Treadmill advice anyone??

[Chris-H]

Firstly i'll try to keep this short. Since my late teens I have had problems running for any distance, a big problem I have is I have a very weak right ankle, if I even step on a stone wrong it collapses to one side causing extreme pain and bruising and swelling. So after a period of running my ankle starts to ache, I have also had back problems, nothing serious though.
I have wanted a treadmill so I can add I different exercise other than cycling and so I can build up slowly and learn a proper running technique, mine is currently very poor after picking up bad habits as a kid.
I'm currently doing 25 minute workouts every evening at a pace of 7kmh - 14kmh burning 450-500 calories. If I continue like this will I see much benefit? My main goal is to lose weight and get fit.
Cheers for any advice.

 

[Chris-H]

At a guess I would say my intake was an average of 3500-4500 a day, I am a fairly big bloke, however since getting the treadmill and giving myself a huge kick up the arse I would say my intake is closer to the recommended 2500 now.
I know that currently i'm not burning more calories than i'm taking in but am I right in thinking that my body needs to keep some of those calories to function in one way or another?

 

[compo]

Why run if it is not doing your ankle and back any good? Can you walk without discomfort. For weight loss walking is a superb activity and less injurious to the body when tackled sensibly.

 

[vickster]

You do have professionally fitted running shoes I hope if you are running on a dodgy lower limb and back, and do you take measures to support the ankle? Especially if on the heavy side. If you are looking for an alternate exercise to burn calories which is low impact, have you considered swimming?

 

[uclown2002]

At a guess I would say my intake was an average of 3500-4500 a day, I am a fairly big bloke, however since getting the treadmill and giving myself a huge kick up the arse I would say my intake is closer to the recommended 2500 now.
I know that currently i'm not burning more calories than i'm taking in but am I right in thinking that my body needs to keep some of those calories to function in one way or another?

I suspect you are only calculating calories burned through exercise? Don't forget your Basal Metabolic Rate; daily calories expended at rest; think of lying in bed all day. Notwithstanding other bits and pieces you expend when up and about. Google BMR and TDEE for more info.

 

[Chris-H]

Why run if it is not doing your ankle and back any good? Can you walk without discomfort. For weight loss walking is a superb activity and less injurious to the body when tackled sensibly.

Good point, my back and ankle are old injuries and as a result I hav'nt done anything that would stress them too much for a long time, although I am a landscape gardener my back does take some grief but its a different motion to running, I have avoided running for fear of reoccurring any previous injuries for a long long time therefore am wondering if I can gently start to work those areas slowly through running, I used to be an avid cross country runner in my teens and used to run for the Kent schoolboys team and long to be able to get back out and run. I don't know if I'm being too cautious or just sensible, hence the treadmill to see how I get on.

 

[Chris-H]

You do have professionally fitted running shoes I hope if you are running on a dodgy lower limb and back, and do you take measures to support the ankle? Especially if on the heavy side. If you are looking for an alternate exercise to burn calories which is low impact, have you considered swimming?

I went to Go Outdoors and brought some running specific Adidas running shoes which are really comfy, my ankle is ok on flat surfaces its only if I stand on a stone etc wrongly that it may go over, when id does collapse then that's wheni need to support it, if im out walking over the fields etc I wear ankle boots to support my ankle if it does try to go over. I am planning on swimming too along with a weekly circuit training class at my local sports centre. However the treadmill is free (after the initial cost of buying) and its at home which is an added bonus.

 

[Chris-H]

I suspect you are only calculating calories burned through exercise? Don't forget your Basal Metabolic Rate; daily calories expended at rest; think of lying in bed all day. Notwithstanding other bits and pieces you expend when up and about. Google BMR and TDEE for more info.

so would you say the calories i'm currently burning on the treadmill would make much of a difference considering the calories I am now taking on board?

 

[uclown2002]

Every little help but it's calorie calculators (whatever method you use) vary widely, so if your counting calories (in and out) I would err on the side of caution with exercise calories.

I find peeps having difficulty losing weight usually overestimate calories burned and underestimate the intake of calories. Although you do get some muppets telling them they are in 'Starvation Mode' and need to eat more ffs.

KISS; eat less and move more.

 

[srw]

I take it you've seen a physio and are following the advice given religiously?

 

[bozmandb9]

I agree with UCLOWN2002.

Look at your diet, what are you actually eating? If your getting that 2500 from a bowl of Frosties, a pork pie/sausage roll/bag of crisps at lunch and then a curry in the evening I would suggest that 25 minutes of moderate intensity exercise is going to do very little in terms of fat loss.

.

This is of much more benefit than the stuff about calorie deficit. If you eat 1500 calories per day and they are from McDonalds, you will not lose fat, you will make yourself extremely sick. You will also lose muscle, and encounter more problems such as the one with your ankle.

If you ensure than you get 2,500 calories per day, on a juice only diet, you will lose weight extremely quickly (If you have Netflix, watch 'Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead').

So it's not so much how many calories, more what sort of calories. A lot of low fat food which is highly processed will be of negligible nutritional value, although it may be 'low calorie'. Again, this can make you sick, both physically and psychologically. Bottom line is, eat food which is natural and unprocessed as possible, and you won't have to count calories. Avoid refined carbs such as bread and pasta, avoid starchy carbs such as potato, eat loads of vegetables. It worked (and still works) for me!

 

[bozmandb9]

Also, just regarding the ankle, I'd say, if you're overweight, then forget about running anyway until you've lost weight, cycling will be much better for you. If you run whilst you're overweight, you're likely to make your ankle much worse.

If funds permit, then maybe go to see a sports injury specialist. You need to find the underlying reason for the weakness in your right ankle, it may be to do with alignment or something. In any event, there are probably some great exercises which you can do at home in a controlled way, to strengthen where you need to. For example I was given one legged exercises to strengthen my lower legs for sprinting.

 

[burndust]

i would opt for a cross trainer instead tbh

 

[Chris-H]

Wow some really useful and good advice, cheers everyone. Ok where do I start, on the diet front we are healthy eaters, very rarely do we have takeaway, chips once a week at the most I have cut out bread altogether although we only ever brought wholemeal, all our pasta is wholemeal, we only eat brown rice......I think you get the idea, as for my ankle I had an mri scan 2 years ago and it showed up a fair few small problems, all due to the amount of collapses over the years, I have some hard scar tissue in there along with other problems I cant remember, the physio did say gentle jogging will not do any harm but to stop if there is any pain or discomfort, basically I have been told there is nothing that can be done and I have just got to be careful, the only time I ever have a problem or it collapses is if I walk on uneven surfaces or a stone etc, it doesn't do it everytime and typically it happened this morning when I went our to put some rubbish in the bin, first time in over a year. I'm not obese of seriously overweight, I used to do bodybuilding about 15 years ago, i'm 6'3 tall and not of small build and i'm on the right side or 17st, I just have a gut and some body fat I want rid of. I do cycle but believe it or not have problems with my feet going numb, gone down all the usual routes, bike fits, cleat position, shoes, all the different insoles etc etc so I cant do long rides hence again the treadmill so I can vary my exercise.

 

[bozmandb9]

Chris, I'd say, based on the ankle problem, combined with the feet going numb, I'd be really trying to track down the cause, since it sounds like somethings just not quite right.

Nothing to worry about, just, in my opinion, worth tracking down the issue, since often it's easily addressed. For example I've found that due to one leg being shorter than the other (just by around an inch), my pelvis is misaligned, and my right leg tends to twist around, and hence my arch has fallen. Knowing this means that I can take steps to accommodate or possibly improve the condition.

I've learned this from a combination of orthopaedic referrals, and sports injury consultations, the orthopaedic consultant just gave me orthotics to wear, the sports injury practitioners gave me strategies to improve or correct the condition.

By the way, do you wear boots a lot? This can be very bad for ankles, since the boot gives too much ankle support. Sounds like you should work with a specialist (physio or sports injury), to identify some exercises to strengthen the specific ankle muscles, and avoid further injury.