The Dangers of Exercise and Being Overweight

J

JaniceP

New member
Hi Guys and Gals,

It's Janice here. I'm penning this at six in the morning before I go out for a gentle but long stroll. I can hear the birds twittering with their morning chorus. It's wonderful.

I thought I would start a new thread because something is worrying me. It's about us heavyweights doing particular activities, like jumping from short heights.

When I go walking, which as some of you may now know is my 'favourite form of exercise', I sometimes come across obstacles called 'styles'. These are basically steps over countryside walls that farmer's provide walkers' with to clamber over in order to get from one field into another. When I get over a style I sometimes jump down from the last step on the other side.

Now, my 7 year old lad, Daniel, being such a lightweight, obviously has no problem jumping off these things. But with me being heavy I can feel the impact as I land through my joints. I don't like the feeling.

I am now beginning to think that overweight people like me may be doing ourselves more harm than good when we do impact exercises, such as jumping.

It makes me wonder if we are exposing ourselves to the risks of developing arthritis in our knee or hip joints.

Have any of you any opinions on this? I'd love to here from you.

Regards,

Janice
 
Definitely there is a risk for heavy people of joint damage through impact. All the more reason to lose the weight, yes? :)

I know I tend to avoid activities that put too much impact on my knees (except for fencing and tennis, which I can't resist). When I jump down form any height, I absorb as much of the impact as possible, to protect my knees.

I also have had bad knees since junior high, due to a variety of mishaps and a life of being heavy. So I try to be careful.

There are lots of activities you can do without a lot of knee impact. Walking is, of course, one of the best.

How high is the last step of the stile from the ground? Can you crouch a bit on landing to absorb some of the shock, or is it better for you to just step down?
 
i also have that concern alot of the time....i keep wondering if what i'm doing now is going to give me long-term knee/joint damage...but for now it seems there's no other way.

currently i do about 90-120mins of cardio a day (4-5days a week), all of which is either walking on incline on the treadmill, or various aerobics classes. EVERY SINGLE TIME i get back home from the gym, my joints ache and i have problems walking but after a good nights sleep i wake up refreshed the next morning. but i'm still left wondering if i keep this up consistently how it might affect my knee joints in the future years to come.

i also joined in on the step-aerobics class for a few weeks, but as of this week quit because it was really really hard on the knees, so i decided to opt out and do the low impact aerobics instead or treadmill.

i'm short so with all my weight at the moment i can barely get onto the exercise bike at the gym (haven't even tried) because the seat is just tiny, so even though biking won't be hard on my knees, i can't do it for now.

my other option is this machine at the gym which is a 2-in-1 stepper/cross-trainer but the few times i've tried couldn't go beyond 1min 20secs, which is unfortunate because that would not have as much knee impact as well.

so for now all i can do is HOPE that what i'm doing now won't hurt me in the future.

oh, before i forget, my first love is swimming (zero joint impact), but can barely remember the last time i did, i look like a whale in a bathing suit and wouldn't be caught dead in a pool....i wish i could free my mind and not care what others think....but i'm just not there yet.
 
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cherrygarcia said:
oh, before i forget, my first love is swimming (zero joint impact), but can barely remember the last time i did, i look like a whale in a bathing suit and wouldn't be caught dead in a pool....i wish i could free my mind and not care what others think....but i'm just not there yet.
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I am in the same position, but have decided to throw everything overboard and just go for it. I have checked out the local swimming pools around here and found out that they have 'adult only' swimming times, meaning no annoying kids and teenagers to deal with (no offense to teenagers in general, but more often than not, they are the ones that make the rude remarks and stuff). I also just came off the phone with one of the pools and they agreed to let me do my rounds while they do their 'adult learners' classes. Those people will be far too busy to even pay attention to what anybody looks like in their bathing suit. Maybe you can find something like that as well, where you would feel more comfortable? Otherwise I would suggest maybe going very early in the morning when most people are either still in bed, or at school / work. Just a few ideas. :)
 
thanks san, i think i first just need to loose a couple of pounds first to help get a little more confidence, but thanks so much for letting me know because when i'm ready i'll definitely check out the adult swimming classes to ensure there's no kids/teenagers (of whom i'm allergic too :p) OR go first thing in the morning when its empty.

and by the way CONGRATS on loosing 100pounds, wow, that seems really amazing because i'm still just at the start....it makes me know if i keep pushing i can make it.

San said:
I am in the same position, but have decided to throw everything overboard and just go for it. I have checked out the local swimming pools around here and found out that they have 'adult only' swimming times, meaning no annoying kids and teenagers to deal with (no offense to teenagers in general, but more often than not, they are the ones that make the rude remarks and stuff). I also just came off the phone with one of the pools and they agreed to let me do my rounds while they do their 'adult learners' classes. Those people will be far too busy to even pay attention to what anybody looks like in their bathing suit. Maybe you can find something like that as well, where you would feel more comfortable? Otherwise I would suggest maybe going very early in the morning when most people are either still in bed, or at school / work. Just a few ideas. :)
Click to expand...
 
cherrygarcia said:
thanks san, i think i first just need to loose a couple of pounds first to help get a little more confidence, but thanks so much for letting me know because when i'm ready i'll definitely check out the adult swimming classes to ensure there's no kids/teenagers (of whom i'm allergic too :p) OR go first thing in the morning when its empty.

and by the way CONGRATS on loosing 100pounds, wow, that seems really amazing because i'm still just at the start....it makes me know if i keep pushing i can make it.
Click to expand...

You can definitely make it!!! I've got no doubts about that! :)

And thanks! :)
 
Cord the Seeker said:
Definitely there is a risk for heavy people of joint damage through impact. All the more reason to lose the weight, yes? :)

I know I tend to avoid activities that put too much impact on my knees (except for fencing and tennis, which I can't resist). When I jump down form any height, I absorb as much of the impact as possible, to protect my knees.

I also have had bad knees since junior high, due to a variety of mishaps and a life of being heavy. So I try to be careful.

There are lots of activities you can do without a lot of knee impact. Walking is, of course, one of the best.

How high is the last step of the stile from the ground? Can you crouch a bit on landing to absorb some of the shock, or is it better for you to just step down?
Click to expand...

Hi Guys and Gals,

I had a very pleasant 2 mile walk this morning. The weather was perfect. You can tell it's springtime.

The height of the last step on stiles varies, but most are about a foot off the ground. I suppose I don't have to jump, but the action makes me feel somewhat more 'agile'. Perhaps I am getting stronger? As for crouching... I'll try. Thanks for the tip, Cord.

Anyway, I've been doing a bit of digging around today and I've learned that heavy people (that's me) do in fact expose themselves to joint problems over time with impact exercises. The faster they move, the greater the force they exert. This means the greater the impact, the more it reverberates through the spine and joints.

I don't like the sound of that. Like Cord says, all the more reason to lose the weight. Also, I agree with Cherry that it can be hard to avoid doing impact exercises. I find it hard to resist the jump off the stile!

But there is another thing. When I walk, because of the thickness of my thighs, I seem to be taking wider steps compared to those of other walkers. I wonder if that may be adding to the risk?

Regards, Janice
 
Hi JaniceP.

I read your opening post and it reminded me of what my doctor often tells me. She says, "if it hurts - don't do it". Sounds corny but it's true. If a specific exercise hurts your body or makes you feel too uncomfortable, then do something else instead.

If wondering, I used to jog up/down stairs every other night and its other night, I would use my stepper machine (while watching large screen TV). After 3+ months of this exercise, my knees started to hurt. Hurt to the point where it was almost yelling at me to stop. With this early warning alarm in mind, I stopped jogging up/down 20 flights of stairs and stopped doing 2 x 100 steps on my stepper "so much". Now, I only perform these tasks once a month (or so). No more every other night "knee pounding" type exercises.

With this in mind, do remember that if a specific exercise isn't right for "your body", then do a different exercise instead. Like near zero gravity weight swimming, floor stretches and other non-impact exercises. Doing something else "works for me"... Hope it works for your body as well...
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Hi Spike,

We heavyweights do suffer, don't we. I get a pain in my joints after jumping down from a step on a style that's only a foot off the ground. But I do find the action quite irresistible.

Like you say - if the action isn't right for your body, don't do it. I think I'll stop the jumping until I've lost a lot of weight.

Regards,

Janice
 
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