very light person. So I think in your case one thing that would benifit you would be decent shoes and probably stretching some more wouldn't help either.

Steven S

Agnostic Journyman

Veil of Fire,

Good job on wanting to get in better shape. It's a quest I've been on for a few years now, and it's really paying off. Just in the last year I've lost about 30 pounds and have built a good amount of lean muscle.

Which brings me to my suggestion (the others here are very good); weight training. I work at an exercise research facility. Their recipe for success is unbeatable. Sensible, healthy eating (not dieting!), cardio and weight training (do both!), and flexibility (stretching). The others here have mentioned stretching and cardio, one hinted at biomechanics.

What weight training does is help the muscles become more fit to handle the daily stress on our bodies. Also, the more muscle one has, the higher one's resting metabolism becomes. Higher metabolism equates to an elevated ability to burn fat, whether at rest or while exercising. Building muscle can help to offset the inevitable slowing of one's metabolism as one ages. It IS possible to be lean and buff at forty and beyond. I know, I'm doing it.

A good book to read for weight training is Muscle Mechanics by Everett Aaberg. He stresses safety above all else. Another helpful book for overall fitness is Bill Phillip's Body for Life. No, not everyone who reads that book and follows his program will go from flabmaster to rock hard abs in twelve weeks. But the program is basically sound, and very doable.

Best of luck on your health quest. It's more than worth the effort!

SS