How can I lose weight through exercise when my feet are so flat?!
Question: How can I lose weight through exercise when my feet are so flat!?
I have a problem!. I am getting overweight and I want to start exercising, but my feet are flat to the point where bones inside my feet are literally fused together!.!.!. I can't comfortable walk for very long, i cannot run at all, i can't even do exercise like boxing anymore for too long!. Is there something i can do to raise my blood level and work hard while my lower half remains stationary, or while I sit, or something!?Www@Answer-Health@Com
Answers:
Sounds like you've got a tarsal coalition, resulting in a rigid flatfoot, is that right!? One of my friends had this, and he could not stand to have the slightest bit of an arch on the innersole in his shoe!. Or are you talking about an accessory navicular, where the extra bone on the inside of your foot,!.below and in front of your ankle, bulges outward!?
Or maybe you've got both, an accessory navicular with a talo-navicular coalition!? I'm sorry to hear you've got this problem, whatever it is!.
First of all, have you got the right kind of footwear!? I assume you know you can strip out the arched innersole of most decent sneakers, and replace it with a totally flat, cushy gel innersole!? This should provide you with some relief, particularly if your rearfoot has fused!. Or maybe you already have custom orthotics!?
I remember reading in the NY Times quite awhile back that the very best exercise from an aerobic standpoint is a combination of simultaneous upper body and lower body workout, like with a Nordic Track or some elliptical machines--do you have access to anything like this!? This would further give you the benefit of lower body activity, without your feet taking a pounding, because although you're standing the whole time, at least it's not as jarring as running, for instance!. Have you tried cycling!? Much the same thing, although it might not be too much fun for you each time you push down hard on the pedal!.
I have a flexible flatfoot condition myself, not rigid, but it's sensitized me to the issue, because I developed some real knee problems as a result of running when I was younger and didn't fully understand my own foot/leg biomechanics!. I decided that it would be best for me to substitute activities that would result in less pounding to my feet!. I didn't see if you made it into graduate school, but if you did, most schools have all kinds of weights or machines which will help you build upper body strength!. You can also look up calisthenics you can do at home or anywhere that don't take a toll on your feet!. For instance, if pushups are hard for you because you'd be dorsiflexing your toes, placing strain on your "arch" you can do a form of pushups where you're using your knees instead of your toes as the lower extremity point of contact!.
My first thought was swimming, too, same as others here!. It's great overall exercise, and your legs can get a workout too without irritating your feet!. And if you've got a rigid flatfoot, well, you won't need flippers!. :-)
You might want to look into low-impact aerobics classes!. There are also forms of yoga which might be a good fit for you, and a side benefit of this would be that it helps you to focus more on your body and good health, which could also help you to lose weight and to keep excess weight off!.
It looks like you're of an average graduate student age!? So maybe your tarsal coalition has been continuing to develop until fairly recently, in your teen years, with your feet recently getting more rigid and painful!? Ouch, that must hurt!. I think typically you're skeletally mature by about age 24 on average!. Have you considered surgery, one foot at a time, to separate the coalition(s) while it can be done before they get any worse/more rigid!? From what I remember, don't you want to do this while you're still pretty young, the younger the better!? Have you looked into this!?
While they're hardly cutting edge fashion these days :-) have you looked into Doc Martens!? The original models were actually designed for rigid flatfooters; you'll see the inner surface is totally flat, which you should find more comfortable, and the cushy outersole with microscopic pockets of air trapped in the sole was designed to soften the impact of your rigid footstrike, because otherwise, it can take a toll on your knees as well as your hips and back!.
Let me know if you need more ideas!. :-) Good luck!
Www@Answer-Health@Com
Or maybe you've got both, an accessory navicular with a talo-navicular coalition!? I'm sorry to hear you've got this problem, whatever it is!.
First of all, have you got the right kind of footwear!? I assume you know you can strip out the arched innersole of most decent sneakers, and replace it with a totally flat, cushy gel innersole!? This should provide you with some relief, particularly if your rearfoot has fused!. Or maybe you already have custom orthotics!?
I remember reading in the NY Times quite awhile back that the very best exercise from an aerobic standpoint is a combination of simultaneous upper body and lower body workout, like with a Nordic Track or some elliptical machines--do you have access to anything like this!? This would further give you the benefit of lower body activity, without your feet taking a pounding, because although you're standing the whole time, at least it's not as jarring as running, for instance!. Have you tried cycling!? Much the same thing, although it might not be too much fun for you each time you push down hard on the pedal!.
I have a flexible flatfoot condition myself, not rigid, but it's sensitized me to the issue, because I developed some real knee problems as a result of running when I was younger and didn't fully understand my own foot/leg biomechanics!. I decided that it would be best for me to substitute activities that would result in less pounding to my feet!. I didn't see if you made it into graduate school, but if you did, most schools have all kinds of weights or machines which will help you build upper body strength!. You can also look up calisthenics you can do at home or anywhere that don't take a toll on your feet!. For instance, if pushups are hard for you because you'd be dorsiflexing your toes, placing strain on your "arch" you can do a form of pushups where you're using your knees instead of your toes as the lower extremity point of contact!.
My first thought was swimming, too, same as others here!. It's great overall exercise, and your legs can get a workout too without irritating your feet!. And if you've got a rigid flatfoot, well, you won't need flippers!. :-)
You might want to look into low-impact aerobics classes!. There are also forms of yoga which might be a good fit for you, and a side benefit of this would be that it helps you to focus more on your body and good health, which could also help you to lose weight and to keep excess weight off!.
It looks like you're of an average graduate student age!? So maybe your tarsal coalition has been continuing to develop until fairly recently, in your teen years, with your feet recently getting more rigid and painful!? Ouch, that must hurt!. I think typically you're skeletally mature by about age 24 on average!. Have you considered surgery, one foot at a time, to separate the coalition(s) while it can be done before they get any worse/more rigid!? From what I remember, don't you want to do this while you're still pretty young, the younger the better!? Have you looked into this!?
While they're hardly cutting edge fashion these days :-) have you looked into Doc Martens!? The original models were actually designed for rigid flatfooters; you'll see the inner surface is totally flat, which you should find more comfortable, and the cushy outersole with microscopic pockets of air trapped in the sole was designed to soften the impact of your rigid footstrike, because otherwise, it can take a toll on your knees as well as your hips and back!.
Let me know if you need more ideas!. :-) Good luck!
Www@Answer-Health@Com
push up!.!.crunches!.!.!.emm!. feet fused together!?!? Www@Answer-Health@Com
swim! you dont need to you use your feet at all!.!.!. =)Www@Answer-Health@Com
can you swim!?Www@Answer-Health@Com