Injuries and Knowing when to Scale back Exercise
These past few months have been going really well up to this point. When I first started a healthy tomorrow today I began with the foremost goal of clean healthy eating . Exercise was to be an addition at a later date. What was surprising was how fast I began to want to exercise and how much I have been enjoying it. So much so that until recently I had been walking 5km everyday after my weight lifting. Unfortunately this eagerness has led me to now working my way through a persistent foot injury.
The Problem
I decided to order myself some shoes online. The ones I had noticed seemed to give my feel the most support in the past. I am a big advocate in buying what you need to take care of yourself while exercising including good shoes. These shoes worked great, with one exception. Because they were new they caused a significant blister on the back of my foot over my Achilles tendon. Foolishly instead of taking a day off I chose to ignore this blister and the pain. The next day I again went for my walk causing a significant issue with this blister. This was however not the ultimate problem. Instead of resting to rectify the issue I decided instead to just switch to a sandal shoe I had. This sandal had no back allowing my foot to heal while I continued my walks. This worked well at first and with a few weeks of walking and some moleskin to protect the problem it has been rectified. Unfortunately it cause a whole new problem and I am now dealing with some internal foot issue on my right foot. This has caused significant pain after walking. I am certain this is due to walking with limited arch support in these sandals. In any case all issues are involving one factor. Not giving my foot the rest it needs and pushing things too far.
Heavy Weight means Higher Impact
When I was fitter than I am now many many years ago I decided to try to go for a jog. In my mind it was a good idea. I felt pretty good and I thought I would just go as far as I could then just walk. Each day maybe I could go a little further. When I began to run it was very apparent this was a bad idea. It was not that my cardio could not hold up, or my legs even. But the shock being sent through my feet, knees and hips was beyond what I could have expected. That experiment stopped pretty fast and for good reason. When you are the size I am the impact magnification on joints and muscles is substantial. It is a vicious circle to be sure. To make you body move better you need to lose weight, to lose weight it helps to be able to move. I get it, and activity has to be done, but for me at my size, low impact is paramount to keeping injuries at bay. I also have to be cognizant of compounding issues and injuries as even walking is much higher impact on my body than to an average sized person.
Easing Back
As mentioned my walks have been passing the 5km mark. With this foot injury I decided to scale them back to 4km. This is where I feel comfortable, I am exercising, burning calories but not pushing the limits. 5km and above I can feel my feet are at the limit of what they want to be doing. I have to decide if pushing that extra km every time is worth the potential of a more serious injury that causes me to have to reduce or stop walking all together. It really comes down to risk management. I am happy walking 4km. It feels good, it makes a difference and for now it is what I will be doing.
Ultimately it is up to any individual to figure out where the line of challenging themselves and hindering themselves is. This process is full of ups and downs and looking at the larger picture is always important. For me that picture is achieved by eating healthy and exercises. That is the overarching primary goal for my actions. An extra km walk is nice, but I have decided it should never come at the potential coast of that ultimate goal.
