Low impact work outs with right side lower extremities nerve damage

[cmr287]

Good evening, I am an Active Duty Soldier of 18 1/2 years stationed at Fort Benning GA. Im looking for advice about some low impact workout advice/ excercises. I currently have a Tredmill I use every evening and I also have some bands I work with as well. I have a lot of nerve damage issues from my right foot to my right leg and lower left back. Walking is no issue however I am not able to run. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Is there any specific work out routines you may use? If so please be specific? Also looking for a good diet regiment to start, again please be specific. 

I usually:

0530- drink 1-2 18oz coffees for Breakfast, 

0900- half and apple with 7-9 grapes

1200- Bring a small salad no dressing (Most of th time 😞 )

1500- half and apple with 7-9 grapes

1800-1900- Dinner, My proteines are Chicken, (Pork, Venison (I Hunt, Very lean)) Some times rice and almost every night a salad. I try not to eat garbage however I have a huge sweet tooth and it is extreemly hard. 

Any suggustions for curbing this cravings?

V/R

Chris

[TandemWalker]

Hi @cmr287 - First and foremost, thank you for your service.

I don't know if weight loss is part of your goals or if your query is only about workout suggestions. Either way, I think that the timing of your food intake is important. It's always a good idea in my opinion to provide your body with an immediate source of carbs 20-30 minutes before a workout. Not only will you be burning those carbs immediately during your workout, but it will energize you and get you ready for it.

Doing the same exercises day after day is probably not a good idea. You need to give the muscles and joints used during a specific workout a rest, to allow them to recover. Moreover, if you do more or less the same thing every day, your system gets calibrated to that routine. So you need to challenge your BMR into action, by introducing interval training in your exercise regimen but also, if possible, other types of exercises. Perhaps cycling or rowing could be alternative. Resistance bands are good, but weight training adds another dimension to it, even if you were to start with just a set of free weights.

Going back to your diet, a good breakfast, a decent lunch, and a lighter dinner (lots vegetables, low on meat, fish/seafood, low on carbs, fruit for desert) are some of the changes I would make. If you need to munch on something in the evening, I would stick to fruit and a handful of nuts. Keep your carb intake just before a workout.

 TW  

[Jabrat]

Chris - How many calories a day do you burn ?  Just wondering !  We have many exercises posted and we are very into calorie intake and calorie burn in our group - we have been very successful with big time weight loss.  Please advise.   

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@cmr287 wrote:

Good evening, I am an Active Duty Soldier of 18 1/2 years stationed at Fort Benning GA. Im looking for advice about some low impact workout advice/ excercises. I currently have a Tredmill I use every evening and I also have some bands I work with as well. I have a lot of nerve damage issues from my right foot to my right leg and lower left back. Walking is no issue however I am not able to run. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Is there any specific work out routines you may use? If so please be specific? Also looking for a good diet regiment to start, again please be specific. 

I usually:

0530- drink 1-2 18oz coffees for Breakfast, 

0900- half and apple with 7-9 grapes

1200- Bring a small salad no dressing (Most of th time 😞 )

1500- half and apple with 7-9 grapes

1800-1900- Dinner, My proteines are Chicken, (Pork, Venison (I Hunt, Very lean)) Some times rice and almost every night a salad. I try not to eat garbage however I have a huge sweet tooth and it is extreemly hard. 

Any suggustions for curbing this cravings?

V/R

Chris

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[WendyB · Accepted solution]

I agree that doing the same exercise every day is not good. Your body gets use to it and wont let go

Your diet is not good either. You really need to eat to lose weight
1/2 Apple and some grapes for breakfast?

Try some eggs or something with protein in it

Lunch add some protein to that salad

Have some snacks through out the day. Nuts are a good fat and a good snack, yogurt, string cheese.

Looking at your menu you are way under calorie intake. which is not good

[Daster]

If you want to stick to the treadmill 3 of my favorite things to do besides running or just walking are 

1. Walk backwards; This causes you to use different muscles due to your legs having to move behind you

2. High knees; good as a begining and end stretch after walking

3. Turn the treadmill off and get the belt moving by yourself instead of having it automattically move for you; when you feel like it is moving more because of momentum stop it and then repeat.

Thank you for your service

[TandemWalker]

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@Daster wrote:

If you want to stick to the treadmill 3 of my favorite things to do besides running or just walking are 

1. Walk backwards; This causes you to use different muscles due to your legs having to move behind you

2. High knees; good as a begining and end stretch after walking

3. Turn the treadmill off and get the belt moving by yourself instead of having it automattically move for you; when you feel like it is moving more because of momentum stop it and then repeat.

Thank you for your service

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I like 1 & 2, but I  would be very careful with number 3 as this would inevitably put undue stress on your knees. Perhpas it's OK once in a while, but this is not something I would do on a regular basis.

TW

[cmr287]

Thank you all for the advice, I am taking everything yall are saying and starting to apply it. Last night I burned 3345 in calories yesterday.

Durring the winter months I use the treadmill and walk in a sweat suit, throw my bodyarmor on (weight 18 lbs w/ plates) walk/run to tolorance and do the same thing but add my rucksack which is a backpack with 60lbs and walk 4 miles on Monday, 6 miles on Wensday and 8 miles on Friday. I haven't walked the 6and 8 miles in a month in a half due to surgery. Ill get cleared by the doc to start exercising like I was in another week I hope 🙂 (Please pray for me):) 

I average burning anywhere between 3-5K calories a day. I have started keeping trailmix with me all the time now just so when I feel myself stating to slack in energy, I have something there to add more fuel to the fire so to speak. 

I apreciate all of your suggustions so far and continue to look forward to recieving more as I move forward. Jabrat, I'd love to hear what you perpose for a diet or changes to my meals. 🙂 BTW, I have to have my coffee in the mornings and evenings otherwise my wife says I get very grumpy, lol. 

V/R

Chris

[ErinScott]

Hi,

I understand how limiting nerve damage and such can be. I had a neck injury and nerve damage in my left side of my face, and arm. It also limits me to low impact activities.

I've found that there are some great pilates videos on Youtube that are helpful. Some are geared for seniors, so they are gentle on your back. Do a search and see what you can find. Also search for fitnessbender videos on there too. They have a ton of low impact videos that are a mix of cardio and strength training.

If you have access to a pool, see if you can check out some aqua aerobics classes, or try swimming. Aqua fit is amazing as it lets you jump around and get cardio and toning in, without the pain you'd have doing the same activities on land. Swimming is also really great... but if you find kicking too difficult, you can put a float in between your legs and use just your arms, or just kick very gently.

I have recently joined a gym, and had one of their trainers go around with me and discuss the equipment that would be safe for me to use, and which ones would hurt me. If you are able to go to a gym, I'd suggest doing the same so you can mix things up a bit, in a way that will be safe for you. I know my gym has a hand bike, which might be something you could use that would give your legs a rest as well.

Hope that helps!

[cmr287]

Thank you for the responce, I will absolutely look into the videos you talked about. Thank you for the suggustions. I do go to the gym every day, however I am not able to flex (Poit my foot) for swimming. I am working with bands right now to help me more with range of motion and being able to have the flexability I lost. I do have lots of metal in my body holding bits and pieces of me together :(. Im just trying to shed some of the weight I put on from not being able to do anything. This is so frusterating.... Anyways, Thank you for the suggustions and I will definately look for these videos! 🙂

My tracker says I took 14426 steps =7.30 miles, burned 2927 cals and climbed 10 floors today 🙂 

Could someone school me on good calories and bad calories as well as good and bad Carbs. I don't quite understand this stuff. 

V/R

Chris

[TandemWalker]

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@cmr287 wrote:

Thank you for the responce, I will absolutely look into the videos you talked about. Thank you for the suggustions. I do go to the gym every day, however I am not able to flex (Poit my foot) for swimming. I am working with bands right now to help me more with range of motion and being able to have the flexability I lost. I do have lots of metal in my body holding bits and pieces of me together :(. Im just trying to shed some of the weight I put on from not being able to do anything. This is so frusterating.... Anyways, Thank you for the suggustions and I will definately look for these videos! 🙂

My tracker says I took 14426 steps =7.30 miles, burned 2927 cals and climbed 10 floors today 🙂 

Could someone school me on good calories and bad calories as well as good and bad Carbs. I don't quite understand this stuff. 

V/R

Chris

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You will find plenty if you Google it. But here is a quick start:

Good Carbs vs Bad Carbs

TW