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Thoughts on exercise and Dr's advice
Sep. 13th, 2004 09:59 amUsed to have second-hand treadmill. Was pretty good about walking on it or walking a footpath at work for a couple years. Not coincidentally, lost 35 lbs and kept it off for several years.
Then my knee went out. I'd walk anyway, wrapping it up and walking slightly Quasimodo-style. Didn't seem to hurt myself any worse, weight stayed down. But my Dr at the time told me to stop doing that, citing the blahdeblah excess of pressure put on a walking knee, and told me to get an elliptical trainer. So I traded the treadmill for a trainer.
HATE. IT. With the fire of a thousand suns.
1) Bastard is 3 times harder than walking. I feel like I'm having a heart attack after 5 minutes on the thing.
2) My specific knee problem is that it will either bear weight or bend, but doing both together means stabbing pain. The bicycle-style motion of the elliptical trainer means I am pushing down with a bent knee - ie, I am deliberately mimicing the motion that hurts the most. I don't care how many doctors tell me how much weight goes on my knee as I walk, deliberately hurting myself with every push is NOT the way to get me to exercise!
It's probably no huge surprise that I haven't exercised regularly in years, and that my weight has ballooned upwards once again. Furthermore, I'm starting to get stiff and tired after I do things that should be "normal" amounts of walking - Renfaire, Worldcon, etc.
So I've finally decided. Screw the medical advice, the trainer's going in the basement and I'm getting me a new treadmill - probably one of those foldup jobbies. Any advice on make/model?
Then my knee went out. I'd walk anyway, wrapping it up and walking slightly Quasimodo-style. Didn't seem to hurt myself any worse, weight stayed down. But my Dr at the time told me to stop doing that, citing the blahdeblah excess of pressure put on a walking knee, and told me to get an elliptical trainer. So I traded the treadmill for a trainer.
HATE. IT. With the fire of a thousand suns.
1) Bastard is 3 times harder than walking. I feel like I'm having a heart attack after 5 minutes on the thing.
2) My specific knee problem is that it will either bear weight or bend, but doing both together means stabbing pain. The bicycle-style motion of the elliptical trainer means I am pushing down with a bent knee - ie, I am deliberately mimicing the motion that hurts the most. I don't care how many doctors tell me how much weight goes on my knee as I walk, deliberately hurting myself with every push is NOT the way to get me to exercise!
It's probably no huge surprise that I haven't exercised regularly in years, and that my weight has ballooned upwards once again. Furthermore, I'm starting to get stiff and tired after I do things that should be "normal" amounts of walking - Renfaire, Worldcon, etc.
So I've finally decided. Screw the medical advice, the trainer's going in the basement and I'm getting me a new treadmill - probably one of those foldup jobbies. Any advice on make/model?
