Too heavy to run?

N

Neil

New member
Hi, I still about 23 stone, even after losing weight.

My weight seems to be "sticking" at the moment so trying to pick up excerise. I've walking in a "brisk" manner recently but find myself half wanting to break into a run.

But I'm worried I'm still too heavy, when I used to run when younger ( I was an American Football player) I used to get shin splints. I'm guessing I might be a similar weight to what I was then.

Any thoughts? I don't want to damage myself.
 
Have you started walking? You could start there and work your way up depending on how you feel. I've read that the best kind of walking is when you do intravals of walking slow and speed walking. Walk for a full minute slow then speed walk for a minute then walk slow again for a minute, ect. You could apply the same to running....maybe jog for a minute and then run for a minute?? Might be worth a shot?
 
Look into the Couch To 5K plan. I see big people run all the time. I cant answer your question and no one else can either. If ya wanna run, try it. If it bothers you, stop and try again later.
 
Hi there, thanks for the comments.

Yeah, I've been walking but "feel" I should be doing more.

I'll give it a shot and see how it goes.

And sorry for the quality of English in the OP. It's been a long old day!
 
Neil said:
Hi there, thanks for the comments.

Yeah, I've been walking but "feel" I should be doing more.

I'll give it a shot and see how it goes.

And sorry for the quality of English in the OP. It's been a long old day!
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I know what you mean. When I first started running I struggled because I have a problem with really slow pace >4mph and my legs feel really uncomfortable. BUt when I started running faster, I would gas. I finally got over it but I understand that feeling of "i would do better if I went faster"
 
I think you'll have to be the best judge to whether you're too heavy to run safely or not. It all depends on your joints and what you think you can do. Personally I don't run because i've got bad joints thanks to genetics anyway, and past injuries from finding that out the hard way. But I don't let it be an excuse to not work out, so if you're not up to running full blast there's lots of other things to do to get moving.
 
Two things-

Form- you need to have perfect running form. Many runners land on either their heel or toes. You should be striving to land on your entire foot, then push off with your toes. Study good running form and then make sure you follow it. Good form will minimize joint stress and the possibility of shin splints.

If your joints start to hurt, ease off. If running consistently makes your joints hurt, stop running.
 
EagleRiverDee said:
Two things-

Form- you need to have perfect running form. Many runners land on either their heel or toes. You should be striving to land on your entire foot, then push off with your toes. Study good running form and then make sure you follow it. Good form will minimize joint stress and the possibility of shin splints.

If your joints start to hurt, ease off. If running consistently makes your joints hurt, stop running.
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Confused: landing on the whole foot rather then the heel/toe and rolling to the rest of th foot? just wondering where or who told you this? I would not recommend it as landing on your whole foot would make it very difficult to run. A more natural footing would be to say for example, land on your heel and roll off towards your toes then kick up the foot whilst pulling with your quads. Use the whole leg for sure but not so sure about landing on the whole foot- not all in one go!:ack2:
 
summer123 said:
Confused: landing on the whole foot rather then the heel/toe and rolling to the rest of th foot? just wondering where or who told you this? I would not recommend it as landing on your whole foot would make it very difficult to run. A more natural footing would be to say for example, land on your heel and roll off towards your toes then kick up the foot whilst pulling with your quads. Use the whole leg for sure but not so sure about landing on the whole foot- not all in one go!:ack2:
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I just read an article on shin splints Saturday and it said to land with the foot flat, then roll forward and up off the toe. It said people who land on their toes or on their heels are at much higher risk for shin splints. Source? Don't recall. I read a lot of articles each day- health and exercise is kind of my current interest. I only read at reputable sites and/or magazines...that said, I wasn't asking anyone to take my word for it. That was why I suggested studying up on running form and mastering it. I think we can all agree that proper form will reduce injury in just about any type of exercise. I was simply bringing the topic up here, as shin splints have been attributed to improper form. It remains incumbent on each of us to do the research ourselves, since we never know how good the information is that we're getting from other forum members.
 
Running is bad for knees if your BMI is over 30. Do some cardio exercise in the gym like stationary bike to lose weight and strengthen your leg muscles. If you feel pain in your knee joints, stop immediately.
 
These are worth checking out
(not this brand or anything, but something like this)


They are for "jumper's knee" but i have used them for years in playing raquetball, hoops or any other sport that i run in and constantly put pressure on my knee joints.

It is just a simple rubber tube that fits right below your knee cap and will help absorb the inpact on that joint when running or jumping.

I find them very helpful and i pretty much wont run without them. That being said... as others have said, know your body.... If something hurts then stop, and dont let something like this let you do damage to your body.

edit- i wanted to note that these do not relieve any pain while running. I typically would have very sore knees and shins the next day and these little guys did away with just about all of it... Any pain while exercising should = immediate stop!
 
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dannyart said:
Running is bad for knees if your BMI is over 30. Do some cardio exercise in the gym like stationary bike to lose weight and strengthen your leg muscles. If you feel pain in your knee joints, stop immediately.
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Bullshit. BMI is useless.

Junior dos Santos


BMI 32. I guess I should email him and tell him to quit running before he wrecks his knees!

Anyway. I know that TS doesnt look like Junior, I'm just making the point that BMI is a pretty useless indicator of overall fitness and in no way could you assign some "magic cutoff number" that you have to stop running at until you lose weight.

Couch To 5k has thousand of people who are 300+ at start that have graduated the program, lots of them middle age women.

I think that if you wanna run, give it a shot. People have been doin it for millions of years. It aint gonna kill ya.
 
When I started running in April I was 314lbs (about 15 stone??) I started jogging 4km (took about 37-38min) you can check my diary for how it progressed.

Running/Jogging has helped me lose close to 60lbs since April and I am now running 5km in 28minutes and 7km in 42minutes.

I don't think you are too heavy to run, but you have to listen you you're body, if your knees are sore after a run then take a couple of extra rest days. If they are painful during the run, then stop and walk, don't "lay through the pain" or you'll find yourself sidelined.
 
I had knee trouble when running at 235lbs(16st11lbs) so had to switch to lower impact cardio. I'd like to ease back into running rather than using elliptical trainer. Ideally I'd be able to swim but my gym doesn't have a pool.
 
Hey,

I dunno about running at your weight and stuff, I'd imagine it's different for everyone, BUT if you are concerned about injuring yourself, swimming is recommended for exercise as it doesn't put pressure on your joints as your in water! :)
 
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