My fitness journey

[kamsmart]

Hi All,

Just got inspired to share my fitness journey.

I have been sedentary all my life.  Never played sports in my adult life.  Sparingly when I was a child.  I have been always lean though, through-out my life, and I have a very flexible body.  I am an outdoorsy person, and without necessarily making exercise as a goal in my daily life, I think, I was getting enough daily exercise.  I say this because in my 20's and 30's, I was pain free in my body, and I could get anything and everything done that the normal life threw at me.  Packing and carrying suitcases during travel, loading a 5 gallon water bottle in the water dispenser at home, etc.

But in my 30's, I changed my job and slowly, my life became more sedentary.  I would sit at my desk and would not get much of a chance to move around.  I had to make it a point to walk around the park near my home in the evening.  I got my first Fitbit at that time (mid 2016), a Charge HR, and I was doing an average of 72K per week during 2016 and 2017.  My Fitbit HR broke at the end of 2017, and I did not bother to get another step counter after that, until recently.

At about the same time, I started being even more lazy at home and did not walk in the evenings and weekends.  Even at work, I started getting very stationary on my desk, and would not take breaks from my chair and walk around to see my colleagues, etc.  I could feel that my back was getting stiffer and stiffer and eventually, bending to pick something up from the ground and doing some normal day to day chores started getting difficult and painful for me.  The pain that I would experience from picking something from the ground (an action that I did without much thinking) would last for days, and I had to go see a doctor and he prescribed pain meds like Tylenol and Aleve.  This happened around the end of 2018.  I felt very depressed during this time.  How could I let my body deteriorate so much?

The doctors also suggested physical therapy and being active, to build body strength and to stretch the body, etc.  I thought to myself, I remember my time walking and being active, and I could so easily go back to that phase of my life.  I felt like I could just turn a switch on and start being active, and hopefully, the pain would be gone in a jiffy!

Oh, how I was in for a surprise!!  When I started walking and doing some physical therapy and other exercises, I was in so much pain!  It took me very long to understand that my body had deconditioned itself thoroughly because of my recent sedentary lifestyle!  It was very hard for me to understand that my body could deteriorate so much, so quickly?  Does this sound reasonable to you guys?  One year of living a relatively sedentary lifestyle, and the body deconditions so much!!

I want to talk about the journey that I have been through in the past six months in 2019, during which I have been trying to be active and exercise and stretch .... In short, it has been very tough - I have to be honest!  Every day, I would experience pain in one part of the body or the other ....pain became a story of my life!  I got quite depressed dealing with this constant pain, actually.  After resorting to some pain meds in the initial part of this journey, I stopped taking it, trying to toughen up.  It has been really tough, though. I was wondering, whether any of you have any more words of advice, or some similar experiences to share with me?

My doctor says that I have achieved a major victory by being off the pain meds of late.  He says that every now and then, if I feel pain because of my exercises, I should not feel shy from taking the meds, but except for once or twice in the last 6 months, I have been totally off the meds.  But there still IS pain.  How long will this suffering continue? When will the body feel that it is strong enough to take in the exercises and walking/exercising that I am doing! I want to see some hope, some light at the end of this long dark tunnel ... 6 months, and the process of healing still continues ... when will I be perfectly "healed"?

By the way, since April 2019, when I got a Fitbit versa, I have averaged 89K.  My pain increased, so for the past 2 weeks, I have slowed down to about 70 k per week.  My legs are feeling good, but my back is sore/painful.  How strange?  What explains this low back pain again?  I am getting really sad thinking about the back pain - is it the same as the end of 2018 when my low back pain sent an alarm signal to me to start being active?  Then, what about all that exercise that I did during these last six months?  Would not these exercises contribute towards the health of my body?  Why am I experiencing this soreness/pain again?

Comments/experiences/advice on any part or all of my narrative here is much appreciated!

Thanks again,

Kamran.

[WendyB]

I cant answer. Its really something you need to talk to your DR about.

[Dominique]

Have you considered / talked with your doctor about the possibility of fibromyalgia? The symptoms you describe may fit that condition.

I don’t think "deconditioning" from one year of being sedentary would in and of itself result in long-lasting, constant pain. But as @WendyB said, you should really seek medical advice.

[kamsmart]

May be, I did not describe my pain accurately.  The pain initially was because of being sedentary.  I was referred to the physical therapist, and consequently, I started exercising.   I think, the pendulum swung too much the other way after that.  Exercising and walking too much hurt my body .. and that is the almost constant pain that I continue to have now.  Currently, I can lift heavy things, bend, pick stuff from the ground - all with no problems.  These are the things that were difficult for me when I first complained about low back pain.  But should I go a little slow with my exercising and walking, you think?

[emili · Accepted solution]

@kamsmart you really should ask your doctor - but it is possible that your back hurts from walking. I experience it on occasion as well. I find that stretching after my walk helps a lot and working on back strengthening exercise helps as well. It could also be posture related. you may be walking at an angle or holding your head a certain way that strains your spine. again all things a doctor can help you with... 

[kamsmart]

I believe, it was posture related.  I have this soft couch at home where I was sitting watching Netflix a weekend before my back pain showed up.  I started sitting on a more ergonomic chair, and the back pain has gone.  Of course, I stretched during this time, and also performed back strength training exercises.  That must have helped big time as well.  But for the back pain not to come back from bad posture, I need to not sit on the couch for a long time.