Question re walking and fitness

[tencent]

I am overweight and very unfit. I have arthritis in my knee and when I walk anywhere it hurts and I get out of breath, so I give up. I realised the other day that when I do walk I push myself to go as fast as I can, which gives me that horrible tight feeling in my chest. I think I do it as I keep reading that for walking to be of benefit you have to walk at a fast pace. For me this is counterproductive. My question is, if I were to slow down to the point I don't get a painful chest and knee and walked for 20 minutes a day, would this gradually improve my fitness, so I could walk faster or for longer. I know I won't get really fit doing this, but I guess I'm asking is it really no pain no gain and is there any merit to walking at a slower pace so that it's more comfortable?

Anything you do will be of benefit. So walking at a slower pace is better than not walking at all because otherwise you push yourself too far.

I would start as you suggest, building it up slowly and go from there. You may find once you're used to it that you're able to do a bit more.

Yes you would, you could track your time each time and maybe knock a few second off a week? If your consistent you’ll naturally get faster too.

I walk on my lunch break, I do the same route and I don’t go hard, but when I started about 3 months it used to take me 30 mins now it’s like 25 mins. I’ll probably try and add a bit more in as well to bring my activity time back up.

This woman is really good on walking advice

I have developed arthritis in one knee recently so I’m thinking walking is out, I can amble around with the dog for ten minutes then it starts to hurt. My physio told me 10 minutes is enough but anyone coming on here saying they’re overweight you’ll get a pile on saying you need to exercise as much as possible.

I dont swim but I assume you’ve thought of that?

@misspositivepants do you have arthritis though? OP I’m wondering if people don’t have it are they going to be able to give relevant advice, albeit posters meaning well of course.

No I don’t have arthritis but the poster suggested that it was ok to walk at a slower pace so my response was on the basis of that, that you can get fitter by walking at a slower pace - which was the OP’s question. I’m assuming as they’ve not posted in a specific chat for arthritis they’re looking for a range of responses

Swimming is the best form of exercise if you have arthritis. Exercise shouldn't be painful / increase pain you are already in so when you walk keep it below the pain threshold.

I think any exercise is good. If exercise is, for you, a gentle 15 min walk then that is 100% better than no walk. Fresh air and a very gently elevated heart rate - it will have benefits way past a few calories off. Your muscles WILL tone up.

And, if you are slowly losing weight OP, every tiny bit you lose will be less stress on you knee.

Have you thought about trying a bit of yoga at home? There are lots of youtubers doing lovely beginners yoga to follow. Again very good for strengthening muscles without getting out of breath and knackered.

I hike and I'm not super fit, the key is pacing myself and going slow and steady. I'm definitely still building fitness and strength etc though. You could try somewhere with more of an incline. But tbh if you're going from not walking to walking then I think you'd see a difference. Plus you can start small and build up. Swimming or aqua aerobics etc are fab for being low impact.

I'd get a check up at the GP before doing any more exercise, chest pain on exertion is not to be messed with and could be lots of things such as angina.

Then when you get the ok, as a pp said, swimming or using a static exercise bike is a good alternative to walking if you have joint pain.

Don't give up, adapt!

Lots of answers to ponder, thanks all! My body is a bit of a wreck all around really, so even a small improvement would be good. I can swim, but the nearest pool has odd opening times and due to lots of other demands on my time at the moment I can't fit in travelling to the next one. Something to think about in the future perhaps, but I was asking about walking as it can be done anywhere and squeezed into gaps in the day.

Thanks @Atishoos I think I wasn't careful enough in my description - it's not really my chest that hurts, but I get that burning feeling in my lungs that you get after exertion. Unless it's just me and no one else gets that! I have a number of health issues though and it would probably be beneficial to have a catch up with my GP - if I can actually get an appointment that is.

Yes, absolutely OP! Start slowly and then increase your distance slightly or your speed slightly each day. No need to push yourself so hard that it's uncomfortable.

I don’t know about arthritis but slowing your pace to exercise for longer is what you want to do in your situation. It will build fitness and stamina. Point is getting your heart rate elevated but to a manageable level you can maintain for a but. I do exercise but can’t workout at max intensity for long periods, no one can and it’s all relative.

Once you get used to say 20 mins walking, and then 30 mins, you could go 10 min normal pace 10 mins fast and 10 mins normal again. That will build your fitness up more and just keep going.

Good luck OP. I have a family member who is v obese. Whenever I see someone a bit out of shape trying to do exercise I smile inside and out - because they were brave enough to try and just getting started is the hardest bit 😊 💪

Ah ok @tencent I didn't mean to frighten the life out of you!

Yes, if you are starting off you can feel out of puff alright, but that will improve (if all else is well) with movement and expanding your lungs etc.

I don't have arthritis but I do have Afib (irregular heart beat) and the meds have helped a lot but have made my ticker run very slow as a result. For a while I was absolutely puffed out when walking (which I used to do a lot with no problems), but slowly the breathlessness has improved, and I can go at normal pace again without nearly passing out!

I never knew I had a ticker problem, it was found when I was getting a pre op assessment for something else. Glad it was found then and treated.

@gardendream thanks for the video, it was interesting.

@tencent I suffer from COPD and the pulmonary physiotherapists insist on 20 minutes cardio work and 20 minutes weight work twice a week for a decent benefit for heart and lungs (and of course the warm up and cool down parts). The cardio consists of 10 minutes walking and 10 minutes cycling. They say you need to push yourself so you have a little sweat, raised heartbeat, and feel like you are working yourself without overdoing it. With this in mind can you walk normally for 10 minutes, walk a little faster for 5, normal for 5, faster for 5 etc ending in a normal for 10 minutes. The ten normals either side can be part of your warm/cool cycle.

Walking at a slower pace is better than not walking at all. I think if you do it consistently then that is the best way to improve your fitness. You have to be patient about seeing improvements though.

Good luck!

Very kind of you all to take the time to advise me on this and lots of ideas to try, but the general consensus seems to be that walking at a manageable pace will eventually improve my fitness a little. Hopefully this will mean I can speed up a bit or walk a bit further, so it's worth doing. I find walking really boring, so doing it and feeling there was no point was really disheartening, but if I know that there is a benefit, even at a slower pace, then I can cope with the boredom. I'm always really envious of people who feel better after exercise, as even when I was fitter and used to go to the gym or run or whatever, I never had that dopamine hit that others mention. Neither does it do anything for my mental health, which is really frustrating!

Yes of course it's beneficial. Even standing up as opposed to sitting all day is beneficial so a slow walk is better than no walking.

I do a lot of walking. I listen to music, podcasts, the news, audio books etc. would that help?

Alternatively maybe walk to the supermarket with a manageable rucksack to get a few items, that’s what I do.

I also have a bad knee (and hip, and back, and feet,haha!) My advice is, keep going. Slow will still be better than nothing. And you say you find it boring, well I definitely do, I got a dog to keep me company (that's a very drastic step though and probably doesn't apply). I need a diamond dopamine hit though some days to get me going, so I listen to podcasts or music, or make phonecalls (yes, even when I'm out of breath!) Anything to make it go easier. Also, good shoes and light compression socks are AMAZINGLY better. I have just ordered some On Cloud 5 trainers, other good ones are fitflop and Hoka one ones. Good luck! It's like couch to 5k training, but milder 😁

I think it sounds as if you're a bit in 2 minds about "having" to exercise op. It's early days, yes slow down and build up if thats what your body wants.
How do you feel now you've taken the plunge and are owning your journey to getting fitter?
Remember why you chose to do it, your reasons, no one else's. There may be other issues there, worth exploring via journalling perhaps?
Re finding walking boring, listen to music or a podcast?

Oh absolutely @Allwelcone , I really don't want to exercise. I would far prefer to read a book or garden or do some DIY, all of which make me happy, but don't unfortunately improve my fitness. My job means that I see lots of people whose health impacts on their lives enormously and I want to do everything I can to improve my chances of a healthy old(er) age, so diet and walking it is. I've had some oedema in my lower legs over the past few weeks and I know it's probably linked to my weight and lack of exercise, and whilst I will get it checked out it's given me a bit of a wake up call. Unfortunately all the podcasts and music in the world won't make me enjoy exercise, but that's tough luck for me and I do appreciate all the suggestions and might get some new trainers as per your suggestion @VWRabbit .

Another thing @tencent, if it is of any use to you, I also found walking a bit "boring". However I stuck with it, and found that having a "goal" at the end point was the key. In other words if a walk has a purpose then it's no problem to me no matter how long it might take me!

I am lucky enough to have a lovely big park out my back gate, but I found doing the (lovely landscaped) circuits on it was like doing the rounds in a prison yard, round and round and meeting the same people, and seeing the same things, it put me right off!

So I discovered other great routes in my area, which is by a big river and to my surprise I discovered lovely riverside walks with plenty of exit points so I could go as far as I felt in the mood for. And back. In the middle there is a picnic area with a coffee van and picnic tables and that was my rest stop, with people watching thrown in for good measure!

Another route is to the local shopping centre, yes it sounds boring but the route on foot is good, passing lovely houses, meandering down unknown streets, you get the picture. Then a half an hour browsing and back again. As a pp mentioned a full backpack on the way home after shopping took a bit of getting used to, but it's now normal for me. Every little helps!

I just thought I would share some of the things that make me get out and not be bored out of my mind. It's working and I'm constantly finding new places to go.

Pokemon Go gave me a reason to go for a walk. The same walk became more interesting when there were different things to catch each day. You use whatever tools you can to get you into the habits you want to maintain. I would walk for fifteen minutes then turn round, before long I was walking for an hour.

You don't have to walk so you are out of breath, a slow walk is better than no walk at all, a short walk is better than no walk at all. Find a speed you don't dislike walking at and go with that. I felt the difference in my knees after losing four pounds and that gave me more incentive to carry on.

The nurse at the GP practice told me that walking was not exercise but I'd lost three stone at that point with walking as my only exercise so I was not inclined to believe her.